Forth Valley College Civil Engineering and Computer Aided Design (CAD) students visited a further education college in Eastern France recently to help complete a joint building design project.
Ahmed Khalid, Aiden Doherty, Cavan McLennan-Anderson, Jamie Beck, Scott McLaren, all NC Civil Engineering students and Harris Asjad and Euan Martin both NC CAD and Technology students and FVC Construction Department Curriculum Manager Charlie Cameron and lecturer Stephen Stirrat, made the trip to Lycée Carriat College in Bourg-en-Bresse from 26 May -3 June.
The visit was part of a reciprocal project where Lycée Carriat College students visited Forth Valley College from Monday 24 – Thursday 27 April and took part in an architectural survey exercise with the brief to design an overhead pedestrian walkway from the Helix Park over to the Westfield Stadium.
As well as spending four days in workshops at the French college completing the project along with 14 French students, the group of seven FVC learners were able to make several visits to building sites, museums and areas of architectural and cultural note, such as Mont Blanc, the Royal Monastery of Brou, the Parc Olympique Lyonnais
The FVC visit to France was funded and organised by the Charles de Gaulle Trust which was set up to enable groups of young people aged 17 to 19 from the UK and France to work together on joint projects. The Charles de Gaulle Trust supports collaboration between the UK and France through education partnerships that offer young people an international and intercultural experience.
This French college have been making Forth Valley College’s Construction Department one of their first ports of call – over the past ten years - when they bring new students across to see various sites in Scotland.
This year has been the first time Forth Valley College Construction students were also able accept an invitation to visit France.
Construction Curriculum Manager Charles Cameron said: “It was great to finally go across and visit our friends at the Lycée Carriat College and they were very welcoming indeed. The trip was a great success and I am sure all our students will have benefited enormously from the experience. We really do hope we can build on this strong relationship and organise more visits in the future.”