Whowe are


Viladecans City Council is leading the ON BOARD Project in the framework of the URBACT European Program. The main goal is transferring Viladecans’ Good Practice, the Educational Innovation Network to other 5 partners, namely Albergaria-a-Velha (Portugal), Halmstad (Sweden), Nantes (France), Poznań (Poland) and Tallinn (Estonia).

Smaller cities (25.000 people in Albergaria-a-Velha) exchanged experiences and learning alongside bigger ones (Poznań 540.000). They developed innovation approaches and benefited from the fact that all Partners come from different European regions. They all represent a diversity of focuses and interests in education, but they also have in common Education as a strategic development priority for their cities.

For all ON BOARD partner cities the Educational Innovation Network is meant to increase citizens’ capacities, broaden their life opportunities and eventually improve their wellbeing.

Viladecans’ Good Practice:The Educational InnovationNetwork


“The Educational Innovation Network generates new ideas and creates trust”Miguel Angel Moreno

PhD student and member of Viladecans URBACT Local Group and the Educational Innovation Network

The Educational Innovation Network was created to align efforts from all local agents in the city to introduce innovative projects using ICTs, provide the right skills and competences, and involve both social entities and economic stakeholders in the development of new education initiatives. At the focus is the student’s interests and motivation, as well as its wellbeing.

Two chief elements characterise the work on education in Viladecans:

Incorporating the use of technology and digital tools in the classroom

Promoting an integrative approach and co-responsibility of all education stakeholders

The Educational Innovation Network is a network of co-responsible education agents who interact and exchange know-how and experience within a cooperative structure to generate new knowledge and projects that can advance educational innovation and achieve education success in the city.

Results achieved*:

*Figures from the beginning of the Educational Innovation Network until year 2017 when the Educational Innovation Network was awarded with the URBACT Good Practice recognition:

Schools sharing knowledge, projects and experience.

Parents have higher levels of interaction with the schools and among themselves through ICT solutions, i.e. Apps.

Companies have approached the schools in the city to cooperate.

Viladecans has become an example of education success. The city is invited to explain and share its experiences in different educational spaces.

Families choose schools based on the education project and quality.
Schools are constantly innovating.

Education is a hot topic in the City.

Secondary accreditations in 2011-2012-> 81%
Secondary accreditations in 2016-2017-> 84’52%
From 19% to 7% of school failure.

Increased ratio of electronic devices in schools: from 8 to 3 students per 1 device.

9.698 students participating in educational innovative projects.

Improved teachers’ digital skills through 150 hours training for 219 teachers (2016-17).

8 parents’ associations using Apps and social media for communicating.

About 38 businesses actively involved in education projects in the City (100 reached through communication).

Increased projects from an average of 2 to 4 per school.
All schools in the city participate.

See whatON BOARD partner citieshave achieved


Diversity bolstered ON BOARD’s learning and exchange project. They all represent a diversity of focuses and interests in education, but they also have in common Education as a strategic development priority for their cities

Educational InnovationNetwork Key CommunityMembers


The Educational Innovation Network is fundamentally a collaborative space, it relies on the participation of all education agents in the city and calls for interactions and synergies to create a community of practice on educational innovation.

The multi-level, often complex relations established among local education agents and how they can collaborate in education projects was addressed at each Transnational Meeting held during the ON BOARD project lifetime by analysing the main stakeholders, each of them with a place and a role in the Educational Network.

Representatives from each stakeholder groups were invited to participate in the meetings so they could exchange experience and knowledge with their peers from other cities, sharing challenges and good practices.

Slide University Local Authorities Teachers Students Business Entities Families Educational
Innovation Network

Educational InnovationNetwork Key CommunityMembers


The Educational Innovation Network

The Educational Innovation Network is fundamentally a collaborative space, it relies on the participation of all education agents in the city and calls for interactions and synergies to create a community of practice on educational innovation.

The multi-level, often complex relations established among local education agents and how they can collaborate in education projects was addressed at each Transnational Meeting held during the ON BOARD project lifetime by analysing the main stakeholders, each of them with a place and a role in the Educational Network.

Representatives from each stakeholder groups were invited to participate in the meetings so they could exchange experience and knowledge with their peers from other cities, sharing challenges and good practices.

Slide University Local Authorities Teachers Students Business Entities Families Educational
Innovation Network