FAQs

The BMZ-funded Skills4Abroad programme are aimed at experts and managers in German international cooperation who are preparing for their assignment in a partner country or who have recently left the country, and their accompanying partners (MAP), provided that the departure is also for at least one year (free participation).

The majority of our offer is in principle also open to people who are working abroad for shorter periods of time. The prerequisite, however, is that there are free places in the course that are not taken up by professionals leaving the country (fee-based participation).

International cooperation experts and managers need to regularly develop their skills and acquire new ones to enable them to fulfil their role effectively.

Our modular training is designed to meet individual needs. Most of our courses are available in English as well as German. Our training portfolio covers the following areas:

• Diversity and international context
• Personal safety and (mental health)
• Language and communication
• Management and consulting
• Abroad as a family
• Your own focus

Over half of all assignments abroad end prematurely because the accompanying partner has not been actively involved in the secondment process. While Skills4Abroad is, of course, vital for experts and managers, nearly all our trainings are also open to accompanying partners, so that they can be fully engaged.

Sharing and networking with colleagues – both within and outside your own organisation and specialist field – is a major feature of our courses.

In our Skills4Abroad trainings, you will have many opportunities to share experiences and views with other people working in international cooperation. Our participants come from a range of German development cooperation organisations, so you will be meeting people with a wide variety of backgrounds and experience.

After registering for a training course, you can access our Online Campus. In addition to information on trainings and complementary learning opportunities, the Online Campus offers you the opportunity to get in touch with participants, trainers and contact persons of the Skills4Abroad team.

The Campus Kottenforst offers plenty of comfortable seating areas, including a bar and a cosy lounge with an open fire, where you can meet up for a chat with colleagues. Or, if you feel the need for exercise after an intensive day of assignment preparation, head out for a walk in the surrounding Kottenforst.

We regard assignments abroad as a learning process. On the one hand, our trainings can therefore be booked free of charge 6 months before to 24 months after departure and we offer the opportunity of individual practical consultation with the trainer after the training for BMZ-funded participants. On the other hand, we offer many accompanying programmes in addition to our trainings - both in person and digitally:

The Media and Information Centre offers plenty of study space and reference material so that you can conduct further research. Beside books and periodicals, you will find maps, music, films, course-specific learning materials and entire learning programmes.

At our interactive learning stations on the topics of language and safety, you can sharpen your focus, consider other points of view and develop a clearer understanding of how systems relate to each other. In the Online Campus, digital content on the sustainable development goals of the 2030 Agenda, feminist development cooperation and the topics of data protection and data security complete our accompanying programmes.

As well as German, many of our courses are available in English. On request, we can offer the country analysis training in the languages French, Portuguese and Spanish.

We also offer language-learning courses for over 60 national languages.

Our courses take place digitally on our Online Campus or in person at Campus Kottenforst in Bonn-Röttgen. You can find out more about our new training site here.

The modular structure of our courses means that we can put together a tailored programme that meets your specific needs. Many of our courses run several times a month. Provided that the specified course dates are free, you may choose to complete the training all at once or over several visits.

More information on the course dates can be found on the course pages or in the scheduling overview.

You would like to exchange professional information about our learning offers, learn more about the learning landscape at Campus Kottenforst or the Media and Information Centre? We would be happy to offer you the opportunity of a guided tour of the Campus Kottenforst, during which we will show you our learning stations and other learning opportunities and outline the media and services of our Campus Library. If you are interested, get in touch via skills4abroad@giz.de.