NEWS

Study Tour to Germany within the Youth Employment Support Program (PAJE)

The general objective of the Youth Employment Support Program (PAJE) is "to accompany the Algerian Government in its national policy for youth and the employability and integration of young people, as well as to support the efforts of the Algerian civil society to better integrate young people into society". The program is to accompany both the central and local authorities in four pilot regions / wilayas (Annaba, Bechar, Khenchela, Oran).

Within the framework of the PAJE program, a study tour for the development of innovative actions to promote entrepreneurship was planned. The idea was to learn about various instruments and tools existing in the European context and thus to better understand their mode of operation and their procedures. The study tour shall strengthen the work of identifying innovative approaches. Therefore the experience in Europe and especially in Germany are of particular importance. Based on the lessons learnt, some new approaches will be developed and then tested in the four pilot wilayas.

The study tour was also designed as a benchmark tool to observe the best practices in a European context and try to adjust them and prepare their implementation in Algeria.

The study tour was organised by GIZ and PEM CONSULT and targeted the cities of Düsseldorf and Berlin in Germany in the first week of December 2016. The two main objectives were:

  • Identify the necessary linkages between various support instruments and the actors involved (public administration, local authorities, civil society and voluntary sector, training centres, employment and integration operators, etc.) and understand the role of each partner.
  • Develop networks and partnerships based on exchanges of practices and experiences among stakeholders.

There are currently around 200 Düsseldorf start-ups and these are an important factor for the innovative strength of the economy in and around the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia. As part of Düsseldorf’s start-up initiative, a long-term strategy and several projects were defined by the entire start-up community, all with one definitive goal: improving the basic conditions for start-ups in Düsseldorf.

Different institutions were visited and the role of each partner demonstrated and explained. In Düsseldorf, PEM organised working meetings at the following relevant places:

  • “Startercenter” at Chamber of Commerce and Industry Düsseldorf (www.startercenter.nrw.de and www.duesseldorf.ihk.de/Existenzgruendung
  • “STARTPLATZ” (www.startplatz.de), which was opened in September 2015 at the Düsseldorfer Medienhafen. On over 1,200 square meters, STARTPLATZ offers more than 80 desks in co-working areas and in private spaces. Workshops, conferences and meetings with customers can be held in five fully equipped conference and meeting rooms.
  • Factory Campus – former Garage Bilk (www.factorycampus.de): Factory Campus transforms megatrends into infrastructure. It offers for makers, start-ups, established and emerging companies, science and the arts an environment for collaboration, education, development and growth. It provides an innovative, inspiring, and laid back environment for businesses of all shapes and sizes to learn, grow, and flourish.
  • The accelerator :agile financed by the energy company E.ON (https://eon-agile.com) :agile nurtures new business ideas and brings them to life using E.ON‘s knowledge from the energy sector. :agile started in May 2013 to support one of E.ON's many goals: promoting innovation. It was first launched internally to stimulate the ideas and expertise of employees within E.ON and to support the launch of their business models. But in October 2014, it was widened to include energy-related ideas from outside E.ON as well.
  • The entrepreneurial support centre at the Düsseldorf Chamber of Crafts located in Oberhausen (www.hwk-duesseldorf.de)

All institutions showed tremendous efforts to explain their roles and services for start-ups, their mission as well as the necessity for networking and cooperation among the different actors for youth employment support in North Rhine-Westphalia.