Our project aims at promoting mobility in Vocational Educational Training. The partners of the project (IHK Siegen/Germany, The IBD Partnership/UK) have already been working together successfully on similar projects in the past. So far Sequa has always applied for the Leonardo funding for these projects though. The concept of the project provides four-week work placements for dual apprentices. Young skilled workers (in the first year after finishing the apprenticeship) or learners from classified professional training courses (during their training and in the first year after the final exam) will also be accepted but they will be the exception. The particpants will be learners from different professions (the majority admin-related). Most of them will be employed by member-companies of the IHK Siegen, we will accept exceptions though. Mobilities will be organized in groups or individually, we are planning to send 50 persons throughout the programme period. The participants will go through work-placements at mostly small or medium-size organizations in the Portsmouth region. Host companies will be provided by our British partner IBD. The accommodation will be organized with host families (half-board). IBD will also organize the introductory day (including city tour and cultural and work preparation) and will be supporting and monitoring the participants throughout their stay. The IHK Siegen as the sending institution will be responsible for the coordination and administration of the project. We will also counsel the apprentices and their German supervisors, we will select and prepare the participants. We will also organize a preparational meeting and an evaluational meeting (including a Europass ceremony) at the Chamber. Throughout the project the IHK will be communicating continuously with the participants and the receiving partner. Each participant will sign a contract including a learning agreement which will contain the training programme. The learning agreement will also be signed by the receiving organization. Ways to communicate with the participants and partner during, before and after the project will be by phone, email or personally. The dissemination of the project results will mainly be based on press work, the Chamber magazine, personal contacts with employers, schools and apprentices and informative meetings. The main objectives of our project are: The participants should improve their personal, intercultural and language skills in order to improve their position on the job market. We also feel that mobility of young people contributes to a positive attitude towards Europe and improves their relations with foreigners. For our regional companies mobility projects become a more and more important way to improve the quality and attractiveness of the dual apprenticeship system. They can also contribute to enhance the image of the participating company which helps to arouse the interest of potential apprentices. On the other hand it is a fact that a lot of our local companies, especially the smaller ones, tend to make use of these advantages only if there is a concrete offer like our project to organize and finance these measures. Participating companies will also benefit from qualifying their junior employees for international tasks. Export forms a great part of the activities of our local businesses. Employees who are able to deal with international clients and suppliers in a professional way are an important asset for their employers. In the long run we aim at contributing to a growing culture of mobility in Vocational Educational Training. We believe this to be very important in order to motivate good graduates to consider Vocational Educational Training as an equal alternative to University. Since we are already facing a growing shortage of qualified employees which cannot be filled-up with University graduates it is more important than ever to strengthen Vocational Educational Training