The participants of our two year programme address Higher Vocational Schooling (HBFS), majoring in business as their target audience. Together we plan a concept of matching placements abroad, with our common aim of European competence ideally acquired at our learning centre partner in Riga, Latvia. The HBFS is available to students that have at least a middle school education (High school), with this training course being attended by approximately 200 pupils. On conclusion, they gain professional vocational knowledge, and attain the entrance certificate for Universities Of Applied Sciences, which gives them permission to shorten their training time within any subsequent training company. In accordance with our training guidelines, all of our students are required to complete a two-week work placement during their schooling. The MSW in NRW has determined that such work placements can take place abroad. The only prerequisite is that these are undertaken within countries of the European Union, and the framework of a European mobility programme is met. The aim of our work placements are that students gain, through such temporary commercial activities, a personal insight into a company’s day-to-day business practices in the real world outside of school, including the possibly to enhance their own creative interests in terms of employability after schooling. Our project proposals were presented to, and met with considerable enthusiasm by, our students. Subsequently, approximately 40 students have expressed their intention to participate. Naturally, to ensure that students with particularly good language skills in Russian and / or English, together with a fundamental commercial knowledge, can achieve such a valuable mobility, in joint consultation with the college, we have limited the number of eligible participants to 10. Furthermore, in order to maximize the quality of student learning, we apply ECVET principles and instruments. Our need arises given that our students live in a rural village setting, attending a rather small, although manageable school. A work placement abroad is considered a real alternative to conventional travel - especially for those who not only strengthen their foreign language skills, but also aim to gain invaluable practical experience. As we all know, a work placement abroad offers a broad range of benefits, preparing students with a more rounded impression of the professional world – whilst enabling personal growth. Our students will be working in locally organized commercial companies, carefully selected by and supportive of our trade vocational school Riga, which has already successfully assisted in a previous Leonardo project. Accordingly, the goal of this application is to afford our students an insight into everyday working life in another EU country; necessary day-to-day office and business processes that are not carried out or learnable through schooling (plus counselling sessions and excursion programmes within a leading cultural capital) to witness and interact with another culture, thereby gaining valuable experience for their personal development. Our students will be made aware of the structure and function of their very placement operation itself within the overall economy; their goal being to merge and work as a team with Latvian colleagues, whilst taking on real responsibility. They will collect information on goods and services, so as to properly meet their customers’ needs. They will use the various information and communication systems required through practical operation, with teamwork and the resilience required to accomplish their challenging activities. Students will experience not only another country and its culture, but they should also become experienced in what are typically unprecedented situations for them. A different business culture and mentality empowers students to explore other values versus their own ideas about life and the value system within their own country, paving a way towards deeper understanding. For the companies involved, they find that our students will contribute to promoting international and intercultural understanding. Thus, a small, though noticeable additional contribution towards the integration of Europe will be achieved. As part of their work placement they also have the possibility to meet trainee students from other EU countries. This encourages them to develop their language skills and their intercultural competences. Often, long-term friendships and useful networking contacts are achieved. Through their stay abroad, students venture towards developing and promoting their own communication skills, personal initiative and independence, giving them a visible edge over career applicants without such acquired experience. Ultimately, and equally as important, we will successfully build a long term mobility project network between BKH and trade vocational college Riga, as well as their cooperating businesses and companies.