The Bridge Plus project between Ballsbridge College of Further Education and ROCvA is a link that was developed over seven years ago after a group of Principals from the CDETB travelled over to Amsterdam to visit ROCvA. From this visit it was identified that the Dutch and ROCvA have best practice in offering internships and work placements for their students and there was an opportunity for students of Ballsbridge College to spend two weeks working in Amsterdam in the field of PR and Event Marketing. The link was established and has grown from strength to strength each year with an average of 16 participants travelling to Amsterdam each year for their work placement. The objectives of the project are to offer lifelong learning and the need for further training as identified in Europe 2020 and are as follows: • To give participants the opportunity to experience and complete their work experience placement in another European country • To undertake work placements that allow for participants to develop entrepreneurial skills and develop the ability to use their own initiative • To encourage the mobility of participants and other students in Ballsbridge College into the European labour market • To continue to develop and enhance the link between ROC Van Amsterdam and Ballsbridge College • To help in the professional development of skills, knowledge, citizenship and employment • To help in the personal development and maturity of participants The project plans to send 32 participants to Amsterdam to complete their FETAC work experience placement. The participants are quite diverse in relation to nationality, age and previous experience, ranging from post leaving certificate students to mature students. A large proportion of students will be from either disadvantage backgrounds or will be disadvantaged in other ways such as special educational needs or previous life experiences. The mobility gives participants opportunities that they would not have if Erasmus+ was not on offer. The participants selected will travel to Amsterdam to ROCvA Event Management and Support School and will meet with their employers. The employers are mainly from the Event Industry in Amsterdam and each year they require participants to work in small groups. The participants liaise with their supervisor and are given a task to complete over the two week period. An example of such a task could be to develop an online marketing campaign. They would be asked to identify current gaps in the market or current problem/need, this would be aided and supported by market research of the company’s target audience and also the competitive industry in which they operate. From the analysis of the information they would draw up an online marketing plan and present it to the employer, ROCvA and the project coordinator. The methodology for carrying out the project will derive from the project coordinator and the steering committee. From the beginning of the academic year the steering committee will begin to manage the mobility. The project coordinator will run the project and liaise with ROCvA on a regular basis. The participants will be selected through the application and selection process. Once selected CVs will be sent to Amsterdam and work placements will be arranged from the coordinator in Amsterdam. Practical arrangements will be made for example, accommodation booked, flights and insurance booked and language and cultural classes will begin. The students will travel to Amsterdam in February and on return the evaluation process will begin. The results of the project will be as follows: participants will receive the FETAC Work Experience module award by completing the ten day work placement requirement. Participants will gain employment opportunities both in Ireland and in Europe. Participants will become aware of an open European labour market for employment and consider seeking employment in Europe. Finally, participants will develop personally and mature from the experience of living and working in an international setting. The impact of the project and the potential longer term benefits would be that Ballsbridge College and the CDETB will continue to be recognised as an educational institution that offer lifelong learning and further education courses. That international work placements would be available for all students with the CDETB.