Projects
Powered by strategic know-how and creativity, we develop programmes and experiences – innovative, target-oriented, spirited.
For the education of today and of tomorrow
We carry out our projects worldwide.
Projects Africa - COGNOS International
AFRICA
Sèmè City – concept of a study course for laboratory technicians
In the frame of the development strategy “Revealing Benin”, we recently started a cooperation with the public agency Agence de Développement de Sèmè City (ADSC) which is responsible for developing a campus in Cotonou. The Sèmè City Campus aims to combine science, education and business in order to promote local technologies and strengthen the local economy..
The goal of our cooperation is the development of a study course for laboratory technicians in the field of biotechnology. As a first step, we are conducting a study on the training needs of laboratory technicians in West Africa; on this basis, we then develop a course of study that meets the needs of the regional economy.
Our team visited Benin and Nigeria and met a number of key stakeholders from politics, industry and education to analyse the situation on site. The insights from this visit were combined with the findings from a desktop study to form a detailed overall picture.
Project runtime: Since March 2024
Projects Africa - COGNOS International
AFRICA
Digitalisation training for female agricultural entrepreneurs in Nigeria
In the summer of 2024, we designed and implemented a hybrid training programme for 40 female agricultural entrepreneurs in Nigeria on behalf of the AFOS Foundation for Entrepreneurial Development Cooperation.
The training programme intends to empower the participants by giving them key digital skills and tools for improved access to resources, information, markets and networks. The goal of the course is to teach the participants to use digital platforms effectively.
To this end, it uses a multitude of interactive methods, such as social media, mobile apps, and working in groups. These tools facilitated the exchange of ideas, promoted community and provided participants with a comprehensive understanding of market intelligence and digital transformation strategies. The training programme emphasized the practical aspects of digital transformation and provided insights into targeting customer segments and developing business intelligence.
The course was attended by 40 women from different agricultural sectors and locations, with sessions conducted virtually by a trainer while participants met in two locations: Ibadan and Lagos. Each group completed three days of intensive training, comprising theoretical content, practical applications, discussion forums, practical exercises, as well as preparatory and wrap-up materials. The latter consisted of videos and detailed step-by-step instructions to ensure profound understanding and improved learning transfer.
During the live sessions, the participants showed a very high level of commitment and participation, and feedback after completion of the programme was excellent.
Project runtime: February – July 2024
During the live sessions, the participants showed a very high level of commitment and participation, and feedback after completion of the programme was excellent.
Project runtime: February – July 2024
Projects Africa - COGNOS International
AFRICA
Sustainable Business Training for African KMU
COGNOS International in cooperation with the GreenTec Capital Africa Foundation (GCAF) offer a joint training programme with focus on sustainable management, aimed at supporting the private economy in Africa, creating jobs, and generating economic and socio-ecological added value.
This programme is supported by the Special Initiative "Decent Work for a Just Transition" by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), also known under the brand Invest for Jobs. Our training for sustainable business management addresses small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups looking to integrate sustainable practices into their enterprise and creating good jobs. The training is offered for the following countries: Egypt, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia.
The first part of the programme consisted of online trainings held in October 2023, available in French and in English. The online sessions dealt with topics such as facing social and ecological challenges, sustaining steering competences, establishment of an ESG culture, and many more. In January/February 2024, the participants took in-house trainings with local and international experts for selected companies.
Project runtime: July 2023 till June 2024
Projects Africa - COGNOS International
AFRICA
Ghana African Medium-Sized
Enterprises German-Ghanaian Training and Exchange Programme
In Ghana, the majority of jobs are offered by the private sector. SMEs fall largely into this sector and are the backbone of the Ghanaian economy. Around 85% of the companies are SMEs, contributing approximately 70% of the Ghanaian gross domestic product (ITC, 2018).
To support Ghanaian SMEs, COGNOS International implemented the German-Ghanaian Training and Exchange Programme. It is supported by Invest for Jobs, an initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, among others.
The German-Ghanaian Training and Exchange Programme aims at creating sustainable jobs. This is to be achieved by strengthening the regional and international competitiveness of Ghanaian companies. We supported 60 SMEs divided into three sector-specified groups: food and agriculture, wood processing and furniture, textile and fashion.
All three programmes comprised workshops in Ghana, individual coachings, mentoring, and a business trip to Germany.
The programme ended with the successful “Made in Ghana Expo” in Accra where all 60 SMEs presented their products. The German Ambassador in Ghana, Mr Daniel Krill, gave the opening speech. As a result of the German-Ghanaian Training and Exchange Programme, international partnerships and business connections were established which are beneficial for both sides. In a first survey, the participating SMEs reported the creation of more than 400 sustainable jobs, many of those for women and youths.
Project runtime: November 2020 till December 2022
Projects Africa - COGNOS International
AFRICA
Ghana Health
Project for improving the physical and digital infrastructure of the health system in Ghana in coordination with the African German Health Association e.V. Following a gap analysis and extensive interviews, we carried out demand-oriented training courses in the field of hospital administration.
Project runtime: November 2021 – February 2022
Projects Africa - COGNOS International
AFRICA
Senegal Hospital Administration Trainings
In cooperation with the African German Health Association e.V., we carried out a two-year project in Senegal, aimed at optimising the infrastructure of the health sector in Senegal and securing or creating permanent jobs. Our focus was on the development and execution of a hybrid training programme for Senegalese hospital administrators.
The Hospital administration trainings consisted of the following 4 modules: Leadership, Quality Management, Human Resource Management, and Didactics. In September 2021, the kick-off sessions took place in 4 different regions in Senegal. The subsequent online trainings were held on an online training platform. Here, the participants could download content for self-study as well as the presentations from the online sessions and one multiple choice test for each module.
The trainings were held by local and international experts in the field. The sessions were interactive so that each participant could ask questions and contribute his/her experiences.
After 9 months with 4 training modules, almost 1,000 kilometres on the road, 10 training sessions in 4 cities, 7 additional online sessions, and over 130 participants from more than 40 hospitals and health organisations, we are very happy with the results we achieved.
Project runtime: June 2021 till July 2023
Projects Egypt - COGNOS International
EGYPT
Egypt African Medium-Sized Enterprises
To support Egyptian SMEs, COGNOS International implemented the German-Egyptian Training and Exchange Programme. It is supported by Invest for Jobs, an initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, among others. The programme aims at creating sustainable jobs. This is to be achieved by strengthening the regional and international competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises in Egypt.
In the framework of two industry-specific programmes, a total of 40 companies received support by way of workshops, trainings, mentoring, and a business trip to Germany. Both groups, one from the food and agriculture sector, one from the recycling economy, were offered visits to other companies, initiation of individual business contacts, trainings and coachings.
The programme which successfully created international business contacts and partnerships ended with a workshop for all in Cairo.
Project runtime: November 2021 till June 2023
Projects Africa- COGNOS International
Burkina Faso
Female Empowerment
Quote Female Empowerment
Despite progressive changes to the law, women are still discriminated against in Burkina Faso. It is therefore important to empower women, regardless of their social role. This is the goal of our Empowerment Project in Burkina Faso.
„I learnt a lot about decision making, coping with stress, and delegating. I also learnt to identify my weak points and my improvement potential. We were presented with many tools for decision making. I am so happy that I got the chance to participate in this session. All the participants thank you very much!"
Dolores Neya, Burkina Institute of Technology
In the context of our project, we organise weekly Female Empowerment Sessions with 70 female students of the Burkina Institute of Technology. We meet in our hybrid classroom to exchange views on a wide range of topics (e.g. work-life balance, women in leadership decision making etc.). The programme offers various formats from group work over lectures and peer-to-peer learning to presentations given by other African girls and women. We counted a number of women’s rights activists among our guests and were proud to welcome the Ambassador of Lesotho, S.E. Senator Barbara Master. The training course is a joint project with the Stern Stewart Institute.
Project runtime: May 2021 till December 2023
Projects Asia - COGNOS International
China
Shanghai Open University (SOU): Advanced training for teachers
In 2018, COGNOS International signed a Strategic Cooperation Agreement with the Shanghai Open University. In the frame of this Agreement, a programme for advanced training for teachers was launched in 2019. The first group visited Germany in 2019 for three weeks of training. In Frankfurt and in Hamburg, the participants had training sessions on topics such as solidarity-based leadership, innovation management and change management as well as various company visits. From 2020 – 2023, the training was conducted online, focussing on didactics and on vocational training parallel to in-school education.
In 2024, an on-site programme in Germany will be once more available to a group of SOU teachers.
To prepare this visit, a delegation of the SOU came to Hamburg and Luxembourg to visit LUNEX and the Hamburg Campus of Hochschule Fresenius.
Project runtime: Since 2019
Projects Asia - COGNOS International
China
Chengdu: Hidden Champions program
In 2018, COGNOS International signed an agreement with Chengdu SME Enter for the promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises. In the frame of this programme, we conducted two ten-days programmes each in 2018 and 2019 in Hamburg. Topic of these programmes was “Success factors of hidden champions in Germany”. Twenty participants from SMEs in Chengdu took part in each of these programs, which included company visits and training sessions. After the stop of the programme due to corona, the programme is scheduled to be resumed in the next years.
Project runtime: Since 2018
Projects Europe - COGNOS International
Eastern Europe & Asia
Partnering in business with Germany
We have been involved in a wide range of projects with Eastern European and Central Asian countries for over two decades. Our portfolio comprises manager training session, business development and B2B matchmaking. Initiated by the GIZ (German Association for International Cooperation), we are implementing the global programme "Partnering in Business with Germany", initiated by the foreign trade promotion initiative of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection.
Our cooperation includes countries in Eastern Europe – Moldavia, Ukraine and Georgia – as well as in Central Asia – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan – and other countries such as India, Vietnam and Mexico. We offer the participants from various industries insights into the German market and support them in the establishment of long-term partnerships with German companies.
Via customised training sessions with German experts, we directly enhance the participants’ management competencies. Our portfolio comprises a variety of sectors customisable to individual requirements: from seminars on leadership over management strategies up to HR and project management, international contract law and corporate finance. Visits to German companies and discussions with German managers offer practice-oriented impressions of time-proven business practices.
Our programme generates direct business contacts and negotiation options paving the path to successful transactions. The programme is offered in various languages including English and Russian. For the participants, it is an investment in the future and a valuable contribution to the development of export business relationships.
Your company would like to participate in this programme? We will be happy to initiate the contact with a matching partner company:
Project runtime: Since 1999
Projects Europe - COGNOS International
Germany, Rwanda, USA, Singapore
Good Manufacturing Processes Trainings
Currently, we provide GMP (Good Manufacturing Processes) training sessions for around 100 BioNTech employees in 6 countries and several time zones. In the sessions, scientific content is explained in a clearly understandable way. The pedagogic focus is on teaching purely theoretical concepts in a simple, easy-approach manner to participants with no previous knowledge. Our learning management system allows the participants to study the contents at their individual learning speed and at their preferred time of day, no matter in which time zone they are. We use specifically produced teaching videos, live online sessions, interactive quizzes and study cards to teach the contents in an efficient and motivating manner. With our Flipped Classroom approach, which sets the focus on the participant, we were able to reduce the time for live sessions to 10 to 15%. Our interactive approach ensured that the participants were excellently prepared to take up practical training in laboratories or production facilities.
In December 2023, the first group of participants received their training certificates on the occasion of the official opening of the BioNTech factory in Rwanda.
Project runtime: Since September 2023
Projects Europe - COGNOS International
Europe
Girls‘ Empowerment
Our STEM project goes on: On 25 and 26 January 2023, a STEM Empowerment Workshop on the topic "Green Energy" took place in the Fichte-Gymnasium High School in Hagen/Germany. This workshop was based on a pilot project at the ‘Heinrich-Heine-Gymnasium’ high school in the previous year. It was such a success that the Karl Kolle Foundation decided to offer it to other schools in the framework of female empowerment projects. These are intended to counteract the fact that to this day, women are underpresented in the STEM sector and that girls are less attracted to STEM projects than boys. The Karl Kolle Foundation took over the funding of this workshop while COGNOS International was responsible for its implementation.
In this workshop, tailored to female students of year 7 to year 9, the 17 participants used science kits to deal with the subject of regenerative energies in an entertaining hands-on approach. From water and wind power to solar energy:
the girls had the opportunity to set up several experiments and test their function. For example, a moving water wheel was made to light up an LED, and a small solar vehicle powered by radiant energy rolled through the classroom. Short videos and exciting quizzes rounded off the two workshop days, which were followed by a visit to the women's project laboratory at Dortmund University of Applied Sciences. At the end of the workshop, the three top achievers received a gift of a science kit each.
After the successful event in Hagen, five other workshops followed in 2023 and eight in 2024. In total, this project gave far more than 200 female students the opportunity to gather valuable experience in the STEM sector.
The response was enthusiastic, as can be seen from the following feedback of the schools:
- https://www.mgwat.de/girls-empowerment-maedchen-fuer-technik-begeistern/
- https://ruhr-gymnasium.de/2024/06/01/mint-empowerment-workshop-zum-thema-renewable-energies/
All participating schools now have science kits of their own – since 2024, extended for the additional subject of hydrogen technology – so that they can offer the workshop to a large number of other female and male students. We thank the KARL-KOLLE foundation for this wonderful, sustainable project which is scheduled to be continued in 2025 in eight other schools.
Project runtime: Since November 2021
Projects Europe - COGNOS International
Europe - Erasmus+
Erasmus+
HO-WARP - Action-oriented continuing education in the workplace
Companies continue to have an increasing need for continuous and dynamic competence development. This requires offerings that are company-specific, flexible in terms of time and scope, and close to the real work situation. Important approaches are: Action-oriented learning with the principle of "complete action", which includes planning, preparation, execution, result control and evaluation as well as process reflection. Agile approaches in continuing education ("agile learning") for dynamic environments with processing of real tasks from practice in short learning phases. Traditionally, workplace-integrated advanced training programmes used to require a longer lead time and often internal efforts on the part of companies. Action-oriented continuing education should therefore be designed in such a way that it retains its advantages in terms of content and didactics while generating direct benefits for the company from the outset.
Funding notice
The “HO-WARP – Action-oriented continuing education in the workplace” project was made possible by an EU grant from the ERASMUS+ programme for Strategic Partnerships and is accompanied by the National Agency Education for Europe at the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training in Germany.
Projects Europe - COGNOS International
Europe - Erasmus+
Empowerment of older adults in the use of digital communication and information technology
Today, competence in handling digital technology is the precondition for social inclusion in many sectors of life. Many older adults lack the required know-how and the opportunities to get the necessary advice, support and empowerment to master the use of digital media. We want to understand better what older adults need to actively participate in digital life. In this project, we evaluated the different requirements of the target group with the aim or offering continuous training and education services based on the results.
Project runtime: November 2021 till September 2022
Funding notice
The project “Empowerment of older adults in the use of digital communication and information technology” was made possible by EU funding from the Erasmus+ programme and is accompanied by the National Agency Education for Europe at the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training in Germany.
Projects Europe - COGNOS International
Erasmus+
Digital further qualification with a hackathon
This project aimed at giving young people the skills they need to be employable in the digitalised work environment of the future. In the frame of this project, we carried out hackathons – a modern, agile method of practical advanced training that is based on real-life scenarios. In interactive projects, team work and design thinking were used to teach the participants soft skills, future-oriented competences and digital skills. In practical settings, they worked on real problems from business and industry and built up relevant skills for the future of work.
Project runtime: November 2021 till September 2022
Funding notice
The “Digital further qualification with a hackathon” project was made possible by EU funding from the ERASMUS+ programme and accompanied by the National Agency Education for Europe at the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training in Germany.
Projects Europe - COGNOS International
europe
Training for European agencies
For our clients from European agencies such as the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), we developed training programmes for leaders and employees, to be repeated on an annual basis. The portfolio of trainings comprised topics such as leadership, change management, project management, well-being, etc. The training approach used a mix of methods, e.g. f2f trainings, online trainings and coachings.
Project runtime: 2009 – 2021