Linking Bavaria and Catalonia: strategic cooperation in AI, education, and research

Obreal carried out an intensive agenda of institutional meetings in Bavaria with the aim of strengthening and expanding strategic cooperation between Catalonia, Bavaria, Africa, and Latin America. Over the course of six days, the organization visited entities across various sectors, consolidating existing partnerships and opening new lines of work in key areas such as higher education, innovation, artificial intelligence, vocational training, and capacity development.

The mission began in Erlangen with a meeting at BayLAT, the leading organization for higher education relations between Bavaria and Latin America. The meeting with its director, Dr. Irma de Melo, served to continue the ties established in Buenos Aires in 2024, where both organizations met in joint working spaces organized with Argentina’s CIN, the DAAD, and the Delegation of the Government of Catalonia for the Southern Cone.

In the field of technological innovation, Obreal met with Parloa, a startup specializing in artificial intelligence solutions for customer service through virtual assistants. The meeting explored potential collaborations within the framework of Obreal’s AI Incubator on Youth and Multilingualism, with particular attention to the development of technological solutions applied to multilingual contexts.

The visit to the Bavarian Research Alliance (BayFOR), a key strategic partner, helped strengthen the commitment to collaboration in research and innovation projects, particularly within the Horizon Europe framework. At the same time, the meeting at Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences with Professor Dr. Elmar Steurer from the Institute for African Studies positioned Obreal as a strategic bridge to support this emerging institution’s outreach toward the African continent.

In Kempten, in addition to consolidating the long-standing relationship with Kempten University of Applied Sciences, Obreal held a meeting with Bayerisches Bildungswerk der Bayerischen Wirtschaft (bbw) to identify opportunities for joint projects under Erasmus+, with a focus on cooperation between Bavaria and African partners. As a notable new development, an initial contact was established with Allgäu-Gymnasium, opening a new line of work in secondary education that will include virtual exchanges and youth participation in international initiatives.

Overall, the mission marks an important step in Obreal’s internationalization strategy: building a network of multisectoral partnerships capable of generating real impact between Catalonia, Bavaria, and strategic international partners.