A project to reduce the ecological footprint at Vallnord wins the fifth edition of the Tàndem Actua Empresa project

The fifth edition of the Tàndem project, promoted by Actua the ministry of Education and Higher Learning of the Government of Andorra, ended on Thursday December 17th, with the grand finale held in the auditorium of the Center for Professional Formation in Aixovall. The objective of the project is to implicate the FP´s educational community in Andorra in innovative projects being developed in companies and increase students´ talent.

The three finalist teams, made up of 6 students each, had 10 minutes to present their innovative solutions to the challenges posed by the Andorran Red Cross (how to increase the entity´s presence on a social level in the Principality); Vallnord (how to reduce the ski resort´s ecological footprint); and Via Moda (how to restructure Via Moda´s internal procedures to reduce its ecological footprint).

Neu Neta was the winning team. They presented a great project for Vallnord which included new water deposits, an app rewarding customers´ loyalty, reducing the fuel consumption and improving the landscape of Pal´s parking. This year´s participants included 80 students, 12 teachers and around ten mentors that worked together on the challenges posed by the three previously mentioned entities.

The minister for Education and Higher Learning, Ester Vilarrubla, highlighted that the Tàndem project is a fully consolidated one and the quality of the presentations had been “of the highest level”.

In addition, the minister for Presidency, Economy and Enterprise, and president of Actua, Jordi Gallardo, stated that “this project also allows us to involve the country´s companies in an open innovation process introducing them into a new manner of doing things. Nowadays, it is essential for companies to incorporate methodologies, through internal or external collaborations, which help them find innovative and creative solutions to the business challenges they may face”.

In this same line the director of Actua Business, Judit Hidalgo, explained that “Tàndem is precisely the combination of two worlds where all come out as winners. The paradigm where both companies and students learn and create together. Moreover, Actua Business also promotes the implanting of the winning solution in the company as the final part of the project”.

Previous editions

The first Tàndem edition ended in May 2017, with the presentation of three proposals made by the FP students providing various solutions to the challenge posed by Perfumeria Júlia consisting in analyzing customer behavior so as to improve customer experience in their establishments. The winning project was an app allowing to gather customer information thanks to a method combining NFC technology, Wi-fi and Bluetooth. 11 students participated in it, directed by five teachers, and with the participation of only one company, Perfumeries Júlia.

In the Tàndem’s second edition, the Vocational training students had to face the challenges posed by the companies: Dermandtek, on how to raise awareness to prevent skin cancer; Hotels Plaza, on how to offer a personalised gift experience to its clients; and Inlingua, on creating an attractive language immersion project during the months of July and August aimed at teenagers. Among the five finalist projects, the winner was for an application and a loyalty points system that allows the client to enjoy exclusive advantages and activities in the hotel facilities. All the students from the FP Center participated in that edition (61), tutored by 11 teachers, and they worked on challenges posed by three companies.

In the third edition of the Tàndem project, the Vocational training students worked on the innovation challenges posed by Andorra Telecom, Gamma Management and VallmedicVision. The winning team presented a battery of proposals to improve the sales of Andorra Telecom’s prepaid cards. 72 students participated, supervised by 12 teachers, and the challenges were as follows: Andorra Telecom, on how to innovate in the offer of prepaid mobile telephony to reach more customers; VallmedicVision, on ideas to raise awareness among the Andorran population to avoid the abuse of digital screens and reducing myopia; and Gamma Management wanted to improve the relationship of this human resources company with its customers, which are both companies and applicants.

The Tàndem’s fourth edition was attended by 68 students and 12 teachers from the Aixovall centre who worked on the challenges posed by Morabanc Andorra (How to make basketball a priority leisure option for the population between 20 and 40 years of age); Unicef (How to strengthen the collaboration of young people and Unicef); and Vatel (How to make professions in the hotel and tourism sector more attractive to the country’s students).