NEWS

EITA 2025 for MixUp

On December 9 Norbert Ruepert of ROC Midden Nederland received the European Innovative Teaching Award 2025 for the project MixUp from Roxane Minsatu, vice-president of the European Commission on behalf of the whole partnership. 

The award ceremony took place in Brussels. The topic of this year’s EITA was “Citizenship Education - Participation in Democratic Life, Common Values and Civic Engagement (https://innovative-teaching-award.ec.europa.eu/award/2025-edition_en ).

MixUp is an online tool that encourages conversation between students from different countries that have opposite opinions and civic topics. There are five MixUp sessions each schoolyear on UN days such as UN Day on Human Rights.  More information on the tool and how to take part, can be found on www.letsmixup.com .

Lab internship exchange

After hard work, negotiations and contact visits, we have managed to organise a one-to-one exchange of students in the field of Clinical and Biomedical Laboratory. 

Julia Hoveling, from The Netherlands, is doing her 7-month internship in the HUN (Hospital Universitario de Navarra). First she spent some weeks in the Health VET School of Navarra (ESTNA) in order to adapt to the new situation and in order to improve her Spanish. Then, she moved on to the HUN in order to learn how a real lab works and put into practice the skills and competences she has already acquired in her school.

Nadia Bendoechea, from Navarra, is doing her 8-month internship in Nutrilab, a company specialised on food, feed and agro. Two other students from Navarra had to opportunity to work in this company from March to June 2025 and this collaboration has been prolongued with Nadia.

We wish them both the best for these next months, now they have had the time to settle, meet new people and get familiar with the new environment.

NAVE2 Network Meeting in Lappeenranta, Finland

On November 6–7, 2025, Saimaa Vocational College Sampo hosted the NAVE2 network meeting, bringing together partners from the Netherlands (ROC Midden Nederland), Spain (Government of Navarra), Italy (Consorzio Instituti Professionali), and Belgium (Stedelijk Onderwijs).

Special guests joined us from Wales (Gower College Swansea) and France (L'Académie de Bordeaux).

Our topic this year was Cooperation with the working life. The program featured discussions on quality in workplace collaboration, flexible study paths, and future mobility strategies within NAVE4.

On Friday, the program was divided into two tracks:

• International Coordinators focused on technical working sessions, including presentations on NAVE4 mobility plans, inclusion projects, and KA2 initiatives such as Befinetour and MixUp.

• Managers explored leadership and team culture, strategy processes, and visited Sampo's very own excellence center Pastry Saimaa and made a company visit to The Switch.

October 2025: MixUp session on Sustainability 

On October 28, 367 students from 10 different countries took part in the MixUp on Sustainability session. 

As always at 11 o’clock CET students went online to first give their opinions on five statements ranging from banning of plastics, car usage in cities to promoting of nuclear energy or the question whether personal impact makes a difference. The system matched them to a student from another country with different views on the statements. Then the chat could start. 

During the 45 minutes of this MixUP session over 15,000 messages were exchanged between students in conversations lasting 5 or 6 minutes typically. In this way they were able to have conversations with students from different countries during a MixUp session. Overall students were very satisfied as they rated the experience with a score of 3.9 out 5. This is in a large part due to the user-friendliness of the system and the fact that every match is a new surprise but also due to the preparation all students received with especially developed thematic lessons. 

Next session is on Day of Human Right on December 10. Interested? Take a look at: www.letsmixup.com.

JUNE 2025: TECH-DETOX BOOTCAMP

In the week of 2 - 6 June, 18 students from Consorzio de Istituti Professionali, from ROC Midden Nederland and from Pamplona itself came together for a Bootcamp. Their assignment was to develop answers on a particular topic from the state government of Navarre. 

There, too, many young people are mentally less resilient due to being online for a long time. They are less happy, sleep less, have fewer social contacts. In multi-national groups, the students worked on developing campaigns that should make young people aware of the risks and invite them to be more offline. 

After a week of research, good practises, the teams presented their solutions to government representatives on Friday in the archives of the state of Navarra. They passionately and convincingly promoted their online and especially offline suggestions in swirling pitches. The winning group presented a short powerful video that showed the effects of an online addiction in a very playful way.

For the students, this was an enormously enriching experience that, despite the sometimes occurring language barrier, showed that working together leads to team building and innovative solutions. Next year the bootcamp will be organised again in one of the NAVE2 countries. 

KICK-OFF MEETING OF THE BEFINETOUR PROJECT IN ANTWERP

Last May 2025, the kick-off meeting for BEFINETOUR took place in Antwerp. This is an Erasmus+ KA220-VET project involving institutions and educational centers from five European countries: Spain (Department of Education – Government of Navarra), the Netherlands (ROC Midden Nedderland), Belgium (Stedelijk Onderwijs), Italy (Consorzio Istituti Professionali), and Finland (Saima Vocational College Sampo).

The meeting brought together representatives from these five entities on the 14th and 15th, all of which are members of the NAVE alliance, a strategic collaboration network created in 2018 to strengthen and deepen international cooperation in the field of vocational training.

FEB 2025: INTERNATIONAL TEAM ROC MIDDEN NEDERLAND VISIT CONSORZIO ISTITUTI PROFESSIONALI 

From 4 to 6 February a delegation of the international of ROCMN visited a number of member schools of the Consorzio in Modena, Parma and Sassuolo. The group that consisted mainly of international coordinators of the vocational colleges of ROCMN came with the objective to learn more about the Italian (vocational) education system and to explore opportunities for more cooperation. 

The link between CIP and ROCMN has been deep and long-standing but it is valuable to continue to look for more options. The group was based at the Venturi school in Modena. On the second day of the visit small group went to individual schools based on their vocational profiles. On the third days all these different experiences were brought together and discussed with the representatives of the Consorzio.  

This has led to a deeper understanding of the Italian system and to new initiatives for further cooperation between these NAVE2 partners.

FEB 2025: LABORATORY TEACHERS FROM THE DUTCH CENTRE ROC MIDDEN VISIT OUR VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS.

More and more vocational training students in the laboratory speciality are applying for a stay in Europe under the umbrella of the Erasmus+ programme. The difficulty of finding companies for them has led to the visit of a group of chemistry and clinical and biomedical laboratory teachers from the Dutch centre ROC MIDDEN, in Utrecht, with the aim of establishing a more solid basis for a more fluid exchange of students in this sector.

For this reason, the delegation visited the two centres that offer this type of studies: CIP DONAPEA and ESTNA. They met the teaching staff, the facilities and even met with students selected for an Erasmus+ stay. They also visited two companies that can potentially host Dutch students for internships: certain laboratories of HUN and the company HUNTSMAN.

We thank them for their visit and hope that this visit will really lead to a collaboration that will allow us to help students of these specialities in the search for companies in Europe.

FEB 2025: NAVE2 Hospitality and Flex students visit Navarre

From 3 to 7 Feb, Navarre welcomed two groups of Basic Vocational Training students from the ROC MIDDEN centre in the Netherlands. One of the groups, made up of 8 students and 2 teachers, from different specialities, went to CIP Estella, while the other, made up of 12 students and 3 teachers, all of them specialising in Catering, went to CIP Huarte.

Each group carried out a variety of activities in the centre, fully integrating into school life and interacting with local students: workshops, presentations, visits to companies, and even participation in a fair, where the Dutch team, which created a company selling trips to Amsterdam, came in second place.

On Friday 7th February the two groups joined together in a cultural activity organised by the Internationalisation Department, which included a guided tour of Pamplona City Hall. We hope the experience was satisfactory.

DECEMBER 2024: NAVE2 mobility takes Spanish students from CIP HUARTE to ROC MIDDEN.

During our stay last December in Utrecht, a group of seven students had the opportunity to explore different educational centres belonging to the ROC Midden Nederland which allowed us to enrich our academic and professional training. 

Each of the study centres and workshops we visited gave us a unique insight into their teaching methods, technological innovations and pedagogical approaches. This experience gave us a broader perspective on education and the world of work in an environment different from our own.

We would like to express our most sincere thanks for the attention and the warm treatment (with a special farewell dinner in a magical place) that we received in each of the places we visited, following the recommendations (Utrecht Amersfoort, Amsterdam, Rotterdam...). We felt very well received and valued by the teachers and students, which made our stay even more enriching. Without a doubt, this experience will remain engraved in our memory and will be fundamental for our future.

NOVEMBER 2024: NAVE2 mobility takes Dutch students from ROC MIDDEN to CIP HUARTE.

7 students from ROC MIDDEN NEDERLAND have visited CIP HUARTE, in Spain, in an Erasmus+ mobility that lasted around 10 days. They could work in the different workshops at school, together with local students. They also had some cultural activities and they visited some companies (Vicarli and Cooperativa Hostelera).

SEPTEMBER 2024: NAVE2 Study visit on apprenticeship in the Netherlands

From 16 to 20 September a group of 11 representatives of the NAVE2 partners visited Utrecht on the topic of apprenticeships. The group consisting of managers and policymakers looked at how apprenticeship education is organized in the Netherlands from a policy level to practical cooperation with companies that provide training employment to apprentices. ROC MN is one of the largest providers of apprenticeship education in the Netherlands with over 7000 students in more than 110 vocational qualifications.

One focus area of the visit was health care education which traditionally has many apprentices in the Netherlands, many of whom are adults. The group also visited Woonzorg care centre to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of apprenticeship education form the view point of a health care provider.

Another focus area was technical apprenticeships as they traditionally form the mainstay of apprenticeship education in the Netherlands. The group visited the tech campus in Nieuwegein and a company called Tectum that has been offering apprenticeship for years.

JUNE 2024: 3-MONTH INTERNSHIPS FOR SPANISH STUDENTS IN FINLAND, ITALY, BELGIUM AND THE NETHERLANDS

Following the internationalisation programme established in Gobierno de Navarra, 8 students have had the opportunity to do a 3-month internship in a European company, thanks to the collaboration of the NAVE2 partners. 

Two of them went to Antwerp, one of them to Utrecht, four went to Parma and the last one to Lappeenranta. Their profiles were quite diverse: Basic Nursing Skills in Belgium, Administration and Financial Management in Finland, Administration and Assistance to People in Need of Care in Italy and Industrial Automatisms and Robotics in The Netherlands.

APRIL 2024: FINDLAND WELCOMES  A DUTCH GROUP

APRIL 2024: WELCOME TO ITALIAN AND FINNISH STUDENTS WHO WILL CARRY OUT INTERNSHIPS IN COMPANIES IN NAVARRE

A group of 10 Italian students accompanied by two teachers from the I.T.E. Giambattista Bodoni school in Parma and the Galvani Iodi school in Regio Emilia and 3 Finnish students from the Saiman Sampo school, are currently spending a month of training in companies in Navarre. For the organization of these stays from the Department of Education we have counted with the collaboration of CIP DONAPEA; CI María Ana Sanz, CIP DONIBANE, School of Educators and the CAP of Pamplona. 

FEB-MAR 2024: FPB STUDENTS FROM CIP ELIZONDO AND CIP ESTELLA TRAVEL TO THE NETHERLANDS.

From February 28 to March 8, the first year students of the Basic Degree in Manufacturing and Computer Science from CIP Elizondo and the Basic Degree in Electricity and Electronics from CIP Estella have been in Holland thanks to the Erasmus program.

There, in addition to visiting different schools, they have had the opportunity to meet new people and unique places.

They say that the experience has been very nice and that they are looking forward to return to another place!

FEBRUARY 2024: CIP BURLADA WELCOMES A GROUP OF STUDENTS AND TEACHERS OF AESTHETICS FROM THE NETHERLANDS.

A group of 4 students of the Aesthetics specialty, accompanied by two of their teachers, have traveled from the center ROC MIDDEN NEDERLAND (The Netherlands) to CIP Burlada for a short two-day stay at the center. The students have actively participated in the Aesthetics classes and have met our students and our facilities. In addition, of course, the group has been able to enjoy our culture and gastronomy, since the teachers have already visited us on previous occasions and know first hand our customs.

JANUARY 2024: NAVARRA WELCOMES NAVE2 GROUP FROM THE NETHERLANDS

A total of 14 students from ROC MIDDEN in Utrecht (The Netherlands) were accompanied by three teachers, Nina Strijker, Lesley Kooijman and Suzanne de Jager, to visit CIP HUARTE and visit companies.

The group of students is divided into two areas, information and communication and logistics. During this week, from January 22 to 26, they have carried out several activities. First of all, they have actively participated in various classes at CIP HUARTE, where they have been able to meet our students. A very positive atmosphere of coexistence has been created and the Dutch students have expressed that they would have liked to spend more time with them.

NOVEMBER 2023: ANNUAL MEETING OF NAVE2 PARTNERSHIP IN PAMPLONA

Representatives of the NAVE2 partnership met on November 15 and 16 in Pamplona to renew alliances, expand the organization and set new challenges.

NAVE2 is a strategic alliance between Vocational Education and Training centers in the Netherlands, Italy, Finland and Spain (Navarra) that started in 2018 with the firm purpose of establishing a reliable network for student and teacher mobilities. 

Since then, this partnership has grown (Belgium) and is always open to new challenges. One of them is the mobility of students from Basic and Special Degrees. These mobilities are giving the opportunity to these students to enjoy an Erasmus stay and to visit companies, centers and places of interest outside their country.

On the other hand, NAVE2 also has other KA2 projects under development or in the application process. We hope that this partnership will continue to grow and get stronger and stronger.

OCTOBER 2023: MEETING IN FINLAND FOR FUTURE PROJECT ON SUSTAINABLE TOURISM.

The Department of Education and CIP BURLADA have sent a representative from each institution to Lappeenranta (Finland) to lay the foundations of what could become a new KA220 project on sustainable tourism.

Several countries intend to get involved in this project: Finland, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain. 

The objective of this project is based on the ever-changing challenges and needs faced by the tourism sector. This leads us to a key objective: to establish the contents and skills that we should incorporate to the cycles related to this sector in order to train our students correctly. 

SEPTEMBER 2023: STUDENTS FROM ESTELLA AND BURLADA TRAVEL TO THE NETHERLANDS.

CIP BURLADA and CIP ESTELLA inaugurate the short term mobilities of this course. 6 students from Burlada of higher degree in Travel Agencies and Event Management and Management of catering services together with 2 students from Estella of higher degree in Tourist Guide, Information and Assistance have traveled with a teacher of CIP BURLADA to the Netherlands. There they have known the facilities of the ROC MIDDEN NEDERLAND center, where they have spent a few days observing the way in which the cycles related to hospitality are taught there. They have actively participated in the classes, interacting with native students, and have had the opportunity to know and enjoy the city of Utrecht.

MAY 2023: FINNISH TEACHERS FROM THE SAMPO CENTER IN LAPPEENRANTA VISIT OUR NAVARRESE PV SCHOOLS

It is not the first time that our Finnish partner, the SAMPO SAIMAAN AMMATTIOPISTO center located in Lappeeranta, southern Finland, sends us students and teachers, in fact the relationship is fluid and bidirectional.

In this case they have been two students of studies related to nature and the environment, Tuuli Qvist and Mina Järvenpää, who have come to spend a month in the Agroforestry IC, attending classes of various cycles, touring areas of Navarra, such as the Sierra de Leyre or the Foz de Lumbier, and visiting companies in the sector, such as Hermoso de Mendoza.

On the other hand, Mikka Tujula and Sakke Haapiainen are Physical Education teachers in Lappeenranta and have come to CIP BURLADA to spend three days with teachers and students of Physical and Sports Activities. They have visited their facilities at the UPNA, accompanied the group to a lifeguard activity in San Sebastian and enjoyed our culture and gastronomy.

APRIL 2023: ELIZONDO SPECIAL VOCATIONAL TRAINING TRAVELS TO ANTWERP

A group of Special Vocational Training “Accommodation and Cleaning Assistant” from CIP Elizondo traveled to Antwerp (Belgium) from April 19 to 28. 

As they told us in a thank you email, they really enjoyed their stay and the various activities carried out with the students of the two Antwerp centers that participated in this mobility and they hope to return the visit next year.

If you want to know more, here you have this video.

APRIL 2023: ESTELLA'S COOKERY AND CATERING FPB TRAVELS TO FINLAND

6 students of FPB of Cooking and Catering from Estella have spent a few days in Lappeenranta (Finland) within the NAVE project. The stay took place from April 17 to 28 and the results have been very satisfactory.

The VET center Saimaa Vocational College Sampo received this group of students and organized their stay. They have enjoyed a sauna and ice lake bathing session, they have visited the biggest lake in Finland, typical monuments of the area, Imatra and, of course, they have cooked together with the Finnish students, sharing recipes and good moments.

These mobilities not only foster autonomy and curiosity for other cultures, but also serve to forge friendships with the students from the center and the host center.

APRIL 2023: WELCOMING GERMAN AND FINNISH STUDENTS AND TEACHERS

The week of April 17-23 was an intense one for the Internationalization Department and for four of our VET centers:

CI Agroforestry received two Finnish students who have received an overview of the center and the different levels and cycles taught there.

CIP Burlada welcomed two German teachers of pastry, butchery and sports activities, who have done a jobshadowing and visited some related companies.

CI Donibane received a group of 5 students from the NAVE project from Finland with a textile profile.

CIP Huarte received a group of 4 NAVE students from Germany from the domestic activities profile.

All of them joined last Wednesday afternoon, April 19, for a cultural visit to Pamplona.

MARCH 2023: FINDLAND HOSTS A GROUP OF DUTCH STUDENTS

FEBRUARY 2023: VISIT OF DUTCH STUDENTS FROM ROC MIDDEN NEDERLAND 

A group of 6 students of Transport and Logistics from Holland accompanied by two teachers have spent two weeks in Navarra within the initiative of a more inclusive Erasmus promoted by the NAVE2 project led by the Government of Navarra together with educational institutions from Italy, Finland, Holland and Germany.  During their stay they have been hosted by the VET centers CI Huarte and CI María Ana Sanz who have prepared cultural activities, learning and visits to companies in their sector. 

With this meeting the Dutch return the visit made by 6 students of Basic Vocational Training of CI Huarte to their country last November. 

FEBRUARY 2023: FINDLAND WELCOMES  A DUTCH GROUP

JANUARY 2023: VISIT OF 5 DUTCH HAIRDRESSING AND ESTHETICS TEACHERS TO CIP BURLADA.

Five teachers of Hairdressing and Aesthetics came to Navarra for a training stay at CIP BURLADA. There they did a job shadowing during three intense days in which they not only visited the facilities and observed the way our teachers work, but also participated in the classes and served as models for some of the practices that the students carried out.

They also had the opportunity to visit the center's restaurant, where they saw the students in action, cooking and waiting tables, and where they were also able to taste the menu of the day.

NOVEMBER 2021: FINDLAND HOSTS DUTCH, ITALIAN AND SPANISH STUDENTS