Last Thursday, July 6th, Escuela del Agua held the Docentum 2023 Conference, focused on the European Year of Skills. This seminar, which brings together all the teachers and collaborators of the Water School, took place at the headquarters of the Municipal Water Company of Tarragona (EMATSA).

The day was inaugurated by the Mayor of Tarragona and EMATSA's top representative, Mr. Rubén Viñuales and Mr. Narciso Berberana, the General Manager of Agbar in Catalonia. Both highlighted the importance of the city as a pioneer in Dual Vocational Training in Water, as well as the promotion of armed projects on public-private partnerships to strengthen the commitment to talent at the industrial level.

Laura Rahola, Head of Communication of the European Commission Representation, explained the strategic sense that the Year of Skills has for the European Union: "in a world in constant evolution, where technological advances and economic changes are rapidly transforming industrial sectors, it is crucial that people acquire and develop new specific skills". For his part, Lluc Pejó, director of the Water School, presented the 2030 vision of the Water School, based on four axes: the 10-year trajectory of the School, the purpose of the institution, the macro trends in talent and professional learning, and the changes in the legal framework for both training and regulation of the water sector.

The first panel of the day, entitled "Defining sectoral competencies"In addition, initiatives focused on the creation of operational skills maps for water professionals were presented. Àngels Orduña, director of the European association of energy intensive companies (A.SPIRE) explained the European project SPIRE-SAIS aimed at drawing the competency map for these companies. Jordi Vallvé, responsible for Sustainable Development at EMATSA, presented the results of the project. Greenskills in VETa project focused on the water, energy and transportation sectors. Finally, Eva Marina Rodriguez, Development Director of the Escuela del Agua, presented NEREXA as the platform for personalized learning and upskilling of water professionals.

The second panel, "Educational Practices for Excellence." allowed to contrast collaborations between companies and educational institutions with competency-based learning at the center. Óscar Palazón and Eduard Fernández, representatives of the Department of Education of the Generalitat de Catalunya and Agbar, respectively, presented the project. 3LoE for the creation of the first Center of Professional Excellence (CoVEs) for Water in Spain. Sol Bermejo and Joaquim Minguella presented practical case studies of challenge-based learning with an international dimensionat different educational levels. Bermejo, project coordinator of Fundació Barcelona FP, presented the European Water Challenge VET Lab which allows students from Belgium, Denmark and Spain to innovate in sustainable drainage solutions, while MinguellaDirector of the Inter-University Degree in Industrial Technologies and Economic Analysis (UPC-UPF), presented the Enterprise Challenges included in this program, which is conducted entirely in English and has an unusually high proportion of women among its cohort.

Cristina Galvan, principal investigator of the Consolidated Group in Virtual Teaching and Learning and coordinator of the Master in Teaching and Learning Environments with digital technologies of the University of Barcelona made a formative epilogue on the impact of Artificial Intelligence on learning processes.

The Water School has fulfilled the objective of raising awareness of the European Year of Competences and explaining the reasons for joining based on its purpose and vision, as well as sharing the main initiatives it is involved in both at European and internal level from a multilevel learning perspective.