Boosting European partnerships for new learning opportunities for public servants, ReSPA’ Secretariat’s team completed a visit to the Instituto Nacional de Administración Pública (INAP) of Spain, focused on strengthening internal cooperation, fostering innovation, and deepening institutional collaboration between the two institutions.

The programme officially commenced at INAP’s headquarters in Madrid with opening remarks by Manuel Pastor Sainz-Pardo, Director of INAP, and Director Handjiska-Trendafilova, who underlined the importance of staff cohesion, continuous learning, and strategic partnerships in responding to the evolving challenges of public administration across Europe and the region.

“By building mutual collaboration, ReSPA and INAP are building on the strengths of both institutions to create meaningful cooperation that supports modern public administrations in the Western Balkans and the Eastern Neighbourhood. These exchanges are not only about learning - they are about shaping the future capacity of our administrations through partnership and trust,” emphasised Director Handjiska-Trendafilova.

The first thematic session introduced participants to INAP’s structure and core functions, presented by Pilar Barrero García, Director of the Department for Public Innovation, who outlined INAP’s role in promoting innovation and modernisation within Spain’s public administration system.

This was followed by a session on professional development and learning programmes delivered by Ana Villa Fernández, Learning Coordinator, who shared insights into INAP’s competence-based training models and lifelong learning approaches for civil servants.

ReSPA representatives also engaged with the work of the Public Innovation Laboratory, presented by Fernando Perera Palenzuela, Programme Director of the Centre for Studies and Knowledge Management, showcasing practical examples of experimentation, innovation, and knowledge management in the public sector.

The afternoon continued with a presentation on ReSPA. Jelena Mrdak, ReSPA Programme Manager, highlighted the organisation’s evolution into a regional knowledge and innovation hub supporting public administration reform in the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership region. She focused in particular on ReSPA’s flagship regional initiatives, mobility schemes, on-demand reform support, and the Knowledge Management Platform, underlining ReSPA’s impact in reaching over 17,000 public servants through more than 800 activities since its establishment and underscoring practical impact in strengthening administrative capacities across the region.

The visit concluded with a guided tour of the INAP Library, led by Pilar Vinatea Serrano, Library Director, highlighting the library’s role as a knowledge hub supporting public administration research and learning.

The visit reaffirmed ReSPA’s commitment to nurturing a collaborative organisational culture, strengthening staff capacities, and advancing partnerships with key European institutions. Engagement with INAP also marked an important step towards formalising future cooperation.