The Lifelong Learning Programme has now been up and running for 5 years and its Leonardo da Vinci multilateral cooperation projects have been making an impact on vocational training practices and systems throughout Europe and beyond. Below you will find a compilation of the best projects that started in 2007 and that have helped VET development in the last years.

Funded from the budget 2007, we invite you to feast your eyes on a panoply of innovative projects in a plethora of different sectors, from Romania's "Virtual Training Centre for Shoe Design", to Denmark's "Painting Skills Comparison" and Germany's "Practical Approaches to optimise and implement joint cross-border vocational education and training in crafts and skilled trades".

Leonardo da Vinci projects also help to improve the quality of the continuous training of teachers and trainers, and you will also see projects in this important policy area, from Turkey's "Toward Safer Road Traffic in Turkey" and "Development of Further Training Modules in the fields of Energy Efficient Construction and Renewable Energy Applications in Buildings", to the Netherlands' "Urban Culture and Youth", and Spain's "Professional Training of Parents of Down's Syndrome children".

These projects are helping Europe along the path to meeting its 2020 targets for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. They are fostering new ideas and innovations that are vital as Europe faces up to the challenges of a competitive global environment. As Victor Hugo once wrote, "An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come."