A student exchange may not become a privilege of the educational elite. What our school, the vocational college BBS1 – Mainz, strives to foster in future is the mobility to other European countries of those who do an apprenticeship in which our school is involved. In former LdV-mobility projects we successfully sent our students from the hospitality department to a partner school in London/Great Britain and students from our department of electricity to Racibórz/Poland. We are especially proud to have reached the following aims, - support for students who do their apprenticeships in small companies - assistance and furtherance of socially and economically disadvantaged young people Today as Europeans we feel it to be our vocation to participate in the European movement towards greater mutual understanding and closeness. With our application under the title ‘European cooperation in vocational qualification following the footsteps of Robert Schuman’ we would like to contribute to an enhanced cooperation of schools in Europe with respect to professional, cultural and socially integrating contents. The following quote by R. Schuman as one of several founding fathers of the European Union explicitly points out our intention: ‘You are not a real European by birth but by education.’ Furthermore we would like to confront our young apprentices of both departments within 40 flows and a project duration of 24 month with the following aspects: - gaining insights into their trade in the host country - mastering everyday life in a foreign country - encountering a new society with empathy and tolerance whether at the workplace, in shops, in their free time, at the partner school or in the public in general - successful active communication in a modern foreign language - getting to know foreign cultures, customs and ways of behaving in general - active cooperation in forming the partnership of the companies and schools involved in the exchange Our newly planned project including the departments of hospitality and electricity and involving our school as a whole pursues the following general aim: ‘Support for disadvantaged young apprentices preferably with a migration background.’ Subject-related practical cooperation in vocational qualification on an international and intercultural level represents an integral part of the quality of vocational education in Germany and in Europe as a whole. Together with our partners we would like to further Europe-wide cooperation in vocational education as we see this as a chance for a united Europe which comprises ever so different cultures and languages. With the words of Robert Schuman: ‘Europe is not against anybody. It is the united Europe which is a symbol of the all-encompassing solidarity of the future.’