Network Members

Viladecans’ 360º approach to education underpins the idea of an Educational Innovation Network that involves different public and private representatives in a city-wide project. Anybody educates, anywhere at any time. It is understood that learning happens within and out of schools’ walls, and also physically and, increasingly, from and with virtual digital tools.

This education conception makes everybody co-responsible in the teaching-learning process. Bridges between potentially education agents, formal and non-formal, promote collaborative efforts and have a multiplying impact.

With this in view, all ON BOARD partners engaged members from different stakeholders’ groups to participate in the international gatherings, their local planning meetings and in pilot innovative projects.

Teachers and headmasters were obviously the first ones, but other followed: local businesses and the university, entities of all kinds, families, the students themselves… they turned to have a high potential and interest in connecting with each other to improve students’ interest, skills and capacities from a “real world” standpoint and beyond the formal curricula.

The benefits of joint collaboration between the cities and the Universities placed in their territories are multiple and well known. Yet, it is not so common to see how primary and secondary education centres can benefit from research and collaboration projects with the Universities and other Higher Education and research institutions. 

Viladecans, with the Smart Classroom Project, Halmstad, with the Smart Classroom Lab project, Albergaria with the University of Aveiro or Poznan and the University of Technology and the Super Computing Centre are good examples of ON BOARD cities benefitting from these joint projects. 

The different roles that the Higher Education institutions can have to improve education in the city are diverse and were analysed in Albergaria. In agreement with the municipality, the University can provide teachers’ training and lifelong learning support; strategic planning and operational education plans hand in hand with the Education Departments; evaluation of education results in the schools through data gathering and monitoring and research on education topics and methods at the very same centres and with students.