Abstract
This paper describes the collaborative learning environment, aligned with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, provided by the European Project Semester (EPS). EPS is a one semester capstone project programme offered by eighteen European engineering schools as part of their student ex-change programme portfolio. In this international programme, students are organized in teams, grouping individuals from diverse academic backgrounds and nationalities. The teams, after choosing a project proposal, become fully responsible for the conduction of their projects. By default, project proposals refer to open multidisciplinary real problems. The purpose of the project is to expose students to problems of a greater dimension and complexity than those faced throughout the degree programme as well as to put them in con-tact with the so-called real world, in opposition to the academic world. EPS provides an integrated framework for undertaking capstone projects, which is focused on multicultural and multidisciplinary teamwork, communication, problem-solving, creativity, leadership, entrepreneurship, ethical reasoning and global contextual analysis. Specifically, the design and development of sustainable systems for growing food allow students not only to reach the described objectives, but to foster sustainable development practices. As a re-sult, we recommend the adoption of this category of projects within EPS for the benefit of engineering students and of the society as a whole.

Abstract
This paper presents the development of Bubbles, a didactic robotic fish created within the scope of the European Project Semester offered by the School of Engineering of the Polytechnic of Porto. The robotic toy is intended to provide children with an appropriate set up to learn programming and become acquainted with technology. Consequently, Bubbles needs to appeal to young children and successfully blend fun with learning. The developer team, composed of five engineering students from different fields and nationalities, conducted multiple research and discussions to design Bubbles, while keeping the fish movements and programming simple. The fish body was created with a colourful appearance, ensuring floatability, waterproofness and including a tail, inspired on real life fish, for locomotion and to retain a fish-like appearance. Finally, the team designed a website where they share, in different languages, the blue-prints of the structure, the schematics of the control system, the list of material, including electronic components, the user assembly and operation manual as well as propose exploring activities. © Springer International Publishing AG 2017.

Abstract
EPS is a one semester student-centred capstone programme designed by Arvid Andersen in Denmark, being currently offered by several European engineering schools. Its goal is to promote the development of scientific, technical and soft skills in students through multicultural teamwork and open, multidisciplinary project based learning. EPS, while an active learning framework, is focussed on problem-solving, communication, creativity, leadership, entrepreneurship, ethical reasoning and global contextual analysis. The School of Engineering of the Porto Polytechnic is an EPS provider since 2011, offering a 30 ECTU package with two-thirds assigned to the project module and one-third to project supportive complementary modules. A total of 138 students from 18 countries participated in the EPS@ISEP, while developing 28 multidisciplinary projects. Based on this experience, this paper identifies strengths, weaknesses and proposes ideas for the improvement of the programme.

Abstract
The European Project Semester (EPS) is a one semester capstone project/internship framework offered by the EPS providers to engineering, product design and business undergraduates. While a student-centred project-based learning offer, EPS proposes a unique multidisciplinary and multicultural teamwork set up to promote soft, technical and scientific competencies. In the spring of 2016, the EPS at the Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP) welcomed a team of engineering students who chose to develop a sustainable water desalinator, the working principle relying on solar energy and natural temperature differences to convert saline water into fresh water. This paper describes the team's journey, including the motivation, the solution design process, considering the technical & scientific state of the art as well as the potential impact in terms of ethics, sustainability and marketing, and the development and testing of the prototype. The results obtained validate the purpose of the developed system since a significant reduction of the salt water conductivity, to values of the same order of magnitude of tap water, were observed. Although improvements can be made, the desalinator prototype produced 70 ml/d of distilled water in late spring and 7 ml/d in midwinter atmospheric conditions.

Abstract
This paper presents the development process of a sustainable solution to grow aromatic plants in small houses. The solution is called The GreenHouse and is meant for people who live in small houses or city apartments and want fresh home grown aromatic plants, but have neither the time nor the space to grow them. The solution is intended to be sustainable and appropriate for people concerned with eating healthy, fresh food. The project was developed by a team of five students enrolled in the European Project Semester (EPS) at the Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP) during the spring of 2017. EPS@ISEP is a project-based learning framework which aims to foster personal, teamwork and multidisciplinary problem-solving skills in engineering, business and product design students. Research and discussions within the team were done to develop the product. The existing solutions for growing fresh food in industrial and domestic applications as well as marketing, sustainability and ethical topics were researched and discussed. This way it was possible to define the requirements of The GreenHouse. The GreenHouse is semi-automatic and requires little interaction from the customer. It has two covers, a winter cover and a summer cover, to be changed depending on the season and weather. Solar energy and rainwater are used to enable the growth of aromatic plants, making this a sustainable system. The support is adaptable and made to fit different support sizes so it can be hanged on balconies or windows. © 2017 Association for Computing Machinery.