On May 21st, the 25th anniversary of the CAT VET System and the awards ceremony for best practices in the field of VET were celebrated. Xarxa FP won one of the awards for 25 years to promote the internationalization of vocational training. More information about Xarxa FP is here.
Below is a part of the article published by the Journal of VET where it talks about the FP Network: (see the entire article here.)
ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN CITIES NETWORK FP (BARCELONA)
The Association of European Cities, Xarxa FP is a European association created in 1999 that brings together cities from European countries to promote and promote the internationalization of students, teachers, and graduates in vocational training.
Since its creation, it has been the spearhead for the internationalization of vocational training centers in different European cities. In 1999 he began to develop internationalization projects for students and teachers of vocational training and continued to develop European projects at all levels of education, becoming in 2020 the only institution with the ability to carry out an international project only aimed at young people from training and insertion programs or basic vocational training. During all these years, the FP Network has been a key actor so that every year more vocational training centers can start participating in international projects, and that their students and teachers can carry out international stays in other EU countries. Since 2022, the FP Network has made it possible for international internships and professional stays beyond the EU to be carried out: in Montreal, Melbourne, or Monterrey.
Regarding innovative actions, it should be noted that the FP Network has been developing sectoral knowledge hubs since 2017 to promote strategic partnerships at the European level. Thus, he has developed the projects “Industrial VET HUB”, “Port VET HUB” and “Logistics VET HUB”.
Every year, the FP Network works with approximately 500 companies in different countries of the European Union (90 of them located in Barcelona and its metropolitan area), and encourages and promotes that students and teachers of professional training carry out internships and training stays in their headquarters. Thus, it promotes that companies know the reality of professional training in their environment and maximize their relationship with vocational training centers.
95% of young people who carry out international mobility through the VET Network join the labor market in less than 6 months after their stay or doing post-compulsory higher studies. Thus, it can be said that international stay is a key aspect of entry into the labor market.
