The background of the project and participants: The adult basic education development project of Helsinki metropolitan area started from network cooperation that aims to develop and coordinate theadult basic education of this area. The consortium members are organizers of adult basic education: Töölö High School for Adults, Eira High School for Adults, High School for Adults in Helsinki, Helsinki Deaconess Institute, Helsinki and Vantaa Adult Education institutes. From these organizations the network meetings have been assisted by principal, vice principal and/or guidance counselor. It is natural that the participants to the project are from this networking group. The total number of participants will be 11. Objectives: 1. The new curriculum of basic education for adults comes into force in 2016 and the local curriculum has to be updated by then too. The aim of this project is to get ideas for this work. Particular interest and development targets are combining entrepreneurship, daily skills, and links with working life to pedagogical structures and contents. 2. To get ideas for administrative and pedagogical structures (co-operation with different actors, accepting credits from previous studies, flexible study-modules) and at the organizational level means to promote learning of everyday skills and entrepreneurship. 3. Being prepared for possible future changes (of which there were indications at the memo of the Ministry working group about basic education of adult immigrants). It seems that the structure of the studies will develop towards a more modular solution. 4. To create vital international contacts, enabling a continuous exchange of ideas and maintaining organizations ability to international cooperation. To retrieve experience from countries having a longer history of high quantity immigration. Carrying out the project: The details of the project will be planned in June-September. Language used in meetings will be English, and there will be also one Dutch-speaking member in the project-planning team. We have already started the construction of cooperation with local bodies. We communicate mainly by e-mail, and prepare the receiving institutions in advance to the themes of our interest. We also tell them in advance about our organizations. Preparation before the trip: 1. To acquire information on the receiving organizations, to prepare our questions to facilitate the work of receiving organizations. To plan the presentation of Finnish organizations and their practices. 2. Technical preparation: insurance, security. 3. Terminology and cultural preparation. Description of activities abroad: Visit to the Dutch Ministry of Education (The Hague, NL), and the department of education of Antwerp city (B) - Information on policy solutions, historical development of the basic education of immigrants - Information on adult immigrants reception and education, for ex. how the Dutch language teaching, the Basic Education and Integration activities overlap Visit to adult basic education providing schools in The Hague and Antwerp - Conversation on the project themes (e.g. Modularity, everyday skills, entrepreneurship, labor market connections) - Job shadowing in groups: principals, vice principals, guidance counselors Impact - build up functional international cooperation - getting evidence of other ways of action and their functionality - Principals get ideas for structures, administrative processes and possibilities for cooperation on the project themes (e.g. Modularity, everyday skills, entrepreneurship, labor market connections) - Guidance counselors get information on the accreditation of prior studies and possibilities of modular study structures as well as about linking entrepreneurship, labor market connections and everyday skills to studies Results will be visible in schools teaching arrangements and thus in everyday life of the students. Each participant has an influential role in bringing new ideas to the institution-specific curriculum making e.g. during curriculum workshops and trainings. The group consists of nationally very well networked principals and other actors, and in addition the timing of the visit is perfect for the local curriculum work of adult basic education. The visit will bring to Finland new ideas and approaches. We want to promote the reciprocal knowledge by letting the Netherlands and Belgium practitioners know about current Finnish practices.