The Robert-Schuman-Institut Eupen is sending in the next year about 26 students into 5 European partner countries to 7 partners. During this period the Robert-Schuman-Institut is also receiving organization for the students of our partners. It's a mutual exchange. The students do a 3 weeks practical training abroad in a company, institution, organization or specific school to do their first experiences in the labor market. At the same time, they learn about other cultures and mostly also another language. We chose the students following their motivation and suitability, regularity at school and attendance in the additional language course, organize regular information meetings about the course of the trip and stay, we undertake all preparation tasks and take care of the agreement with the partners. The partners receive our students, organize the accommodations and take care of our students during the stay. They organize also cultural activities. For the teachers of the Robert-Schuman-Institut an exchange of one week is organized with colleagues of the partner countries, job-shadowing in different lessons will be organized and cultural activities as well. They can make a look into the companies, where our students are doing their practical training. The teachers who are doing a practical training, are mostly teachers of the vocational field of our sections. They will receive the possibility to learn about the teaching methods and teaching contents and also compare with the colleagues of the partners. But there are also other colleagues of general courses, because everybody should take some of the experience into his classroom. The partners receive our students and teachers, find the accommodation and a work placement and take care of the guests. They organize as well cultural activities. Our students travel in company with two teachers of our school. In the partner country, they will be picked up from our partners and they will be brought to the accommodation or to the hostfamily. As orientation they will be given information and the person of contact will tell them all they need for the first days. The students will be accompanied to their work place and our teachers as well. Our partner will be disposal in case of emergency, but the students have to find their way to get independent. The hostfamilies and the employers and at the first days also the accompanying teachers are ready to help. The partner will stay in contact with the employer and will be informed. Some times our students have some activities with students of our partner schools. The teachers follow the program which has specially been made for them (exchange, job-shadowing, cultural activities, ...) The aims of the whole project are: - To open the mind concerning other cultures, work methods, and languages. As we work in a small cultural community, it's necessary that our students and teachers enter in contact with other cultures and learn about it. This improves the understanding and helps to get off prejudices. - To support the students to get more flexible and selfconfident. By the work placement and the experience abroad, they will have more chances at the labour market. -T o support the interest for languages. In Europe it' a must to know 2 or even more lanuages. That improves the chances on the labour market. - And to improve experiences in the vocational area. The students will receive the possibility to combine the training at school by the work experience. The teachers will learn other methods and technics. To open this perspective seems us as school instution important for the best education.

Reading skills and the reading comprehension of texts are two basic qualifications that are essential for success in school. This is not only important in languages but also in nearly all other subjects as texts are very often the basis of teaching. Nowadays students’ problems concerning these two basic qualifications have been steadily increasing. This development is, on the one hand, based on the students’ rising reluctance to read books as well as the extensive usage of digital media. On the other hand it is sometimes the result of poor language skills of people with a migrant background. Their language acquisition sometimes is partially incomplete and they drift away from the learning process and the aspect of lifelong learning due to negative feedback (poor marks, no apprenticeship or training).One aim of the project was to focus on effective teaching methods (how a text can be read or cooperative learning). With these methods the students were able to participate in class and they were enabled to extend their language skills. We linked this methodological approach with the topic of sustainability. In the course of the project the students realized that, in every social context, sustainability is the guiding principle. Therefore we examined personal decisions as well as the social context. Furthermore, we paid special attention to companies: how do they deal with sustainability and what have they done so far. Our pupils – at the threshold of their professional life – realized that also as employees they are confronted with sustainability.With chosen aspects of sustainability we concentrated on the primary areas of the participating schools and/ or their closeness to different kinds of companies:Palffy Miklos Kereskedelmi Szakkepzö Iskola Györ (Hungary) – food/ tradeFachschule für Mode der Stadt Wien (Austria) – textile/ fashionAron Tamasi Gymnasium Odorheiu Secuiesc (Romania) – building/ livingRobert-Schuman-Berufskolleg Essen (Germany) – electronical equipment/ energyIn between every teaching and learning activity (TLA), the pupils and teachers worked together on factual issues. These results were put into presentations (homework) via informative texts, power point presentations or video clips. Furthermore, teaching materials with 'cooperative learning' methods were developed. To assure that all participating schools have a common methodological basis, the project started with a transnational teacher conference. At that time a workshop about reading techniques and cooperative learning took place.The presentation of the different homeworks, the testing of the created teaching materials in international groups as well as the resulting evaluation were the key aspects of the transnational teaching and learning activities. Furthermore, depending on the focus of our host schools, we visited at least one company. The 5 TLA's were about:1. Sustainability as basis for our behaviour - current subjects discussed in the participating countries2. How do political decisions affect our individual decisions?3. How do our personal decisions make an impact on available resources?4. How does sustainability show in a company's culture?5. How does sustainability dictate the social/political action on a macroeconomic scale?In the course of the project a workbook was developed (printed, on DVD or as download from the project website www.nachhaltigkeit-lernen.eu). The workbook is structured as follows: firstly, according to the professional focus of each participating school and secondly, according to the topics of the 5 TLA's. With each chapter there are precise examples for the methological implementation in class. This way other teachers have quick and easy access to the topics and to the methodology.Sustainability is a topic in many syllabuses. Therefore the workbook will be a great help for many colleagues. Moreover, it is a topic further generations will have to deal with and that is why the workbook can be used for many years. Our vision is that the workbook will be used as a “dynamic book” in many schools, i.e. new working materials regarding this topic will be collected in this book.

"BACKGROUND:The Deputies Heads oriented their project 2015-2017 on the problem of the fight against early school leaving by strengthening the School-Enterprise link• They took as their reference the work of the European Commission analyzing the causes and consequences of early school leaving and have the tools available to Member States to fight against this phenomenon and the measures that the EU should adopt to reduce the rate dropout in the EU.• They were the actors of vocational training which must take the issue of school dropout in charge and the Business and School links• They recalled that in the "" repository Jobs "" Deputy Head (DH), Circular NE 2011-215 of 01/12/2011, one of its tasks and activities is the coordination and facilitation of teaching staff.• They supervise the teaching staff of vocational and technological schools that have the Mission to provide solutions pedagogical organization to effectively tackling early school leaving,Deputy Head in continuation of the previous project submitted by the SNPCT orient their new project on this issue of the fight against school dropout by reinforcing the school-business link.OBJECTIVES: They had set the following general objective: ""100% of pupils and students qualified at the end of the school system"".And the intermediate objectives:1)Observe how the strategic objectives set by the EU in 2009 are implemented:• establish a common European framework for policies to tackle early school leaving and ensuring that comprehensive national strategies are adopted by Member States by 2012;• adopt a Communication on the education and care of early childhood;• adopt a Communication on European strategy for the integration of immigrant pupils;• modernize vocational education and training;• measure the employability of young people;• identify effective measures and practices to address common challenges;• organize meetings to highlight good practices;• more intensive use of the EU Programme to support innovative approaches to reduce early school leaving;• add focus and rigor to investments made under European Structural Funds.2)Share their experiences with those of their partners 3)Reporting to all Deputy Head work done during these mobility4) Develop innovative actions to strengthen the school-business link to better tackle against school dropoutNUMBER AND PARTICIPANTS PROFILES: 171 Deputies Heads of all professional specialtiesDESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES :The observation focused on the strategies put in place:The strategies for combating early school leaving have been based on an analysis of the national, regional and local specificities of the phenomenon and have been systematic and focused on:• prevention: by seeking to avoid the conditions from arising that lead to early school leaving;• intervention: by addressing the difficulties encountered by pupils as soon as they arise;• compensation: by offering opportunities for education and training to pupils who have dropped out.METHODOLOGY :To effectively train teachers they charge to educational management of this device , Deputy Head need continuing training and light on the practices of education partners and the formation of the EU is a good idea . The SNPCT opening of the international, relying on its network of former partners built this project. The European partners had been sought on the subject of tackling school leaving enable Deputy Head to observe and discuss:• how host organizations practicing the tackling school leaving;• the human resources and teaching materials available to them;• they develop relationships on this subject with the socio- economic system and they reinforce business and school links;• the training received by teachers to ensure the success of the device.Deputy Head organized the work as follows :• presentation of the project to all Deputy Heads at the national level;• call for applications and selection of participants;• preparation for mobility;• learning assessment of beneficiaries and the project as a whole;• reinvestment of these achievements;• dissemination of the project results.IMPACT AND RESULTS ACHIEVED:On Deputy Head : better understanding the problem and drive devices to address the early school leaving On the teaching staff: find strategies to tackle early school leaving On training institutions: fulfill their Mission On the country: It will be necessary to check in the following years this impact by a significant reduction of the rate of dropout students.POTENTIAL LONG TERM BENEFIT: Also verify the achievement of two other Europe 2020 strategic targets: achieve 75% employment rate for 20-64 year olds and lift 20 million people out of poverty."

BackgroundAll participants in this project want to collaborate with their European partners, want to get a deeper insight into the topic of sustainability and gain key qualifications. Further, they want to use means of communication which are state of the art in industry and commerce. Soft skills like improving language/communicational skills and the development of social contacts can be seen as further benefits for both students and teachers.The idea of a common project was developed at a meeting in Leuben in spring 2018. All four participating schools decided to take part in the “Stirling Engine Group”.GoalsThe participants want to rebuild a Stirling engine. Starting point is an enginge called ST 05 G, developed by Dieter Viebach (Germany). This engine is a technically rather demanding construction – especially when it comes to manufacturing – and redesigning it will be challenging for all partners. In the first step construction drawings will be made by using already existing technical documents. Based on these drawing each school will manufacture the parts needed for building their own engines. Assembling the engines, testing them and analysing the performance data will complete the project. Number and profile of participantsAll four participants are technical schools from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Norway and Austria, which offer their students a rather similar technical education in the fields of industrial production, material science and building and energy technologies. All four schools put an emphasis on practical training in their own workshops, have a close cooperation with local companies in the different regions and have already gained some experience in carrying out European Erasmus+ projects.The students are between 15 and 19 years old and for each individual step students of one class or of the whole schools will be selected to take part in the project. The Czech school will hold a competition in spring 2019 in which the students have to develop their own Stirling engine. Descripiton of activitiesDuring the project 5 mobilities are planned to be carried out – one visit to each partner school and a final event in Austria. Activities taking place during the visits:•getting to know the partner schools•presentation of the host country•social contact between the students of the different countries, if possible stay at host family•working on the project and comparing the experiences and results•technical excursions related to the topic •sightseeing•scheduling the next work steps in the ProjectMethodology to be used in carrying out the projectThe project will be carried out according to a pre-defined work plan in which the single steps are scheduled in advance.The following tasks have been planned:•realising the construction drawings on a CAD-system•producing the various parts for the engines•assembling and testing the engines•measuring and comparing the performance data of the four enginesDuring the whole process all partners will be connected by digital means of communication (e.g. eTwinning).ResultsEach school will have its own Stirling engine which can be used for further educational purposes.Potential long term benefits•support the students‘ creativity and motivation, develop different skills needed in the future •the students are engaged in designing, constructing, producing, assembling and testing a real machine•in this processes knowledge gained in the classroom has to be put into practice•by putting this project into practice both students and teachers will develop their creative thinking•team spirit and a sense of responsibility will be developed•both students and teachers have to collaborate with their European partners and to take responsibility for their special tasks•improvement of language skills in a technical environment (CLIL), as all students communicate in English in written and spoken communication during the whole projectPractical possibility for dealing with sustainable energy productionAlthough Stirling engines have been known for a long time, the way they work has become more popular in the last years. As there will be a scarcity of fossil fuels in the future alternative ways to power machines will become more important. The Stirling engine might be one of these solutions for some applications.Getting a closer insight into this topic might raise the students’ awareness concerning sustainability and ecological sense of responsibility.

"The subject of the project: ""Sun over Europe - development and construction of a solar-powered boat"" is embedded in two Paris declarations and in the UN climate conference in Marrakech: According to the statements at the UN climate conferences, the political decision-makers expect their fellow citizens to actively participate .The solar-powered boat planned, developed and manufactured by the participants shows that mobility is possible with the help of solar energy. In national and European competitions, the partners want to prove their solution and at the same time inspire the public for the use of this regenerative energy.The project was also presented in exhibitions in schools, at information events, at the authorities, at internal and external training events, through interviews with the media and when visiting the European Parliament. In the homepages of the schools, at sthinning and in the cloud (https://c.gmx.net/@334290584590090795/ACXKEf7NSc-tJPpoit7b3Q it is available to all interested parties, especially in technical terms. A compendium on the project work is available from the schools and can be requested.The implementation of the project is interdisciplinary. The technical subjects and economics are in context.The production of the product (solar boat) was process-controlled according to the principle of the push-pull system. The process stations are divided into planning and development, purchasing with cost monitoring, design, manufacturing, assembly and test run, if possible in a competition. This method corresponds to the working method in industry and introduces the participants to this job-specific activity.The first cross-border project meeting served the startup, i.e. Introducing the partners to the project. The second and third transnational project meeting served in particular to take stock and evaluate the completed tasks, to further optimize production and to divide up the tasks still to be completed.The implementation of the project is organized based on division of labor. All partners together are a transnational team from the fields of technology and business. The individual task groups were distributed fairly transnationally to the individual partner groups. The individual partial results flowed together to the common product (solar boat). Realization was not possible without the responsible, quality-oriented completion of the sub-tasks, which were completed by division of labor. In addition, each partner made a model of the solar boat on a smaller scale for themselves in their own workshops. These types of models were presented to the entire plenum.The implementation was also divided into a theory-practice framework program and a test run under competitive conditions. The theory and practice were again divided into modules that were transnationally assigned to the partners for processing. In addition to the three project meetings, there were 3 instead of 4 meeting meetings with centrally installed AULs.The 4th AUL could not take place because of the corona crisis and therefore the project could not be completed because the European Commission did not grant an extension. The meetings alternated with 6 work phases at the national schools. During the work phases, the transnationally defined developments in the training, teaching and learning activities, the theoretically conveyed knowledge, changes, additions and the newly set tasks were implemented in workshops. All AUL's ended with interim evaluations. The results of the evaluations shaped the subsequent work phases.During the meetings, the presentations developed by the students were the focus of workshops.Students taught students through peer learning. The manufacturing processes were practiced in the workshops of the schools and companies.The supervisors were available as advisors in the background. The students were given the necessary personal responsibility.So that as large a number of students as possible could take part in the project, other students always took part in the meeting. Essential theoretical and practical parts of the project corresponded to the curriculum in the AR. Economics as well as technology and were thus the subject of regular lessons. The project was also multiplied in several classes for the students who were not directly involved in the project. Trainers from the cooperation companies and their trainees were called in.It was ensured that girls and participants with a migration background were used in the working groups. Equal opportunities in vocational training have been strengthened. This made a contribution to the integration of this clientele.Through the technical work and the use of the synergies between the international partners, a jointly developed educational community and, moreover, an experience community developed without denying the cultural, religious and social differences. The project work strengthened the flexibility and compatibility in later professional use in the European as well as global area.In summary, it can be said that, apart from the final meeting in Belgium, all other activities were carried out successfully. In addition, 1 unscheduled project meeting took place in Regensburg. The boat was finally presented to the public in Regensburg on the Guggenberger See in July will."