On 17th November 2021 students from six schools all over Europe came together in Trondheim to revive a project that has been running since 2020. After the start of the project was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, us students from Lithuania, Croatia, Italy, Ireland, Norway and Germany met in the Byåsen Videregående Skole in Trondheim to get an idea of how to further improve our Train as well as strengthen the interconnection between all the participating schools.
The starting event of the entire project was a dinner prepared by the students in Trondheim and it, along with the complementary lunches every day, was definitely a highlight. On the second day the project really took off with us all starting to think about the actual realisation of a manageable plan. After a delicious breakfast at the hotel, we all took the public transport together and, upon arrival, we heard about the project’s history, the outline for our specific project and how we were going to work on it as well as how the project work will be structured. That evening we were also invited on a guided city tour of Trondheim, where we were taken around the beautiful city centre and learned about its long and rich history. Sights we explored included the Stiftsgarden, Nidaros Cathedral, the Old Town Bridge and the Old Harbour. Afterwards we explored some more on our own and ended the evening with our own dinner and some free time, as well as anticipation for the next day’s project start.
The next day, before starting our own project work, we first visited the Norwegian University of Science and Technology where we were introduced to two projects that students at the university can participate in. One was the Propulse Project in which the students themselves build, code and launch rockets. The other project involved students taking part in the Formula Student competition. These students design their own race cars and build them as well to then race them. Both student teams explained their projects to us, talked about their victories and defeats, to encourage us in our own project work that we would begin working on that same day after coming back to school. And that is exactly what we did. We divided ourselves in working groups so that in the end one representative from each delegation sat in each group. And so, the one-hour group work phases began with final presentations to share with the other groups what we had come up with and to offer time for questions and suggestions to ensure that everyone was involved in every important decision-making process. After two such work rounds the day concluded with individual dinners and some more free time to get to know the other delegations in a non-working environment or relax before the next working phases started the next day.
Our last actual day in Norway was again spent working in our working groups and presenting our findings, and while doing so we discovered how many similarities there are between all the different topics and how interconnected everything becomes once we started to go into more detail which is a great start to bring all of our ideas together in the next few work phases. Our lunch break was accompanied with a visit to the Sverresborg Trøndelag Folk Museum where we were shown many different buildings from throughout the ages from all over Scandinavia that have been shipped there. Our tour guide led us through history in a traditional Norwegian outfit which made the entire tour a unique experience. Back at school we gave ourselves homework to make the next meeting in Italy as productive as possible.
Our spectacular time in Norway was concluded with a real highlight by having our last dinner at Egon, a restaurant located 80 meters high at Tyholttårnet. The restaurant revolves around itself and offers spectacular 360° panorama views as well as delicious food. Truly, the entire experience was one that none of us students would want to miss and hopefully the next meetings are just as much of a wonderful experience as Norway has been.
Text written by Jana Kern
IT Specialist Trainee
Deutsche Telekom AG / BBS TGHS Bad Kreuznach
