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This April, the Foundation played a prominent role in two key events for industrial transformation and the construction sector: Advanced Factories & Advanced Machine Tools 2025 & Rebuild 2025, reaffirming its commitment to innovation and the promotion of talent in vocational training.

From April 8 to 10, we collaborated in the 9th edition of Advanced Factories (AF2025) and the 2nd edition of Advanced Machine Tools (AMT), held at Feria Barcelona, a benchmark in automation, industrial robotics, and Industry 4.0. On the afternoon of Thursday, April 10, the Talent Marketplace was held, where vocational training students were able to learn about companies and trends in the sector. During the event, the president of the FP CAT Agency, Jose Luis Duran, presented the Awards for Innovative Vocational Training Projects, in which the following centers stood out as finalists:

• Escola del Treball de Barcelona
• Institut El Palau
• Institut de Guissona
• Laudioalde – winner 2025

See the winning projects

Subsequently, on April 24 and 25, we participated in Rebuild 2025 and the EYOCNET network meeting, held at IES Islas Filipinas in Madrid, which brings together teachers of Building and Civil Engineering at the national level. This new association, with the participation of centers in Barcelona and the AMB, was created with the aim of promoting collaboration and innovation in the AECO sector (Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Maintenance).

On Friday, April 25, the Foundation moderated a panel discussion on success stories after training, with notable contributions from Iván Romero and Marc Prim, former students of the Institut Provençana, founders of Blue Building Company, and winners of the FP Consolida Award, the Metropolis FP Lab, and recently the LA PLAZA ideas competition at Construmat 2025 at the Barcelona Trade Fair.

Both events show that the future of industry and construction lies in quality training and the promotion of young talent. Without training, there will be no transformation!

We thank the organizations Advanced Factorías and Rebuild for their support and commitment to the visibility and promotion of vocational training.

During the month of April we kicked off a new edition of the Singular project. The Singular project, coordinated by the BCN Vocational Training Foundation and funded by the Catalan Employment Service (SOC), allows 60 young graduates in vocational training to carry out a personalized training itinerary based on continuous professional orientation and extensive linguistic training. 

Subsequently, young participants can carry out professional internships of up to 12 months in the German cities of Munich, Hanover, Stuttgart and Bremen. Finally, young participants can validate their vocational training qualification in Germany. 

The last few weeks, represented by the Hanover Chamber of Commerce (IHK) and the Pedagogical Institute of the City of Munich, among others, have carried out the informative sessions and selection interviews in Barcelona.

As part of the international plan of measures project, from Estonia, a group of VET teachers has started a peer-to-peer shadowing training stay with the VOCO center, one of the most recognized VET institutions in the country. During this week, teachers have had the opportunity to discover first-hand the Estonian vocational training system, share knowledge with their counterparts and actively participate in their classes. 

The stay has also included cultural visits to cities such as Tallinn and Tartu, considered the main university nucleus of the country. Throughout the conference, participants were able to get to know the facilities of the VOCO center, specialized in multiple training areas, and get closer to the business reality of Estonia by visiting collaborating companies of the center linked to their respective sectors. 

This experience has been a key opportunity to promote the exchange of good educational practices and strengthen the network of international cooperation in the field of vocational training.

During the month of April, the Management Team Stay in Copenhagen (Denmark) was organized with 20 members of the management teams of VET centers in Barcelona and its metropolitan area.

Thanks to the Erasmus program coordinated by the BCN Vocational Training Foundation and our international partners ZBC – Zealand Business College (https://www.zbc.dk/) members of the European VET Network FP, we have been able to observe how the Danish VET centers are directed and managed.

Broadly speaking, the Danish vocational training system is defined by the flexibility of the training pathways, the high involvement of the business system in the planning of the training offer and the great autonomy of the centers when modifying educational curricula and hiring staff. 

The participating vocational training centres and institutions have been: EA Serra i Abella, Institut Hospital del Mar FP Sanitària, Institut Pedralbes, Institut Tecnològic de Barcelona, Institut dels Aliments de Barcelona, Institut Miquel Biada, Institut de Formació Empresarial de Barcelona, Institut de Sostenibilitat i Medi Ambient de Barcelona, Institut Escola d’Hoteleria i Turisme de Barcelona, Escola Massana. Centre d’Art i Disseny, Institut de Formació Professional Antoni Algueró, Consorci d’Educació de Barcelona, Institut Anna Gironella de Mundet, ITAEB (Institute of Audiovisual Techniques and Show of Barcelona), Deià Escola d’Art i Disseny, Institut Mitjans Audiovisuals (EMAV), Institut Poblenou, Institut 

Pompeu Fabra, , Institut Esteve Terradas i Illa and Institut de Logística de Barcelona.

More than 200 students from 20 VET centers have participated in the Project Acceleration Workshop of the FPLab Metropolis, distributed in which they have responded to the challenges posed by 12 companies 

A great example of how vocational training can generate innovation and bring students closer to the business world! 

Thank you very much to all the participants for your involvement and dedication.

The Can Calderón Auditorium in Viladecans today hosted the “Talent and Gastronomy” conference, an initiative promoted by the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, the City Council of Viladecans and the BCN Vocational Training Foundation, with the aim of evaluating the adequacy of the vocational training offer to the transformations and trends of the main occupations in this sector.

The event began with the institutional inauguration by Mrs. Olga Morales, Mayor of Viladecans and CEO of Social Policies and Equality of the AMB.

Then, our study “Emerging economic sectors and vocational training at the RMB was presented: Sector of Gastronomy”, by Neus Pons, director-manager of the BCN Vocational Training Foundation, and Victoria Sanjuan, researcher at the VET Observatory.

The day continued with a sectoral table focused on the challenges of talent in the gastronomic fabric, with the participation of:

• Josep Lladonosa, a benchmark in traditional Catalan cuisine
• Mingo Morilla, president of the FIHRT and the Viladecans Hospitality Guild
• Laura Garcia, coordinator of the Baix Llobregat Tourism Consortium
• Samuel Valls, director of the Institut Joan Ramon Benaprès
• Gerard Domingo, director of the School of Wine Tourism of Catalonia

The closing ceremony was given by Elisabet Tejero, director of Social Policy and Equality services at the AMB, and the day ended with a networking and snack space, which allowed the exchange of ideas between the participants.

This meeting reaffirms the commitment to continue working on professional training aligned with the needs of the territory and with the capacity to generate real opportunities in strategic sectors such as gastronomy.

Link to our study: https://www.fundaciobcnfp.cat/estudi/els-sectors-economics-emergents-i-la-formacio-professional-a-la-regio-metropolitana-de-barcelona/

At the BCN Vocational Training Foundation, we have been collaborating with this fair for more than 10 years, offering VET centers the opportunity to participate actively.  

This initiative allows students to live a practical experience in a realistic environment, following the “Learning by doing” methodology. Through business simulation, students develop key skills that allow them to improve their employability and facilitate their future incorporation into the labour market. 

The Foundation’s Simulated Company project and especially the fair are ideal platforms to promote innovation, active learning and prevent early school leaving, helping young people to take the step towards the professional world with the tools they really need and face it successfully.

From March 27 to April 5, students from various vocational training centers in Barcelona, the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB) and Madrid made international training stays in the cities of Toulouse and Dijon, within the #BasicVET mobility program.

During these days, the students were able to acquire work experience, develop professional skills and learn about the culture and the French working environment.

Congratulations to all of you for the effort and desire you have put into this adventure!

Institut El Calamot	AMB
Institut Castellbisbal	AMB
Institut de Logística de Barcelona	BCN
Institut Lluïsa Cura	BCN
Institut Escola del Treball	BCN
Institut Escola d’Hoteleria i Turisme de Barcelona	BCN
Institut TIC de Barcelona	BCN
Xarxa FP	BCN
Escola Pia Mataró	MAT
Institut Escola del Treball	BCN
Fundació BCN Formació Professional	BCN

During the month of March, the 7th edition of the Compeuropa 2025 Singular Project was kicked off. This year, 60 young graduates in vocational training from the centers of Barcelona and its metropolitan area will have the opportunity to develop personally and professionally in companies in Munich, Hanover, Bremen and Oldenburg (Germany). 

The project, coordinated by the BCN Vocational Training Foundation, offers young graduates in vocational training, the opportunity to train linguistically in German language, carry out 6 weeks of internships in German companies, formalize a contract of at least one year with a company and, finally, homologate the vocational training qualification in Germany. 

The project is supported by the Catalan Employment Service, the Lower Saxon Chamber of Commerce (IHK Hannover), the City Council of Munich (Landeshauptstadt München) and Humboldt Comunicación Intercultural.

The 15th edition of the International Fair of Simulated Companies has opened its doors to the Fira de Barcelona, in an event organized by the Inform Foundation. It is an initiative in which we have participated for more than ten years, with our project Simulated Company, an innovation project that seeks to complement the training with a completely practical knowledge and enhance the transversal skills of VET students that promotes the training and employability of VET students.

The opening ceremony was attended by prominent personalities from the education and employment sector. Among them, Juan José Torres, director of the Employment Office of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Ricard Coma, director of Vocational Training of the Department of Education, and Scott Mitchell, director of the international network of simulated companies Pen Worldwide.

During the inauguration, the speakers highlighted the importance of this event for the development of professional skills in a practical and innovative environment. The fair is consolidated as a meeting and learning space for students, teachers and companies, promoting experience in the world of work through business simulation.

With this new edition, the BCN Vocational Training Foundation is committed to and represents Vocational Training for all.