Internationalization in school has gained importance due to the fact that today we are increasingly affected by developments abroad. An increasingly mobile society, also internationally, requires that schools improve their competence in a number of areas to prepare the students as well as possible to actively participate both in society and on the labor market as well as for further studies - not only in Sweden - but also in terms of Europe. At the Virginska we have students from a number of different cultures, religions, age groups and socio-economic backgrounds. Therefore the school is very keen on making it a welcoming meeting place for everybody. No matter the origins and individual traits everybody has to feel accepted as the individual one is. This is the reason why we consider the meetings, co-operation and work placement abroad a natural component of our school policy. Primarily we want to increase the understanding of cultural differences but also to “develop the efforts to compensate the unequal conditions of early education with particular attention to newly arrived pupils”. In other words we are working on – and need to get better at it - “To enhance equality, social integration and an active EU citizenship” which is also one of EU´s 4 educational objectives. An average admissions score in our school was 203.75, which is to be compared with 225 average admission score nationwide in Sweden. As a consequence one of our development areas is an increased fulfillment of educational goals.Many students have a poor self-esteem and lack dreams for the future whereas there are others with both strong self-esteem, hopes and big dreams of success and happiness. To develop this situation we need to make our students grow and believe in themselves, the future and their employability. If we succeed in that, we believe in an increased fulfillment of educational objectives. With regard to our students, their different backgrounds, varying study motivation, knowledge and abilities it is our idea to first develop the values of a more fundamental character than meeting the curriculum goals.Our primary goal is to increase the students´ motivation to study and enhance their confidence in their ability and possibility to shape their future, and where there is the need, to make up for the socio-economic inequalities. Furthermore, we want to encourage them to dare the social interaction, to be creative and show initiative. We also want them – to prevent prejudices and racism – to develop understanding for everybody´s equal rights no matter culture, religion, personal life style, thinking or perception of the world. We want our students to be aware of the environment, both for us living today and for the future generations.On top of that the objective of the project is to equip the participants with social and linguistic competence, enhance their employability both at home and abroad plus make them aware of new trends and working methods In Europe and overseas. The secondary objective – but by all means important- is to improve fulfillment of the educational objectives which we believe will be the most likely outcome if we achieve the primary goal. The activities that we seek funding for, constitute a fantastic method to achieve these goals. The experience of a successful work placement and life abroad and in different culture would strengthen the pupils` self-esteem and hope of future opportunities in Sweden and in Europe. The students will be able to experience the world and discover the future possibilities within the EU and overseas. Long internship placements and close partnerships create tight relationships which are most likely to endure in the future. That´s how we perceive the possibility to live up to EU´s educational objectives “Achieve the targets of lifelong learning and mobility” and “Improvement of quality and effects of education”. We want our students to realize that the future is full of possibilities within their reach. It is what the title of the project expresses: "The future in our hands - towards development and employability". Evaluation will be carried out on the basis of development areas and the purpose of the project. The experiences of our students, skills and insights will be carefully disseminated among junior students at school and the pupils in the 9th grade of the compulsory school. The participating students and teachers will share their experiences through lectures, meetings and conversations in the municipality and local communities. At the work placements our students will enrich the staff members and visitors with their knowledge and experience from Sweden If- as we wish – the encounters take place, relationships be created and understanding of diversity of life styles and world views prevail then a spark of hope of love, comfort, harmony, respect and solidarity between people will and such sense of love can endure for a long time and reach far out.