In 2025, we measured Europe with our footsteps.
From midsummer to deep winter, across three universities of applied sciences, we embarked on an immersive learning journey that spanned all four seasons. We set out with questions in mind: How many possibilities does the future of vocational education truly hold?
CHAPTER 1 | July: Decoding the Precision of the “Dual System”
Entering the birthplace of the dual system to understand the seamless, zero-time-gap integration of theory and practice
At Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW), Germany,
“Classrooms are in the next building; training centers are just across the street.”
Our first impression of a German dual-system university showed us what “zero distance” really means.
What we did:
👉 One day in companies, one day on campus — a true “study–work balance”
👉 Team projects with German students; when language fell short, gestures filled the gap
👉 Lectures by enterprise engineers who returned to the production line the same afternoon
“Here, vocational education is not a fallback for those who fail to enter university,
but a strategic choice for national industry.”
Study Tour Bonus | Borderland Exploration: Germany · France · Switzerland
Between learning sessions, we visited the tri-border region:
❀ The order and rigor of German towns
❀ The romance and ease of Strasbourg, France
❀ The refined tranquility of the Rhine in Switzerland
Biggest takeaway:
Vocational education can be designed as a highly systematic model.
Schools, enterprises, students, and government — every cog fits perfectly.
CHAPTER 2 | November: Innovation Insights from the Arctic Circle
Exploring the educational code of the “world’s happiest country”
At the University of Oulu, Finland,
in classrooms warmed against –10°C winter air,
we discussed the Nordic innovation model.
Unforgettable moments:
📚 Libraries open 24/7, sofa areas filled with resting students
📚 A professor remarked: “Finland’s best educational resources are silence and space.”
📚 Group photos at Nallikari Lighthouse — the core area of the 2026 European Capital of Culture
Baltic Journey: A Passage Through Time
Finland (Helsinki) · Estonia (Tallinn) · Sweden (Stockholm)
Helsinki, Finland:
Libraries are more than places to read.
Here, learning is life itself.
Tallinn, Estonia:
Beneath the medieval old town lies the ambition of a “digital nation”
— home to the world’s first e-residency system.
Stockholm, Sweden:
At the Nobel Museum, we found our answer:
Innovation needs fertile ground — and time.
CHAPTER 3 | December: From Historical Depth to Designing the Future
Media arts, history, and design thinking
At Mediadesign Hochschule (MD.H), Berlin,
learning unfolded in a relaxed yet focused atmosphere:
✏ Conversations with professors over pizza
✏ Hands-on experiences with traditional printing techniques
✏ Creating our own printed works from start to finish
Berlin: A City of Trauma and Renewal
Dresden: Christmas Markets along the Elbe
Berlin · Dresden
Riding a sightseeing bus through Berlin felt like flipping through a three-dimensional history book:
🏙 Churches rebuilt after wartime destruction
🏙 Youth graffiti along the Berlin Wall
🏙 Ancient Egyptian artifacts in the Neues Museum
Back in Berlin, the Design Thinking Workshop taught us a vital lesson:
Innovation is not the spark of genius —
it is a method that anyone can learn.
At the end of the course, everyone received an MD.H certificate —
not as proof of “having finished,”
but as evidence of “having learned.”
Three Study Tours, Six Countries
We witnessed different faces of vocational education:
💬 In Germany, it is a precisely operating system
💬 In the Nordic countries, it is an organically growing ecosystem
💬 In Berlin, it is a tool accessible to everyone
More importantly, we discovered this:
True education does not require standard answers.
It lives in production-line procedures,
in intellectual exchanges beneath the aurora,
and in design drafts where history and the future intertwine.
📌 The journey continues.
Because every answer leads to new questions.
The story is far from over…
