The Diplomat
The Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI) and the Basque Government have signed a collaboration agreement to develop joint actions in education, science and culture between the Basque community and the Ibero-American community.
The agreement was signed last Wednesday by the secretary general of the OEI, Mariano Jabonero, and the lehendakari Iñigo Urkullu during a ceremony held at the Ajuria Enea Palace in Vitoria-Gasteiz.
Under the agreement, the Basque Government will participate in the design and implementation of cooperation projects aimed at strengthening technical vocational training systems in areas such as innovation, teacher and director training, dual vocational training, distance vocational training and the development of national qualifications frameworks for programs of this nature throughout Ibero-America.
Thanks to this agreement, the two parties will develop extensive joint work, especially in the field of higher and technical-vocational education, an area that is highly developed in the Basque Country. In addition, the agreement opens the door to the active participation of Basque universities in the regional strategy of the OEI Ibero-American University 2030, which aims to create a common Ibero-American space for higher education and research.
Thus, the agreement contemplates several possible lines of collaboration, such as exchanges of information and experiences, mobility grants for teachers and students, shared research projects, internships and other joint strategies to promote the internationalization of Ibero-American universities.
In scientific matters, the agreement will enhance the role of the Basque research center Tknika as an important pole of innovation, disseminating its best practices within the scope of the OEI, especially with regard to professional training in the fields of automation and industry 4.0. In addition, the agreement foresees the participation of the Basque Government in projects on cultural routes and itineraries and in projects related to the development of the economy of cultural industries. In this line, the IEO works in alliance with the European Institute of Cultural Routes and Itineraries (IERC) of the Council of Europe.
