The Reforme+ project, in which the Fundación Laboral de la Construcción is participating and leading by the Comité de Concertation et de Coordination de l'Apprentissage du Bâtiment et des Travaux Publics (CCCA-BTP) in France, organised a mobility at the end of November to train managers from the Spanish centres during one-week in Normandy.

Four training managers from Navarra, Balearic Islands, Aragon and Cantabria participated in this European mobility for the development of pedagogical strategies and innovation in building trades in Spain and in France. They were accompanied by four other representatives of the Construction Labour Foundation of Asturias. 

For five days, the eight Spanish people were accompanied by Clara García, project officer at the International Projects Department entity. They exchanged experiences in the development of pedagogical innovation between Spain and France. The aim was to get to know the Vocational and Educational Training (VET) in the construction sector and to understand the strategies of the participating training organisations. They also discussed the integration of the changes needed for the industry transformation and their action plans about this.

Visit to the facilities of several CCCA-BTP centres

The host centre for this European mobility was the Batiment CFA in Normandy, although Bernardo García, director of the Training Centre in Navarre; Benito Monreal, head of vocational training in the Balearic Islands; Juan Lobaco, academic head in Aragon; and María Pérez, head of vocational training in Cantabria, also visited the facilities of the BTP centres CFA Rouen George Landry -centre of excellence in pedagogical innovation in major works and civil engineering- and CFA Le Havre -reference centre in working with wood-. They learned the technologies of augmented reality, virtual reality and 3D printing of cement used in these CCCA-BTP centres.

The exchange of experiences was very fruitful and led them to understand the business relationships in France and Spain. Also they knew the companies management (production/training) and the commercial strategies applied in both countries. They showed the training product ranges and the technical platforms used by the participating organizations, and the French and Spanish certification frameworks.

This exchange opened up the possibility to maintain effective future partnerships, anticipating market trends and needs. This will give the oportunity of applying in the innovative learning system, with the student as the focal point of this training type.

Clara García and Juan Lobaco explained to our French colleagues the Spanish construction particulars and its challenges; they also described the actions or activities carried out by the Fundación Laboral for its students.

The Spanish training managers visited a building site in the centre of Rouen belonging to the company Maison Dupuis, which is specialised in the historical restoration of heritage in Normandy. The site managers explained and discussed with the Spanish managers the working and the organisation of traineeships in France, and the relationship between the Vocational Training Centre and the companies that host the students.