The Placements for Environmental and Traditional Skills project (PETS) brings together a consortium of UK VET colleges providing vocational training in environmental skills and traditional skills and crafts. The project will offer vocational students in these subjects inspiring and educational 4-week work placements with our experienced European host partners. The project also offers VET tutors the opportunity to undertake 7-day staff training visits to European host partners, to learn from their training methods, share experience and form lasting mutually benefical partneships. The project will fund 4-week placements for 47 environmental students and 55 craft students. PETS will also fund 7-day staff training placements for 18 teachers from environmental courses and 26 craft tutors (all from VET courses level 1-3). This application benefits from over 10 years of Grampus promoting environmental and traditional skills and craft placements through the Leonardo da Vinci programme. This application and consortium combines the experience of delivering two certified IVT projects ‘Training in Contemporary Applications of Traditional European Crafts’ (TICATEC) and ‘Developing Environmental Skills In Rural Europe’ (DESIRE) within the Lifelong Learning Programme. (mobility certificate UK/09/LLP-LdV/MC/Z007) Host countries represented in the consortium are Czech Republic, Slovakia, Cyprus, Germany, Romania, Iceland, Slovenia ,Bulgaria Ireland and Turkey. Participant students and recent graduates will develop a higher degree of self confidence, put theory into practice, gain new skills, improve existing skills and competences, inspire a renewed interest in their chosen subject, gain new language skills and complete a CV enhancing placement which will improve employment prospects and/or enable an informed progression to higher level study. Participating staff will benefit from placing their own training in a wider European context. Travelling tutors will not only explore new skills, methods, approaches and techniques but will also share their own experiences with host organisations. This experience will give staff access to new ideas and approaches to training which will have a positive impact on their own training delivery. This will ultimately benefit vocational students of the tutor and enable the tutor to pass on new skills and information with a broader European scope. The objectives of the project are to: 1 Provide a period of ‘real work’ experience for beneficiaries studying environmental and craft courses in the UK at VET level. 2. To ensure that this period of European experience is of relevance to the participant’s course of study and can be accredited as such. 3. To increase the appreciation in beneficiaries of the benefits of European cooperation and the fact that we are facing similar challenges across Europe. 4. To provide beneficiaries with sufficient time and support to increase competencies in key environmental and craft skills being used on the placement. These include: Environmental Skills: planting, coppicing, footpath design and construction, countryside furniture construction (bridges, steps benches etc), biodiversity assessments and species identification, basic surveying, habitat management, organic sustainable food production. Craft Skills: weaving, embroidery, silversmithing, blacksmithing, ceramics, wood carving, green wood construction, traditional building techniques (natural materials), 5. To develop a sustainable European VET partnership (hosts, UK colleges and Grampus) which can share experience and develop future cooperation projects. 6. To increase the employment prospects of participating students through gaining real-work experience and laying the foundation for language skills 7. To enhance UK VET training provision in environmental and traditional skills by providing 7-day staff placements for tutors with relevant European hosts. The project management methodology for the PETS consortium is consistent with the 2001 Recommendation on mobility for students, persons undergoing training, volunteers, teachers and trainers and the ten principles set out in in the European Quality Charter for Mobility. Students are accredited as part of their UK course of study for the mobilities. All participant mobilities are recognised through the Europass certificate as well as the Europass CV and language passport. Host partners provide a minimum of four language lessons with professional tuition. All staff mobilities are recognised within an agreed CPD plan with their own organisations. Host partners also provide certification and a record of achievement in their own format as additional evidence of achievement. Detailed learning agreements are drawn up prior to placement through discussion between participants, hosts and UK colleges. These provide a realistic benchmark against which the success of the project and placements will be evaluated.