Helsinki Vocational College offers high quality and versatile vocational education for its pupils. Internationalisation and its visibility in the everyday life of the college is seen to add to the attractiveness of the college and provides a way of staying abreast of educational developments in Europe. This project will continue the bilateral mobility flow of previous Erasmus+ projects. The aim is to send 134 students for a 2-10 week long practical training period and 50 teachers for a four day job shadowing period abroad.This project aims to increase equality in gaining competences needed in the working life through international activities, thus aspiring for the aims of the Erasmus+ project. With these international competences Helsinki Vocational College aims to meet the needs of the increasingly multicultural working life.The strategic aim is that every student and Staff member is aware of the possibilities given to gain international competences and have an equal opportunity to participate in the international activities and mobility periods. This projects aims to develop mobility periods to take better into consideration the skills and competences of the different students. It aims to find ways to encourage students to participate also in fields of studies where the students are not voluntarily participating in student exchange. The equal opportunity asks for a transparent process of selection of the participants in this project. The main criteria are, that the candidate is willing to learn and has sufficient skills and willingness to adjust and cope. The mobility periods applied for staff aims to evolve pedagogical and guidance practices, develop the participating staffs vocational field and improve the recognition of learning outcomes. The competences gained will be beneficial for the implementation of the ECVET system in student mobilities. It is believed that the participating staff will be more prepared to meet students from a variety of backgrounds as well be more willing to encourage students to participate in international activities. Mobility periods are seen as a process that includes preparation, implementation and evaluation. The aim of the preparatory activities is that the student is aware of all the documentation needed, personal learning goals and has adequate knowledge to make the travel preparations and to manage once abroad.The Strategic aim of Helsinki Vocational College is that these mobility periods are a recognized part of the participant’s studies. The recognition of these mobilities is based on the implementation of the ECVET from the preparation till the evaluation.Mobility periods are documented and each participant is asked to write a report of their experiences. These stories are gathered to the google-maps platform. https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?hl=fi&authuser=0&mid=zc5KXPB2SV0M.kELpo45nfobc Students are asked to send digital postcards that can be shared within the college and will be part of the digital game now being produced.The evaluation of this project follows the principals of evolving evaluation. The material produced for the evaluation supports the implementation and impact of the project. Previous mobility projects have proven beneficial for its participants motivation, studies and later employment. Participants have met their professional goals but as well learned to evaluate the working methods and recognize the cultural basis of the methodologies implemented and use these methods flexibly to develop one’s work. Mobility periods support one’s personal and professional growth, regardless of one’s age, sex and background. Skills beneficial for setting realistic aims in one’s career and for employment.

Nord - Gudbrandsdal upper secondary school , has over the past 9 years worked systematically to give students the opportunity to have high quality practical training abroad. We want to strengthen our students' position as attractive skilled workers and apprentices , while we work to find ways to prevent dropout among vocational students . The project is also helping to meet students' needs for internships and recognized trade that is scarce in the region or that is not available in Gudbrandsdal / Oppland. Our aim is also to strengthen vocational education at the school by helping to make it more attractive and suitable to meet needs of the business community in the region. According to International Strategy for Oppland county , upper secondary schools should help young people to be given the opportunity to have international experience as part of the education. Our mobilities have alle been implemented in 2015-16, but our project have lasted until 2017. The school have in all years sent students over quota - also this year, and therefor had a significant expense associated with such projects . The school is thus clear in its strategy over the gain this type of training provides. Our relationship with companies, schools and training centers in Europe which we have cooperated with for years, is valuable for us. For example Shipyard Montex Shipyard (metal and welding ) in Poland, Training institution Kreishandwerkerschaft Wittekindsland (timberwork) in Germany , Tallinn Industrial education Centre (CNC machines and metal / megatronika ) in Estonia, Cesfor ( kindergardens ) in Italy , Vilnius Builders training Centre ( building trades ) in Lithuania and Hi Hostels in Iceland. We have decided to withdraw our mobilityperiode in Sweden at Rodengymnas for ICT and Glasgow Clyde in Scottland for Healthstudents. These went to Italy at Cesfor instead. There are a total of five vocational programs covered by this application. We have for many years worked with several of these partners with good experience . By using these partners spread across different lines of study our goal has been to implement training and work experience in a foreign country as part of an education with emphasis on academic and knowledge -related , personal , social and cultural learning.It is a goal in itself to give students practical experience in a country and in a work environment that has great relevance to the field development. In addition, it is important to strengthen the status of vocational study and attractiveness both in our school , but also in society in general. Quality and reputation, ability to develop and innovate reflect the needs and demands of this. Companies in the region have requested our students to meet today's development. For instance the health sector needs to recruit local workers to nursing homes , retirement homes and home care . Within nursery / primary schools it is a need of manpower with broad cultural experience to meet today's multicultural society. Companies need employees with broad expertise and experience in communicating with workers from other European countries. On this basis, we have focused on how to improve quality in selected occupations and education so that each student in the project (with a transfer value to the remaining class, school, local community) gets good learning outcomes as part of the education.

"The aim of the project ""EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE IN THE ESTONIAN WORK MARKET (EKET)"" was to provide international students with an international work experience in order to understand rapidly changing and internationalized labor market, to choose the right way of working, to learn new technological techniques and to acquire language, cultural and other useful knowledge, which they could later apply to the Estonian labor market and society.The project had 25 participants, of whom 16 were in Finland and 9 students in the Netherlands. During these six weeks, the participants implemented their professional knowledge and skills in the school and work environment. In the first two weeks, participants from the mobility visited the teaching, (work) culture and language environment of the host school. Students stayed in the company for four weeks. During this time they developed their coping skills with a foreign language work environment, applied their acquired knowledge in the performance of their duties.According to the participants, their self-esteem improved after the mobility, an overview of the demands of the world of work and cultural differences developed, the fear of working or living in a foreign country or multicultural environment disappeared. Participants appreciated their professional skills and social development, including the ability to independently manage and cope.Following the mobility, the participants were motivated and happy because they had acquired new professional knowledge and skills that they can later apply to the labor market. The participants' foreign language skills improved, and they became more confident, open-minded, more entrepreneurial and more responsible.To sum up, we can say that because of the activities in the project, cooperation between partners has become more effective, a network of cooperation been created, because of which the opportunities for studying in vocational education have increased and professional training has become attractive to the students and the public. The project has provided an input on how to develop school program and organization of teaching. Both partners in the project confirmed their readiness to continue cooperation in new projects and outside the project."

International work through this mobility project directed by our school, Nord-Gudbrandsdal Vidaregåande Skule (NG vgs), has given our students, staff and key members in different local companies an uplifting and relevant vocational experience. All our 40 students, teachers, key staff from companies who participate in this 14 days of abroad work experience, have achieved their own unique expertise in their profession. This project has overall been a very instructive project, with partners in four different countries and in five different professionals. With ongoing mobility projects since 2006, NG vgs has experienced what a positive and strengthening effect this has had on vocational training in general and for our students. The school has therefor put a lot of effort and priority in these projects in order to keep the good quality of work done by all teachers and vocational staff. In order to focus on globalized theoretical and practical knowledge, we have accomplished partnership with different companies, schools and local training center in Europe; 1) Poland: company - shipyard and welding for technical and Industrial production2) Italy: local trainincenter (intermediaries) - healthcare for health workers and kindergarten for children-and youth worker3) Sweden: municipality and companies - computerservice for ICT service employee4) Germany: local trainincenter (intermediaries) - car companies for vehicles for mechanicsThis year we have 10 years anniversary with our partnership in Poland. (Enclosed a diploma of this) Our cooperation with the shipyards (earlier) Konrem Nauta and now Montex Shipyard in Poland, has given us an extra dimension of the technical and Industrial competence and production at our school. The possibility to give students and staff training in this very different environment makes the arena of learning a way to get comparison and reflection on how to practice their profession. The teachers also made a preparatory visit to this shipyard with focus on the safety at the shipyard and other security procedures. They also made agreements on accommodation in flats. We also got shipyard-drawings to prepare our upcoming vocational training period for our 10 students and staff. Our planning period in Estonia for PIN vg2 (TIP), was not completed because of not initiated courses at our school. We hope to cooperate with them again next school year. In Italy we got a new partner 2014/15 and due to that we arranged a preparatory visit winter-15. Ce.S.F.Or.Centro Studi Formazione Orientamento in Rome provide us relevant and good practical workplacement in a Montesorri kindergarten and in a healthcenter for the healthcare students. The kindergarten placement based their pedagogy on Maria Montesorri and the values she represent. This gave our students, and staff and our local head of a kindergarten (in total 12 persons) an interesting and new experience within how to run a kindergarten based on this pedagogy and how the work is done within healthcare in this local center. Our twin municipality to Sel Kommune/Municipality is Norrälje Komun/Municipality in Sweden. They have put us in connection with Rodengymnas (highschool in Nôrrtâlje) This school also have a computer division, and they have provided us with relevant practical work placements around Nôrrtâlje area. The work placements are within computerservice for ICT service employee in quite big companies with a complex computer environment. In total 8 students and staff had their practical period in these companies. In Germay we have had for several years good cooperation with a Local Training Office in Lübbecke. They have provided us different car companies with workshops and garages where 10 students and staff got to experience good practical training. Germany is known for having a big car industry and many Automobile Manufacturers which is relevant for the students. They also learn some of the technical phrases so work experience in these companies makes our students attractive and important for local companies in our region and in Norway in general. As a result of this, and the fact that we involved local staff (responsible for the apprentices) from our local car company, Killis Auto, one of our students signed an apprenticeship with Killis Auto for the coming two years. In total this project has been important to support our goal of good and relevant vocational education at our school. With mobility projects since 2006, NG vgs has experienced what a positive and strengthening effect this has had on vocational training in general and for our students and staff. The school has therefor put a lot of effort and extra money in these projects in order to keep the good quality of work done by all teachers and vocational staff.

"As the paradigm of the industry has changed, there is a need to change the paradigm of teaching as well. Teaching has to take into account today's youth (Z-generation) peculiarities to make them difficult subjects more easily obtainable. As the resources are more costly and competition increases in every level, cooperation is important to achieve more with less resources. Therefore development of methodologies, analysing and piloting of the novel teaching methods for modern smart learning and principles for competence and cooperation network in the field of mechatronics is the main objective of the project NEDIA.There are 5 project partners in the project NEDIA: 3 vocational education schools (Tallinna Tööstushariduskeskus from Estonia, Raision seudun koulutuskuntayhtymä from Finland and PIKC ""Liepajas Valsts tehnikums"" from Latvia) and 2 competence centres (Innovative Manufacturing Engineering Competence Centre IMECC from Estonia and KoneteknologiakeskusTurku from Finland).The project helps partner educational institutions to become aware and implement new teaching methodologies that would meet the needs of today’s youth and allow them quickly and easily to acquire knowledge that is needed in today’s industry. Also the project helps to create base to cooperation network that enables to make cooperation in designing courses and adapting new teaching methodologies and change information and knowledge. The project results are possible to broaden outside the project partners, too.Main activity fields and results of the project:1) Analysis about new needs in the industry and needed competences in the field of mechatronics today and in the future up to year 2020. Result: Report ""New needs in the industry and needed competences in the field of mechatronics"". The report gives an overview about the development trends in the mechatronics sector and type of competences (also new, key competences) that are needed in the sector today and in the near future and main bottlenecks in teaching in Estonia, Latvia and Finland. 2) Analysis about new teaching didactics – new teaching methods and possibilities for implementing them to teaching process and composing respective methodological material. The aim of using new teaching methods is to make difficult and complicated topics and subjects of teaching more easily understandable. Different didactic methods of organizing teaching process were analysed, incl. what they are and how to implement them in teaching process. Result: New training methods and their implementation in modern vocational education (methodology)3) Developing pilot lecture plan, pilot lecture materials using obtained knowledge about new teaching methods, conducting respective pilot lecture and collecting feedback by each participating educational institution. Respective report was composed about the process.4) Creating structure and concept for cooperation and competence network between regions for sharing competences and resources for securing higher efficiency and transparency. It was analysed how to realize effectively, consistently and sustainably previously described activities in cooperation network, how in integrated way would be possible to obtain better results with limited resources and how would be possible to expand the network to other institutions. Cooperation network would have an ability to develop continuously a value-added cooperation between countries and educational and supporting institutions in different countries. These main activity fields are contributed by supporting activities as project management, project homepage compilation and composing project dissemination plan.Target groups of the project are vocational education institutions, their students, teachers and other staff, companies of mechatronics field, qualification authorities and other industry associations. The aim is to turn teaching process more open, interesting and attractive, to make difficult technical subjects more easily understandable and available. Therefore students will obtain competences that the industry needs and become more competitive in labour market, companies have workforce in the future that has competences they need and as labour force is one of the most important resources of the company, the competitiveness of the companies and therefore the industries will increase. Also through improved teaching process the competitiveness of the educational institutions increases.The outputs of this project are possible to broaden also to other schools, other subjects and advanced trainings. Through concept and structure of cooperation network, new projects are initiated."