The document summarizes a project called "Berufswahltage im Landkreis Cham" which aims to help students in the Cham district of Germany choose careers and apprenticeships. The project organizes information days, career fairs, and opportunities for students to learn about different jobs through visiting local companies. It brings together schools, universities, employers, and local organizations to provide resources and counseling to students of all education levels as they make decisions about their professional futures.

1. Example of Practice: “Berufswahltage im Landkreis Cham” Days of Information for Vocational Choices “Aktionskreis Lebens- u. Wirtschaftsraum Cham”District Office Cham

2. Aims The main focus of the project lies on helping students into their professional lives during the process of vocational orientation. Common jobs are aimed to be promoted, to interest students for a number of vocational fields and to help future university students making an appropriate choice for their subjects. If there are schools who ask for help with single projects where they need financial, organizational or staff support they can ask and they are lent a hand. Press and public relation are major tasks of the project partnership, and they try to stay as up-to-date as possible to provide the most accurate information. In-firm trainers act as councellors. In autumn and winter students go into the enterprises in the district of Cham to get informed about miscellaneous vocational trainings. “It’s just organizing and kicking off – the rest happens more or less by itself.”

4. For several years there was a very successful campaign to help students with their decisions concerning thier vocational careers. It was also meant to support disadvantaged youths in finding apprenticeship places.

5. Fairs and special information days and a lot more have been successfully implemented.

6. By means of press relea-ses and PR enterprises are addressed directly.

7. First the project was supported by the former Chief Executive in the District of Cham and the district office. Together with the VHS Cham and other coopera-tion partners it could be started.

8. It addresses all students between 15 and18, the year before their last school year in any school of the district of Cham, without exception.

9. The project is financially supported by the “Aktions-kreis Lebens-und Wirt-schaftsraum Cham.3

11. In a way children, students, young adults and adults who want to start a vocational career or university studies are addressed, so the idea of “livelong learning” is a basic topic. In the first period it was just aimed at ‘Hauptschüler‘ and ‘Realschüler’, e.g. students at different levels of German secondary schools. In the meantime it has developed and covers all types of education now. There is cooperation with secondary schools up to Gymnasiums (academic high schools) and universities to address any kind of students..

12. Network Partnership Aktionskreis Lebens- und Wirtschaftsraum Cham (Project Manager) Chamber of Craft Employment Agency Schools, Universities, Education Centers Municipal Administrations Chamber of Industry and Commerce

13. Examples Once a year there is a girls’ day where e.g. this year young women had the opportunity to choose between 12 different companies where they could go to get some vocational information. Then there are competitions like business games, a stockbroker game, one called “enterprises in schools” where young people can found their own companies and must act the way they would in real business, the best of them gets an award. Meeting days have been organized in vocational schools (for example in the field of construction in cooperation with the vocational school Furth im Wald). There are special information days for the retailing sector, for manufacturers etc. In the Koetzting ‘Gymnasium’ a so-called ‘technical year’ has been launched. They cooperate with partners at the research center for aeronautics and space in Oberpfaffenhofen who have installed a laboratory for students. This special examole had been chosen by the UNESCO to become the official edu-cational project of the years 2007 and 2008.They were conferred a distinction for it.

14. 7 Locations Universities Schools Agencies Trade Fairs Companies Factories Research Centers

15. Funding andOrganization The project gets financial support by the „Aktionskreis Lebens- und Wirtschaftsraum Cham“ (the managing organization) only . Not much is needed, as with the cooperation of schools etc. the ways the events are being proceeded mostly depend on the voluntary work of trainers and teachers in the different schools or vocational trainers in enterprises who provide the information and who also come up with new ideas. And that is usually for free. The „Aktionskreis … is basically a communication platform for 280 people from the fields economy, administration, poritics and society. It is the common workshop for the future of all citizens in the district of Cham. Everyone can participate…“ The district of Cham has to be positioned clearly and distinctly as being a future-oriented industrial location within the European Union. The growth of this region must be pushed internally by its own strenghts. It is aimed to keep traditional ideas, our modern world, economic growth and nature in balance. (http://www.aktionskreis-cham.de/)