The II Vincentian Educational Forum, held in Barcelona under the theme “Designing New Maps of Hope,” was much more than a gathering of educational centers. It became an opportunity for reflection on the present and future of Vincentian education, at a time marked by rapid social change, uncertainty, new forms of vulnerability, and increasingly complex pedagogical challenges. More than one hundred people connected with the educational works of the Daughters of Charity of Spain’s Eastern Province came together to dialogue, listen, discern, and shape the path of their schools together.
The formative heart of the gathering lay in an understanding that education cannot be limited to the transmission of knowledge. To educate, from the Vincentian tradition, means to accompany lives, awaken meaning, nurture bonds, promote dignity, and open paths of hope where fatigue, inequality, or lack of opportunity so often appear. For this reason, the Forum raised fundamental questions: What kind of school does society need today? What values should define Vincentian schools? How can we educate better together? What challenges must we face in order to continue being schools with meaning?
The gathering brought together a previous process of work carried out throughout the year in the different educational communities. Teachers, students, families, and administrative and service staff had taken part in reflection activities, forums, pedagogical meetings, and spaces for dialogue about the school they wish to build. This prior methodology is especially meaningful because it shows a way of understanding education as a shared project. A school is not designed from an office or through isolated decisions, but through listening to all members of the educational community.
One of the great lessons of the Forum was precisely this: the Vincentian school needs to continue being a community that listens. It must listen to young people, families, educators, the surrounding environment, the world of work, and, in a special way, those who live in situations of vulnerability. Listening was not presented as a passive attitude, but as an essential educational practice. Listening makes it possible to better understand new forms of suffering, to detect real needs, to accompany personal processes, and to prevent the school from becoming closed in on itself.
The keynote address, also titled “Designing New Maps of Hope,” placed at the center the need to look at the present with honesty and at the future with active hope. Hope, in this context, was not presented as naïve optimism or as simple emotional consolation, but as an educational responsibility. To hope means to commit oneself to the transformation of reality. It means believing that every student can grow, that every community can improve, and that the school can continue to be a place where people discover identity, worth, and direction.
From this perspective, the importance of building educational communities capable of accompanying, listening, and caring was emphasized. Education was presented as a deeply human, ethical, and social task, one that must integrate knowledge, skills, values, relationships, and commitment. It is not enough to prepare students academically; it is necessary to help them build a meaningful life, recognize their own worth, live with others, and develop an active sensitivity toward the needs of the world.
The Forum also underlined the importance of integral education. This expression, so often used, took on very concrete meaning: forming competent people, yes, but also responsible, empathetic, open, resilient, supportive people who are capable of working with others. During the roundtable discussion, participants spoke about the human and professional skills that are especially necessary in today’s context: teamwork, empathy, initiative, responsibility, and adaptability. These abilities are not a decorative addition to the curriculum, but essential elements for adult life, the world of work, and social participation.
Another central formative theme was the relationship between school and vulnerability. Vincentian identity does not allow reality to be viewed from a position of neutrality or indifference. A school inspired by Saint Vincent de Paul and Saint Louise de Marillac is called to constantly ask who is being left out, who needs greater support, which students are suffering in silence, which families are experiencing difficulties, and what inequalities run through the surrounding environment. For this reason, the need was recalled for schools not to live with their backs turned to the situations of poverty, fragility, exclusion, or loneliness present in society.
This perspective implies a commitment to inclusive education that is not merely a program, but a culture. Inclusion does not only mean adapting methodologies or addressing specific needs, although that is essential. Inclusion means creating a school where each person feels recognized, accompanied, and needed. It means moving from a logic of isolated performance to a logic of shared growth. It means understanding that diversity is not a problem to be managed, but a richness that humanizes the community.
Dialogue with professionals from different fields helped broaden the view beyond the school environment itself. The intention was to listen to the social, business, cultural, and community spheres in order to be challenged by their questions and concerns. This openness is fundamental: a Vincentian school cannot educate for an imaginary world, but for the concrete reality in which its students live. It needs to understand the languages, wounds, searches, and opportunities of today’s society.
In this sense, the importance of building schools open to the neighborhood, to culture, and to the community was emphasized. The school cannot be an island. It must create alliances, collaborate with social organizations, dialogue with institutions, draw nearer to the cultural life, and take part in improving its surroundings. Educating from a Vincentian perspective means becoming an active part of the social fabric, especially where needs are greatest. The educational community thus becomes an agent of transformation, not only a place of learning.
The Agora, defined as “Conversations That Build School,” was one of the most valuable experiences of the Forum. In small groups, participants were able to speak directly with the panelists, sharing questions, concerns, and proposals. This format reinforced a very important pedagogical insight: great educational transformations are not born only from speeches, but also from honest, close, and sustained conversations. Dialogue makes it possible to move from general ideas to concrete commitments.
Several lines for the future emerged from these dialogues: continuing to educate through closeness and accompaniment; working for inclusion and attention to those who are most vulnerable; caring for human relationships and community work; adapting the school to social changes without losing its identity; and moving toward an integral and transformative education. These key points summarize well the formative horizon of the gathering. It is not a matter of choosing between innovation and identity, between academic excellence and social commitment, between adaptation and fidelity. The challenge is to integrate all of this into a coherent educational project.
The symbol of the medallions created by each school visually expressed this conviction. Each center contributed its own piece, the fruit of a process of community reflection, and integrated it into a common work inspired by Gaudí’s mosaics. The resulting image showed that the Vincentian educational network is built “tile by tile”: from the diversity of centers, contexts, and sensitivities, but with a shared mission. Each school preserves its concrete identity while, at the same time, taking part in a broader common project.
In this way, Tesela+ took shape as the evolution of the Province’s common educational project. It was not presented as a simple institutional document, but as a living path for responding to new educational challenges from a Vincentian identity. Tesela+ seeks to be a framework that helps schools continue moving forward in shared mission, caring for pedagogical innovation, pastoral ministry, inclusion, service-learning, communication, the formation of educators, and commitment to those who are most vulnerable.
The II Vincentian Educational Forum left behind one fundamental certainty: educating today requires hope, but a hope that is organized, communal, and committed. Hope to look at each student as a possibility. Hope not to resign oneself to inequality. Hope to renew methodologies without losing the soul of the school. Hope to accompany young people in their deepest questions. Hope to build schools where people learn, are cared for, dialogue, and serve.
Ultimately, the gathering reaffirmed the strength of Vincentian education as a tool for social transformation and as a space of humanity. In a time that needs reference points, bonds, and meaning, Vincentian schools are called to continue designing new maps: maps of closeness, inclusion, community, justice, and embodied faith. Because educating in the spirit of Saint Vincent de Paul and Saint Louise de Marillac remains, today, a concrete way to build fraternity, humanity, and a future.
More information (in Spanish): https://www.hijascaridadee.org/es/actualidad/disenar-esperanza-en-tiempos-de-incertidumbre
Below is a video summary of the event:
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