The new report, “The Vocational Training System and Innovation in Spain,” prepared by Mónica Moso (CaixaBank Dualiza Foundation) and Ainara Zubillaga (Cotec Foundation), marks a turning point in how innovation is understood in Spain. For the first time, both organizations have jointly analyzed the real role of vocational training within the Spanish science, technology, and innovation system.
The document dismantles the traditional view that reduces innovation to scientific or technological research. Evidence gathered from more than 250 vocational training centers and 30 organizations demonstrates that innovation also arises from the continuous improvement of processes, technological adaptation, the resolution of real-world problems, and the daily interaction between educational institutions, businesses, and professionals. And it is precisely here that vocational training reveals itself as an irreplaceable player.
The report identifies clear limitations: the scant presence of vocational training (VET) in public R&D&I policies, its invisibility in the governance of the science and technology system, the fragmentation of support mechanisms, and its reliance on the voluntary efforts of teachers. However, it also highlights crucial strengths: its strong local roots, its connection to the productive sector, and its capacity to adapt to the real needs of businesses.
In this context, students and graduates emerge as true agents of innovation, capable of identifying opportunities, incorporating up-to-date knowledge, and catalyzing change within organizations. VET not only trains professionals: it generates innovation wherever economic activity takes place.
The challenge now is not simply recognizing this role, but fully integrating it into the R&D&I system and transforming it into a structural driver of change. This report helps to place this debate at the forefront, reinforcing an idea that is already a reality: VET is innovation.