The second Open Day of Crafts took place on 15 September 2012. It was launched by the German Federal Minister of Economy and Technology, Dr Philipp Rösler, and the President of the Zentralverband des Deutschen Handwerks (ZDH - German Central Association of Skilled Trades), Otto Kentzler, during their joint visit to the crafts exhibition on Washingtonplatz in Berlin, one of hundreds of events across the nation in the context of the Open Day of Crafts.
Federal Minister Rösler, "Our crafts in Germany assume responsibility for their future also with regards to ensuring their future young talent. The exhibition 'Hände für die Zukunft' (Hands for the Future) illustrates this most impressively. Almost 30 per cent of the dual vocational education and training provision in Germany is provided by the crafts. As the backbone of our economy, the crafts thereby ensure the pool of qualified skilled labour, which we need not only on site in Germany, but throughout Europe."
Those deciding in favour of an apprenticeship in the crafts can look forward to good career opportunities in an innovative industry sector. "Be it electro-mobility, renewable energies, technology-supported domestic every day life, health, nutrition and lifestyle: businesses in the crafts are fundamentally involved in the development and implementation of numerous innovations", explained ZDH President Kentzler.
This is affirmed also by first advance excerpts from a Prognos study on the up-to-dateness and future relevance of the crafts. "The crafts in Germany lead the way into the future with a great degree of performance and innovation power. Energy transition, mobility or demographic development: the crafts are a central, indispensable partner in numerous challenges currently faced by our society", commented Federal Minister Rösler the study results.
Bringing this fact home to young people was a central goal of the Open Day of Crafts. In spite of positive apprenticeship placement numbers at the beginning of the vocational training year, the crafts have no reason for taking it easy when it comes to ensuring their future talent, "We were able to conclude 1.4 per cent more apprenticeship contracts than in the previous year. At the same time, however, some 15,000 apprenticeship placements remain unfilled", explained President Kentzler. "With the help of targeted activities and events, we want to get young people interested in the crafts. To us, the qualified vocational education and training provision for young people is very much an investment in both the youth and our own future."
The nationwide events on occasion of the Open Day of Crafts provided the perfect opportunity for a hands-on experience of the diversity and up-to-dateness of the crafts. One such event was the open air exhibition "Hände für die Zukunft" (Hands for the Future), which ran from September 12th to 16th and transformed the Washingtonplatz square in front of the Berlin central railway station into a sea of thumbs.