The VHS Aachen is the largest further education institution for adults in the Aachen city region and is networked on many different levels: with all state-funded institutions in the ‘Netzwerk Weiterbildung’ network, with all organisations approved by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees in the ‘Integration’ network, and also in the newly founded ‘Bündnis für Flüchtlinge’ (Alliance for Refugees) network.
The Volkshochschule Aachen will offer the training programme developed by the project to its own employees (members of staff, freelancers and volunteers) on a long-term basis. It will integrate the module into its own further education programme in different flexible forms (evening classes, weekend seminars, …) over the next few years. As the leading further education institution in the city region, it will also make the programme accessible to all other institutions involved in work with refugees in the city region.
Experience in the implementation of integration and EU-funded projects:
• 2009-2011: BIRKE (Berufliche Integration durch Ressourcen- und Kompetenzerschließung von Migrantinnen und Migranten – Vocational integration by leveraging the migrants’ own resources and competencies), financed by The European Social Fund (ESF), the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS).
• 2010-2012: Sustainable Urban Neighbourhoods (SUN B), INTERREG project
• 2012-2015: EMMi and EMMi plus (Erwerbsperspektiven für Mütter mit Migrationshintergrund – Employment perspectives for mothers with an immigration background) financed by the Job Centre
• 2013-2014: Mobility in Learning in Europe (MOBILE), Grundtvig-GMP
• 2013-2016: Sound of the Suburbs, talentCAMPus, extramural activities for 14- to 18-year-olds, financed by the BMBF and the German Association for Adult Education (DVV)
• 2015-2016: PerF (Perspektiven für Flüchtlinge – Perspectives for Refugees), financed by the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (Federal Employment Agency of Germany)
•Since 2017: KompAS (competency assessment, activation and language), funded by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees and the Federal Employment Agency. For this project, the VHS Aachen forms a bidding consortium together with the TÜV Nord technical inspection authority as the leading bidder.