As part of the ENNE+ project (Erasmus+), Spain has once again brought together Vocational Education and Training (VET) students to compete, collaborate, and innovate around sustainability and digitalisation. On 17 and 18 March, the second edition of Eco-Digithon Spain took place in Madrid, organised by FPEmpresa and Innogestiona Ambiental, gathering VET students and educational centres to present proposals combining sustainability, digitalisation, and entrepreneurship.
The in-person session was held on 17 March at San Blas Digital – School of Digital Skills, the culmination of an earlier preparation phase carried out within each participating centre, where teams worked together to develop the materials and presentations for their projects.
On 18 March, following the jury’s deliberation, the winning projects of this second edition were announced during a brief online session.
First prize went to IES Francisco de Quevedo for PlastiScore Verified – Intelligent Plastic Packaging Counting Index, earning the team €1,000 in equipment for their centre, a €250 gift card for the coordinating teachers, and a place at the 9th edition of the Social Hackathon Umbria. The project proposes a scanning application capable of identifying and counting plastic packaging through an intelligent tracking index, offering a practical tool to monitor plastic waste and support more sustainable, responsible management models.
Second prize was awarded to Salesianos Atocha for Arganzuela Conectada (€750 in equipment), a project aimed at improving neighbourhood life through real data collected via technology. Born out of listening to local residents, it identifies concerns such as the loss of green spaces, construction noise, traffic pollution, and overtourism, and proposes a network of IoT sensors to monitor these conditions and support better decisions by citizens and institutions alike.
Third prize went to IES San Blas for BeiOtA de San Blas (€500 in equipment), a solar-powered smart garden that applies real renewable energy technology while bringing science and sustainability closer to primary school students through a STEM-based approach.
Fourth prize was awarded to Instituto Nebrija de FP for Green Campus (€300 in equipment), an initiative bringing together students from different training programmes to tackle a real challenge: transforming a traditional educational centre into a Smart Campus.
The evaluation committee brought together representatives from across the education and sustainability sector: Patricia Mora (Director, Innogestiona Ambiental), Elena Argudo (Director, FPEmpresa), Carlos de Olagüe (Madrid Regional Coordinator, FPEmpresa, and Vice President of EfVET), Nuria Villareal (Head of Entrepreneurship, Directorate-General for VET Centres and Special Regime of the Community of Madrid), and Carmen Valdés-Hevia and Gloria Iglesias (Education and Knowledge Managers, Fundación Repsol).
Choosing the winners was no easy task: the jury highlighted the strong innovation, quality, and conceptual depth of all the proposals submitted, which made the deliberation especially close.
A Day to Learn, Collaborate, and Connect Ideas
The in-person event on 17 March opened with an institutional welcome and a presentation of the ENNE+ project, followed by two keynote talks on entrepreneurship and sustainability in VET. Mónica Castilla Baylos, Head of Entrepreneurs and SMEs at Madrid Emprende (Madrid City Council), spoke on How to Start a Business in Madrid?, while Carmen Valdés-Hevia Temprano, Education Manager at Fundación Repsol, presented Learning to Decide, Learning to Transform: Sustainability in VET.
After a coffee break, the spotlight turned to the participating teams, who presented their projects throughout the morning. The event then made room for teams to explore each other’s initiatives in depth, exchange feedback, and spark new opportunities for collaboration between centres and ideas, a true “call for synergies” between the projects on show.
The day closed with the jury’s evaluation, a final networking moment between teams, and the institutional closing of the event, marked by acknowledgements and a group photo to remember the day.
