Erasmus+ mobility in Cordoba, for students and staff of I.I.E.K of KEKPA - DIEK Volos Municipality
A group of students from Jewelry department of I.I.E.K. Volos Municipality accompanied by a trainer and the Director, visited Cordoba, Spain, within the framework of the accredited project Erasmus + `New technologies in Vocational Education and Training`, specifically Dionisio Ortiz Art School for 16 days training ! Life experience as mentioned by the President of KEKPA-DIEK Mrs. Sofia Halari, in harmony with the motto of Erasmus+ "opens roads changes lives"!!!
The Dionisio Ortiz Art School, founded at the beginning of the last century, it’s a public school of Secondary Education, but it also operates Post-Secondary Education departments in Jewelry, Ceramics, Bookbinding, and Sculpture (which is considered necessary for the continuation of studies in Handmade Jewelry and productive, but also for Ceramics), while studies continue for a Bachelor of Fine Arts "Baccalaureate in Art". Our students of the 2nd semester took their first steps in engraving, nailing, creating models in beeswax and casting jewelry with excellent results!
Cordoba is considered as the fourth power of jewelry production in the world and Silversmithing is a traditional profession with excellent professional rehabilitation. Today more than 15,000 people are active in jewelry creation at the area. From this great tradition arose the need to create a "Cordoba Jewelry Business Park" dedicated exclusively to the jewelry sector, so that all Cordoba companies can develop their sales. The visit and the special tour of the park and the school that operates there, the `Escuela joyeria de Cordoba`, left the best impressions... with images from the future!!!
Alongside the training, the 28th PLE conference took place in the second week with the participation of 10 schools with students and instructors from all over Europe!. PLE is an organization in which 17 European Vocational Education and Training schools participate in Jewelry. Every year at the annual conference usually held in May, it organizes the Pan-European Traveling Jewelery Exhibition with student creations. The group therefore had the opportunity to attend the conference, to learn about the developments in education in the field of jewelry, to see new and different training methods and good practices applied in schools across Europe, to talk with fellow artisans about issues that concern them, to make new contacts and admire the jewelry of other students!
Equally important is the fact that the group visited several museums and places of cultural interest, in Córdoba, as well as in Seville and Madrid. The Historic Center of Córdoba, the Mosque, the Cathedral, the Roman bridge, the Guadalquivir but also Seville with its Cathedral and the Plaza de Espania impressed with their beauty and grandeur! Finally, taking advantage of the few hours before the return flight, in Madrid, a visit was made to the Reina Sofia Museum of Contemporary Art where the group was lucky enough to admire paintings by famous artists such as Picasso, Dali, Miro, etc.
The President of KEKPA-DIEK Mrs. Sofia Halari and the Vice-President Mr. Efthimios Tzounis, strengthening the extroversion of the students, have a common goal of promoting corresponding European actions, as they consider the participation in European Programs as one of the main goals of I.I.E.K. Municipality of Volos for the most complete education and training of students of all specialties, for their entry into the labor market.
