Andalusia’s National Reference Centres (CRNs) are due to carry out around 145 innovation and research initiatives in vocational training this year, backed by a planned investment of more than €850,000. The centres are affiliated with the Andalusian Employment Service (SAE) and conduct sector-focused innovation and experimentation with a national scope. Their aim is to modernise and strengthen links between training and the industries they serve, helping workers in those sectors improve their position in the labour market.
The five centres specialise in hospitality and tourism, jewellery and goldsmithing, wood, crafts and natural stone. They are the Albayzín Training School in Granada; the Marble School in Almería; the Jewellery School in Córdoba; the Wood School in Encinas Reales, Córdoba; and the CIO Mijas in Málaga, the only centre dedicated to hospitality and tourism. The Albayzín school covers traditional crafts, artistic restoration, repair and maintenance, musical instrument manufacture and maintenance, and artisanal glass and ceramics. The other centres focus on natural stone; jewellery and goldsmithing; and wood production, carpentry and furniture, respectively.
The SAE recently brought together the social councils of the five centres—participatory bodies for social and economic stakeholders—to present proposed work plans for 2026. The proposals received positive assessments from all members of the councils. The approval process will now proceed through a joint committee made up of the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sport and the SAE, a step required before state funding for the plans can be approved.
The plans include incorporating artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies into vocational training, as well as digitalisation, sustainability, energy efficiency, the circular economy and customer experience. They also aim to expand collaboration across the vocational training system, strengthen the impact of research and experimentation, encourage knowledge-sharing among vocational training innovation networks, improve trainers’ technical and methodological skills, and support internationalisation through participation in international projects, networks and partnerships.
The plans are intended to complement the training already offered by the SAE-affiliated schools with new initiatives responding to changing qualification needs in the sectors they serve. Andalusia has five of Spain’s 40 National Reference Centres. The SAE’s network of training schools comprises 11 centres, which tailor programmes to specialised professional roles in demand and aligned with professional certificates.