The project contains three separate trips: the first is a student study trip, the second is a VET traineeship and the third is a staff training trip. MíR will be sending 14 students during the second semester of their diploma course in Drawing as well as 2 accompanying teachers to Great Britain. They will travel to the University of Cumbria, as students from MíR are able to apply for the third and final year there and finish a BA degree. They’ll be visiting the illustration department, the drawing and fine art department and the computer games design department. It is important that the students get an insight into the courses and even to meet potential classmates. The main aim of the trip is to introduce the students to the British university system and it’s potentials for them at the end of their studies in Iceland as well as the various job opportunities that might await them. The students will visit galleries that show the history of art and design within their chosen field. The participants in the VET traineeship are 3 students from the diploma Textile department who have either completed their first year or are graduating from MíR. The goal is to gain further specialist knowledge in the fields of knitting, textile printing and textile patterns as well as the running of businesses within this field. The project supports new possibilities in study and the creative fields. An emphasis is placed on art and design at the 5th level of EQF-European Qualification Framework. The project is part of the Icelandic government’s goal to try and provide those who have not finished secondary school (at least 33% of the work force) with the potential to be able to get further education and improve their work possibilities. Visiting European Universities with the goal of looking at student evaluation is the goal of the staff training trip. There are 4 participants who will take the trip, all heads of diploma departments. All four are university educated in art and design, and have years of experience in running departments and teaching. The goal of the project is to share knowledge and experience about teaching practices, evaluations, student self-evaluations and how the different institutions evaluate the employment potentials of students. Discussions are taking place about a unified European credit system for vocational education and training and it’s very important that MíR takes an active part in these discussions. The hope is that the fruits of these projects will encourage more effective approaches to evaluation which will enable teachers to give a thorough and well thought out evaluation which will in turn positively encourage students to increase the quality of their work. The participants will be encouraged to increase and strengthen their personal and professional network of contacts in European institutions that they visit. To be able to evaluate and to get the best picture of working institutions and departments, the trips are planned for the school year 2014-2015. When the trip is over all conclusions and observations will be compared and used to strengthen the functioning of the diploma departments at MíR. Emphasis will also be placed on sharing the knowledge gained with other art and vocational institutions in Iceland. The goals of the staff training trip are: - Sharing experiences and knowledge of the teaching of art and design in Europe. - Taking part in discussions about the EQF system and comparing evaluation within vocational institutions (ECVET). - Learning about new methods of evaluation in the teaching of art and design. - Looking at how other institutions set up evaluations, self-evaluations and how they evaluate the effect of their courses on employment potential and on other colleges. - Increasing the quality of the diploma courses at MíR. - Looking at the demands made on applicants for new students in art and design at other European universities. - Getting to know colleagues in Europe. - Creating cooperative partnerships for the future. - Strengthening networks between institutions. - Widening the horizons of participants and increasing their knowledge and experience. - Working through conclusions and sharing the resulting knowledge with other art and design institutions in Iceland.