Smale-scale 3D Printing project ‘ Building bridges, boosting skills’ (September 2025 – February 2027)

 
Background
Foundation 1 for All Education (Netherlands) has been developing innovative 3D printing education in European VET for several years, building on two successive Erasmus+ KA2 projects — Global 3D Printing 1.0 (2020–2023) and 2.0 (2023–2026) — which produced a well-regarded shared curriculum for EQF level 2–4 students. When the results were presented at the Innotecs Conference in Bilbao in April 2024, three schools responded enthusiastically: CIFP Santurtzi LHII (San Jorge, Spain), Elektrostrojarska škola (Varaždin, Croatia), and Instituto Miguel Altuna (Bergara, Spain. Together with Foundation 1 for All Education as project lead, these four organisations form the partnership behind Building Bridges, Boosting Skills (2025-1-NL01-KA210-VET-000350101): EU Students United in 3D Printing — an 18-month KA210-VET small-scale partnership 

Aim
The project has three core objectives: to give the partner schools access to the curriculum developed in the Global 3D Printing projects, adapted to their Southern and Eastern European contexts; to establish lasting institutional partnerships in a fast-moving field where schools risk falling behind without active collaboration; and to enhance students' skills in 3D design and printing, SDG awareness, and international competences including English, presentation skills and intercultural communication.

Learning Activities
The project runs through four phases. In the preparation phase (autumn 2025), a curriculum workgroup meets virtually and once in person at the 3D Makers Zone in Haarlem to adapt the existing curriculum, defining learning outcomes and producing a detailed lesson plan. The kick-off week (January 2026, hosted by Miguel Altuna in Spain) brings four students and one teacher per school together for five days of CAD classes, SDG workshops and — above all — English language and intercultural communication training. Students return home with initial designs and a shared sense of purpose. During the national lessons phase (January–November 2026), students develop their designs at their own schools in four to eight lessons, supported by a virtual mid-term exchange in May 2026. The project concludes with a closing event (November–December 2026) at the 3D Makers Zone in Haarlem, where final designs are printed in advanced sustainable materials and formally presented, alongside visits to Amsterdam's Nemo science museum and local partner colleges.

Deliverables and Results
The project delivers an adapted, ready-to-use 3D printing curriculum; student 3D printed sculptures; documented assessment criteria aligned with national qualifications; and dissemination materials published via EfVET Magazine, Innotecs, EPALE and the Erasmus+ Project Results Platform.