Rationale: ZUB has been working with partner organisations on a European level for over 20 years. To improve the quality of their work and exchange with partners, and to deepen the understanding of the European Educational Area and the collaboration within transnational projects, Zukunftsbau and the staff working in the various areas of education and training wanted to use the KA1 Project EDU PRACTICES for the development of the European competences of all staff involved. The objectives of the project were to promote motivation and a deeper understanding of the European educational policies for the staff involved. We hoped that peer to peer contacts would be built for future further collaboration (in daily work). Additionally, we hoped to increase the willingness of the staff to collaborate within European educational projects. In our work we have experienced that European collaboration and project work is seen as a burden and as additional work, and therefore it is very often neglected. We also expected the staff to develop language expertise in one foreign language. For those that were afraid of using a foreign language, we chose Austria as a partner country to offer a learning mobility with no language barrier. We wished to support the activities of the human resources department within our organisation. And last but not least, we aimed to support the European Idea with the individual learning mobilities. There are two main working areas that were involved in this project: 1. Specialised staff working at the threshold from school to work / key competences for staff working at the threshold from school to vocational education and the world of work For years now, one of Europe’s top educational policies has been to significantly reduce the number of school drop-outs. At the same time, increasing demographic pressure presents the threat of a huge shortage of skilled workers in the near future, meaning that companies are under pressure to find new solutions to this challenge. In all partner countries, many stakeholders from schools, companies and other educational organisations have devoted themselves to the question of how the transition between school and work can be made in a more purposeful and appropriate way, both in terms of quantity and quality. 2. Management staff working in transnational projects with the focus on educational planning / key competences for staff working in transnational projects with the focus on educational planning Working in and managing transnational educational projects requires a set of different competences. The idea was to support the profession and to give them the opportunity to discuss their working requirements. The Logistics were managed by the European project department of Zukunftsbau in strong collaboration with the EU project departments of the partners. The human resource departments of each organisation were involved when necessary. 14 participants took part in the staff mobilities. 10 participants were Female, 4 were male. 8 participants went to Austria, 3 to Sweden and 3 to the UK. Undertaken activities: Project start: (Level: National) -kick-off meeting -application phase and selection of participants -preparation phase with the EU partners for the job-shadowing Preparation (Level: National) -Preparations of the participants - group level (intercultural and language preparation) -Preparation of the participants - individual level, fixed agreements about the learning activities Mobility Abroad (Level: European) - The participants spent one week abroad getting to know the host organisation and its working methods Follow up (Level: National): - individual evaluation session - group evaluation session Results and impact: The participants' reports show that the competences acquired and improved by the participants during the project were indeed in line with the planned objectives and learning outcomes. These included inspiration and motivation in working life and thereby improving the quality of work, a development of European competences of the staff, to deepen exchange, understanding of the EEA and collaboration within transnational projects, a willingness of the staff to collaborate in such projects, and a development of foreign language skills. Most importantly, both management staff and staff working on the threshold school to work gained important professional skills. This will have a long-term benefit for the work of Zukunftsbau and for the disadvantaged young people the organisation works with. The acquired skills and motivation of the staff will contribute to the reduction of school drop-outs in Berlin.