A Challenge for VET Learners
A creative and collaborative journey to rethink vocational futures — inspired by the New European Bauhaus.
Call for VET Students (13-18 years)
Teachers at the heart of change
If you’re a teacher, join the RE:Think Your Profession Challenge 2025 and lead your students in a journey that connects vocational skills with meaningful challenges from their school or local community.
With our help, you will become a Team-cher — a trained guide, mentor, and catalyst for student-driven innovation. Through a structured process and continuous support, you will help your students to develop ideas, build prototypes, and present their solutions to real stakeholders.
This is teaching that empowers. This is learning that matters.
What is a Challenge?
A Challenge is a simple but powerful idea: students work together to solve a real problem that matters to them and their community.
They work in teams, apply what they’re learning in school, and use their vocational as well as soft skills to find a solution. Along the way, they explore the issue, connect with real people, test ideas, and build something meaningful.
The focus is not just on the final result — but on how they think, collaborate, and learn during the process.
This approach is rooted in Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) — an active, student-centered method that turns the classroom into a space for exploration, teamwork, and real impact. Rather than simply receiving knowledge, students identify challenges, research deeply, develop ideas, and put their solutions into practice.
CBL fosters critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration, while encouraging connections across different disciplines. It helps learners become not only skilled professionals, but also active, responsible citizens.
An essential outcome of CBL is the creation of a learning community, where students and teachers grow together, exchange knowledge, and build meaningful connections around shared goals and values.
What makes the RE:Think Your Profession Challenge 2025 a NEB challenge?
The RE:Think Your Profession Challenge 2025 is inspired by the values of the New European Bauhaus (NEB) — a European initiative founded on beautiful, sustainable and together as three guiding values.
Students are invited to design solutions that:
– respect and heal the environment, and promote green thinking;
– respect people of all belongings, and are made together;
– create beautiful experiences, bringing a sense of care, quality and meaning.
Find more about the New European Bauhaus on the official site at https://new-european-bauhaus.europa.eu.
Whether students are working on a healthcare project, a graphic design idea, or a sustainable tourism service, their solution should reflect these NEB values and show how their profession can make life better for people and the planet.
In the RE:Think Your Profession Challenge 2025, each team reflects on what could make their profession:
- beautiful for themselves and for others (is it about the end result? is it about the process? is it about the relationship with their future “clients”? is it…);
- sustainable, for the environment and economically (could we change the materials we use? the type of energy? the quantity of energy used? Do we produce toxic byproducts? How can we earn a decent living out of our work? Could we start an entrepreneurial project?);
- collaborative, inclusive, open, affordable (are we able to cooperate among ourselves and with others? Who should we consult to help us? Can we make the result of our work affordable for others? Is it open or is it based on a secret formula? Is it mindful of people with special needs? Is it mindful of other cultures?).
Driven by these reflections, the teams will identify challenges to solve, to make their profession more aligned with (ideally) all of the New European Bauhaus values.
Step by step: the challenge path
With the support of their Team-cher (that’s you!) and a mentor, students follow a guided path:
1. EXPLORE
understand what could make their profession more beautiful, sustainable, collaborative and inclusive through introspection, observation and small research.
2. COMMUNICATE
talk to people in the community — listen to their needs and ideas, and understand from them how their own profession could be more beautiful, sustainable, and inclusive.
3. PRODUCE
create a solution — a method, a product, a process or a service to change their profession into one inspired by the New European Bauhaus principles.
4. DESIGN
build a prototype of the method, product, service or process (a model, drawing, or demo)
5. EXPERIMENT
test it, collect feedback, and make it better.
6. DISSEMINATE
share the results in a final presentation and video.
Local people — like artisans, workers, business owners, neighbors, or even parents — can become part of the journey.
They help shape the project, give feedback, and test the solution.
Awards & recognition
The RE:Think Your Profession Challenge 2025 brings together student teams from vocational schools across Europe — creating a truly international and collaborative atmosphere.
Top 4 Teams per Age Group (13 – 15, 16 – 18) will be featured on our website and channels.
Winning Team (1 per Age Group) will enjoy a fully funded study visit to Brussels in spring 2026 (covers travel, accommodation, meals, and local transport for up to 8 students and 2 teachers), engaging with EU-level stakeholders and presenting their solution.
This is more than a prize — it’s a unique chance to experience Europe in action, and to show how vocational education can lead the way toward a more inclusive, sustainable future.
Your role as a Team-cher
Are you ready to lead innovation in education? Become a Team-cher and bring your students through a Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) journey — helping them turn ideas into real, transformative solutions.
As a Team-cher, you will:
– complete a free certified e-learning course on CBL (with official certificate);
– guide one or more teams of 3–8 students aged 13–18 from your class through the Challenge: participants are expected to dedicate approximately 1 hour per week during school hours, with additional time as needed outside school;
– support their learning journey from idea to prototype;
– engage local stakeholders and ensure community relevance;
– receive free CBL training and ongoing mentorship.
All Team-chers will gain access to:
– high-quality CBL training materials;
– personalized mentorship throughout the Challenge;
– practical templates, activity guides, and weekly planning tools.
Key dates
application deadline
JULY 15, 2025
challenge period
SEP 2025 – JAN 2026
selection Notification
by SEP 5, 2025
study visit to Brussels
SPRING 2026
Who can participate?
Challenges are team-based activities: you can apply with your class, and then form groups of 3 to 8 students that will create their own solutions and compete with other teams from all Europe. Conditions:
TARGET GROUP
students aged 13 to 18
AGE GROUPS
Age Group 1: 13–15 years
Age Group 2: 16–18 years
TEAM BUILDING
students from the same class or school year (mixed-age teams are not allowed)
The person submitting the application can act as the Team-cher (teacher-mentor) or designate another teacher to take on that role.
No need to list individual student names in the form — only a general description of the class or team composition (e.g., number of students, age group, field of study).
How to apply
Fill out the Online Application by July 15, 2025. You’ll need to include your class or team composition, relevant past experiences, a short motivation statement, and your CBL training status.
Participation terms at a glance
Participation is free. Students remain under the responsibility of their schools. Teams retain IP rights but grant permission for promotional use of materials.
Read the full Terms and Conditions to explore all technical requirements and participation rules.
Contact Info
Need help?
For questions or support, don’t hesitate to contact us.
Are you ready?
Join the challenge!
Get your chance to win and join us on an exciting trip to Brussels, where you’ll experience the inspiring New European Bauhaus Festival up close!