"The project ""Fictitious Trading between the Czech and Slovak Schools"" was aimed at cooperation between students of both participating schools as a part of their school subject -the “Fictitious Company”. During two school years, students participated intensely in various business activities - concluding framework contracts, fictitious trading via e-mail and personal participation in fictitious fairs. Thanks to the cooperation of students from the two countries, the principles of international trade were practiced. A side effect of the international communication was the improvement of the students’ language skills. The direct participants of the project were the students of the 3rd and 4th year of the two business academies in the school years 2015-2017, the total of 210 pupils, of which the best 16 of each school were chosen for personal meetings. Indirectly, the project affected and influenced students of all years from both schools, and also the students who were involved in the teaching of fictitious companies within CEFIF organization, who were informed about the project directly at the exhibitions, on the websites of both schools, e-mails and at the promotion of the most successful company at the International Fair of Fictitious Companies in Prague. Some of the project's activities took place within the framework of electronic communication (videoconference, e-mail and social networking). The outputs of the project were questionnaires completed by students at the beginning and at the end of each school year, documentation of fictitious transactions carried out in compliance with the legislation of both countries, reports from personal meetings at fairs and annual reports of all participating companies. All this documentation will be accessible to students in the next school years, which will again improve learning and make it more attractive. The long-term effect on the students who were directly involved in the project is the improvement of their entrepreneurial and social skills, and the ability to decide independently and understand foreign trade issues, which will increase their chances in the job market after their graduation. Also, the teachers of the subject of the “Fictitious Company” can pass on the newly acquired experience and the established contacts of the foreign cooperation to the younger students. The long-term impact of the project is primarily bringing closer students and teachers from two European nations which have much in common linguistically, culturally and historically."

"The Fit 'n' Green project teaches students the importance of exercise and healthy eating. The students will mainly do this by hiking and other outdoor activities.Since, according to the WHO, the number of overweight children is increasing worldwide, not only sufficient exercise (Fit) but also a healthy diet (Green) is necessary. This is the second focus of this project. In a first step the students will evaluate their eating habits, calorie consumption and physical activities per day/week. In the second step they will report on the basic principles of a healthy diet and explain the connections between this, physical activity and the resulting body reactions. In cooking workshops the students learn to prepare healthy, seasonal and regional dishes and are also confronted with the current and important topic of sustainability.Through interaction in transnational groups social competence (communication, openness, team orientation) is developed and in the area of personal development skills such as commitment, self-confidence and willingness to learn are demanded and promoted. Due to the use of the project language english the knowledge of foreign languages is promoted and deepened. In the workshops on health-conscious nutrition the students learn what, why and how to prepare and develop a stronger self-esteem and curiosity to taste the dish through their own involvement in the cooking process.Through the hikes the students find out a possibility to physically exercise in nature in order to improve their fitness, among other things. At the same time they explore their own as well as foreign surroundings and widen their cultural horizons. In cooperation with external sports providers, but also through the conception of training and relaxation units by the students themselves, the participants enrich their individual sports repertoire and can choose from a variety of exercise offers, which should motivate them to engage in lifelong sports activities beyond the project.This project aims to present and experience measures for a fundamental change in lifestyles with regard to exercise and nutrition. Since everyday habits such as diet and exercise are stable personality traits and can only be changed with difficulty later on, prevention is the best solution for a healthy future (Susanne Bappert/Dr. Claudia Osterkamp-Baerens, ""Fit und gesund durch Bewegung und richtige Ernährung"" )."

Rationale: Regionalisation versus globalisation. In all of the regions involved in this project, unemployment rates are high due to a variety of reasons. When one takes into account that small and medium sized companies (SME's) in the areas involved produce about half of the nation's economic output but account for approximately 20% of exports, a lot can be done. Most SME's in these regions are struggling to survive yet are extremely hesitant to look across borders when in fact the world is at their doorstep. Experts state that in a globalised world, SME's need to be able to confront an increasing competition from developed and emerging economies and to plug into the new market opportunities. There is a direct link between internationalisation and increased SME's performance. International activities reinforce growth, enhance competitiveness and support the long term sustainability of companies. In turn, companies indicate that there is a considerable gap between education and the labour market/industry. VET students lack hands on compentencies. As VET centres, it is our responsibility to take this to heart because we are able to change the mindset of our students to thinking globally and acting locally. After all, our students will be the next generation of entrepreneurs. Both of the above-mentioned issues need to be addressed and dealt with in close cooperation with all parties involved. This is why this project involves schools, companies and local government (also referred to as the triple helix principle). In this project the focus lies on two departments; the Economics department and Tourism department.Why transnationally?The strengths and opportunities from one area could be of use to the other regions involved. Hence, we would not only like the students to become more familiarised with the concept of globalisation but the companies and municipalities as well. Ergo, students will become more responsible, pro active and show more initiative. It will increase their chances to enter the labour martket, not only within this region but also internationally because they will have become more flexible/adaptable and fluent in English. Companies will receive feedback from the market reserach about the current needs of the market and this might help them to adapt their martket strategies on an regional/national/international level. The companies might obtain new international partners. The teachers will also benefit because it might lead to transfer of knowledge regarding education programmes, curriculum and foreign companies. The need for a more international view in the current economic climate is paramount in order to regain a healthy economic climate. Objectives and target groups:Ergo, this project is not solely a result of schools working together, the key to successful international entrepreneurship revolves around the participation and cooperation with local businesses/local government and organisations as the Chamber of Commerce, Export Clubs and other Business clubs ( Rotary). The municipalities of each of these towns have agreed to sign the Letter of Support in order to emphasize that they are adament to join forces. Several chambers of commerce and/ or business clubs have agreed to sign this Letter of Support as well. Because of the expertise of all these parties involved, the students will learn from existing companies and obtain valuable knowledge and skills. They will be exposed to the cultural differences and entrepreneurial skills by means of presentations of Chambers of Commerce. With this information students have to conduct an International Market Research that will result in identification of the needs of the local entrepreneurs, which could lead to import/export of products but also of ideas and knowledge. Please note that the Tourism students will research, map out and promote the recreational opportunities in the countries involved and this might boost local economies as well. Hence, all students will gain (international) insights, allow students to enter the labourmarket better. Each partner will set up case studies of good trade practice in their country to be shared across the group. The findings; its benefits and challenges will be explored and analysed and presented in a Business Plan.

"<< Objectives >>1) comparison of 3 attitudes applied by partners in terms of smart IT solutions in vocational economic education: tools for on-line education and evaluation of learners, data-sharing with learners and protection, tools for the involvement of the learners into digital competences, on-line questionnaire and testing methods)2) identification of the best practice applied in each partner school and its transfer to the to the teaching process by instruction manual developed during the project<< Implementation >>There will be held 3 Transnational project meetings and 3 Learning/Training activities in the project period. The project team will develop an instruction manual summing up the best practice in using IT tools including practical and methodical guides for the teachers so that they can use it in practice. The manual will be result of detailed evaluation and testing carried out during the project and combines the expertise of all 3 partner schools.<< Results >>The project will help to implement the best IT tools into the teaching which is proven by practice. All three schools will closely cooperate to create useful and effective and ""user-friendly"" methodical manual for non-IT teachers on how to use the tools in the lessons. What's more there will be selected tools which are tailor-made for economic vocational education and are best fitting to their needs. The results can be consequently used by other secondary vocational schools of this kind."

The aim of our secondary vocational school has been to strengthen practical skills of our students and teachers. Therefore we decided to run this project where we wanted to support economical and professional education in the entrepreneurship field of students of three participating schools from the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic and France. The project was focused on setting up of fictional companies where each participant (a school) set up one fictional company with a different object clause. The participants made their own business plan respecting effective laws and regulations of individual countries, created a logo and websites for the project. The project was 2 years long. The target group in each country were students of one class (a group of about 15 students) who worked on the project activities at their Practical Training Lessons under the charge of professional teachers. During the project students worked on activities under the tutelage of professional teachers such as a Fictional company setting up, preparation of an individual state presentation, preparation of the school presentation, running a business in a particular country, logo creation, webpages creation and Business Plan. These activities were necessary to be carried out transnationally because they helped the students to develop and strengthen their knowledge, skills and competences. The activities were closely interconnected with four mobilities which motivated students to be the best at their work and which helped them to understand multicultural and global problems. There were held four transnational meeings (mobilities) at partnership schools in the Czech Republic, France and the Slovak Republic. Each mobility lasted 5 working days. The first mobility was focused on the introduction of the project, presentations of countries and schools, introduction of the object clause of the fictional companies and introduction of webpages. There was held a logo competition among the participating groups and the French logo won. The host country, Czech Republic, introduced running a business in its country, there were held discussion with significant business representatives from the region and representatives of the Czech and Moravian Association of Women Entrepreneurs and Managers, These debates were finished by a round table discussion.The second and the third mobility were led as workshops where the participants introduced of both content and work on the business plans of individual countries, the host country introduced running of business in its country, there were held discussions with significant business representatives from the region, round table debates and visits (educational excursions) of a significant regional companies. All mobilities were ended by debates about following project activities, experience exchange and discussions.During the last mobility there was held the Final Conference where all participants presented their Business Plans (CZ, FR, SK). These business plans were introduced to the representatives of the Czech and Moravian Association of Women Entrepreneurs and Managers, Town Hall authorities and to some representatives of regional businesmen and the round table discussion about “do´s and dont´s” of the project was held.The results and the impacts of the project were the foundation of the Fictive companies with each own business plan. Actually there were founded following fictional companies:CZ / Sportmark, s.r.o. SK / AD Corp, Ltd.FR / ViviaOfficeBayThe results and the experience of the work of the students on the fictional companies setting up were implemented into the School Curricula in correspondence to the School Educational Plans and hopefully it have made studies more practical both for students and teachers and have helped students to get wider opportunities to be successful at the labour market both at home and abroad.