The Handwerkskammer Flensburg has set itself the goal of offering a wide range of international exchange opportunities for trainees from the skilled crafts sector. In this way, the attractiveness of vocational training is to be increased and the shortage of skilled workers counteracted. Many young people who are considering vocational training are put off by the supposedly inflexible nature of the training. An internship abroad can show that vocational training also offers many different paths and future prospects. The company sending the trainee can also use the exchange project to generate a positive trainee marketing effect. Through a posting, the company appears open, modern and innovative and can use the stay abroad as a motivational factor. The Handwerkskammer would also like to train and improve the international and personal skills of the trainees more. A practical stay abroad supports an increase in self-confidence, independence and personal maturity. As an organization, the Handwerkskammer Flensburg also benefits from expanding its own expertise to become an international training center
After the successful implementation of a group trip to France with 9 trainees and 2 accompanying teachers in 2019, the Handwerkskammer Flensburg has decided to continue to integrate the Erasmus+ program in the counseling offer and to a greater extent. In this way, a larger number of apprentices and young professionals should be offered the opportunity to complete an internship abroad. The craft sector has been experiencing the effects of the shortage of skilled workers for several years and with increasing force. The project is therefore also intended to increase the attractiveness of the skilled trades and, above all, the attractiveness of vocational training in the skilled trades in order to counteract the shortage of skilled workers. The progressive internationalization and close cooperation between the European states also affects the work of the Handwerkskammer Flensburg and the trainees, the companies and the teachers of the skilled crafts. Here, the project is intended to deepen European cooperation and to intensify the basic European idea.