Erzbischöfliches Berufskolleg Cologne/the Archiepiscopal Professional Education Center Cologne prepares young people for the profession of a state certified educator. To meet the qualification needs of the labor market, it is mandatory to continuously develop the educational and care taking aspects that also have to be seen in an increasingly European context. There is an obvious need for interculturally trained educators to develop an European training understanding/ standard in the area of child and youth services. In order to face this global challenge and to proactively transform it, we need improved educational and learning processes and the willingness to innovate. The beneficiaries need skills in the area of technical and subject matter competencies, as well as social and personal competencies (“It”, “Us”, “Me”) to further their personal and professional development. This includes a professional analysis of different educational systems, communication skills, the openness to deal with “foreign” situations in an unbiased and process oriented manner (e.g. to engage instead of immediately evaluate), willingness to learn and courage and motivation to take on the responsibility for themselves and the intercultural process.Objective:The objective of our EU internship is the development and promotion of intercultural key competencies in the vocational training of educators. The professionally trained strategies need to be applied in a foreign environment and, if needed, modified accordingly. The students will acquire new techniques and methods of education that have been practiced in the partnering institutions. Through this process, the participants can expand on their self- competence, like social competence, as well as their factual, methodological and intercultural competence. Another important effect is the positive experience with a geographical mobility and the resulting access to wider European educational and vocational training sections.The objectives and concepts are prepared, coached and evaluated in a continuous co-operation between Erzbischöfliches Berufskolleg and the partner institutions.Target Group:Our target groups are students to be trained towards becoming state recognized educators and health practitioners. The studies and work are divided in the fields of child and youth care as well as remedial education care. At the time of their vocational training period, the students are in their second year at the department of professional training college, respectively in their 3rd year at the department of the professional grammar school/academic upper-secondary education (double qualification as an educator with high school diploma).Activities:Over the next two years, 80 students, depending on program regulations, will have the opportunity to complete a 4-, 6-, or 8-week internship in another European country. Our partner institutions are based in Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Malta, Poland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.Project preparation, implementation and follow-up:The EU-Internship is an integral part of the training. The preparation develops during the complete school year (every second week, two Saturday workshops, one weekend workshop in a youth hostel - focused on adventure/outdoor pursuits) and contains the presentation and information about the EU- program lead by the responsible teachers of the EU-Team. Information about the different countries and their educational system is given by the students. Sensitizing cross-cultural understanding will be instilled through experiential learning exercises and dealing with social and cultural issues and values, thus creating a foundation for the subsequent EU internship.Possible outcomes:- Competency increase based on the EU-project team and the subsequent EU-internship and professional development- The continuous monitoring of the students during their EU-internship contributes to a better knowledge of different education systems. - An increase of discussions internally and outside of school, as well as in Education conferences and in partnering education institutions is to be expected.- The topic of Europe will also have a greater emphasis in the school curriculum and will also attract more students of the vocational colleges.There are various benefits of the Europe Mobility. The students gain professional competencies and by enlarging the awareness of different qualities of different nations become open-minded which then enables them to find jobs abroad. The teachers of our school are involved in networking as they visit our students in their institutions. Thus they gain experience and strengthen their competencies for their own work. The public image of the college attracts possible applicants who understand the European idea. Workshops and an annual meeting with our European partners at our college unite students, teachers and foreign colleagues.