We wanted to give more meaning to vocational education by connecting it to a concrete, European project rooted in real market needs. Our objectives were to: Develop our students' professional skills (administration, logistics, and transport). Offer them a valuable international experience with a Spanish training centre and a real company. Strengthen their autonomy, cultural awareness, and language skills. Align vocational training more closely with the needs of the labour market. Promote vocational pathways to both students and the general public. And above all, build a sustainable partnership between the French school, the Spanish training centre, and the Maeva company, in order to ensure long-term cooperation.
We applied for this Erasmus project in order to address several needs identified within our institution and in vocational education more broadly. First of all, we saw the need to respond to the real demands of the labour market by integrating practical skills related to the import, storage, and marketing of an emblematic agri-food product from Andalusia: olive oil. Secondly, since our students come from diverse backgrounds, we wanted them to have access to a meaningful international experience. By working with Spanish partners and discovering another professional culture, we aimed to help our learners develop not only linguistic and intercultural skills, but also greater open-mindedness—an essential quality in today’s professional world. Finally, we wanted to enhance the appeal of vocational education by making it more practical, more European, and more forward-looking, with the goal of changing public perceptions.