The planned school partnership is an initiative going back to the „European CNC-Network“ established in 2006, a cooperation of more than 30 vocational schools in Europe. The most popular and probably most successful school project of our network was the Charlemagne Youth Price Award winning project in 2010, the „Train for EUROPE“.
Within this school partnership „Train for EUROPE”, the participating 24 partner schools produced model locomotives and individual wagons displaying characteristic motifs by using computer-controlled CNC machinery. So, for example, the German wagon is showing a single printing letter framed by an open book in honor of Johannes Gutenberg and the Italian wagon is representing historic inventions by Leonardo da Vinci. By the end of the project, the project partners had exchanged the copies of their own wagons so that today every member of the project has got their own train with at least ten different wagons. These trains are displayed for the public in showcases within the school buildings and are put into operation at special events („open house presentations”).
The planned school partnership´s objective is to link into the success of our „Train for EUROPE” by a digital upgrade. This follow-up project is putting its focus on the interaction of the described wagons by means of establishing a digital network linking the wagons using modern Micro controlling technology and including the current demands of „Industry 4.0” as the future-related strategy. The defined project title is based on the widely spread „Digital Revolution 4.0” in industry, which – after the invention of the steam engine, the mass production in assembly lines and the computer technology having found its way into production – is seen as the forth step to a comprehensive and intelligent crosslinking between man and machine. The digitalized „Train for EUROPE“ exactly follows and meets these requirements as it offers a highly attractive training object in a sustainable setting and provides various learning materials for further educational use.
