FAQs

Corporate Academy

As a corporate academy, we offer GIZ staff and managers on learning.giz.de more than 300 high-quality training courses, some of which can also be booked by the general public. In addition, we accompany GIZ staff during their company onboarding and prepare development workers for the specific conditions of their assignment and support them after their return from the partner country.

Skills4Abroad

Commissioned and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Academy also prepares and supports experts from GIZ and over 35 German seconding organisations before and during the first two years of their assignment abroad. In more than 20 practice-oriented trainings the Skills4Abroad programme offers professional, cultural and personal content – also for accompanying family members.

TVET Academy

The TVET Academy is an expert in the field of competence development in technical and vocational education and training. It has expertise on international standards, current topics and trends as well as on structures, methods and requirements – within GIZ and beyond. It implements, steers and evaluates individual measures for competence development in technical and vocational education and training. In addition, the TVET Academy has in place a public education programme that is practice-oriented, modern and can be tailored to individual requirements as needed.

Please note the information and rules on data protection and data security at GIZ.

You can find the general terms and conditions of contract and consumer information for external participants registering for courses in the annual programme of the Academy for International Cooperation here: learning-giz.de/customFiles/AGBs/2024_AIZ_AGB_englisch.pdf.

Information about methods and formats, focal topics, target groups and the duration of courses can be found in the relevant product description. The product description also contains information on how the courses will be carried out (classroom-based or online).
 
A special e-learning format is web-based training (WBT). It can be used at any time, in any location. The results of WBT are stored on the learning.giz platform. Participants can therefore resume their training from where they left off. All they need is a laptop or a computer with an internet connection.

Apart from education courses in German, we offer several training courses in the English, French or Spanish languages. You can find all of the offers here: learning.giz.de 

It is not possible to search for a language via a filter, you can see the offered language in the product description of every course.

We offer our courses in Germany and the regional training hubs in Bangkok, Addis Ababa, Dakar and Bogota. In the training catalogue you can find the offer that suits your requirement: learning.giz.de There, with the course dates, you will find the location of the respective course.

The learning.giz user interface may not be displayed correctly because you are using an old or incompatible browser. We recommend the Microsoft Edge browser for using learning.giz.

If you can only see a small section of the screen, this is probably due to your browser’s zoom settings. You can zoom out to view the entire window by holding down ‘Ctrl’ and pressing the minus key.

When you make your first booking in learning.giz, you can choose whether you want to create a user account. Among other things, this allows you to get an overview of your trainings, retrieve certificates and book accommodation and meals. You will then receive all further information by e-mail.

If your sending organisation has created an account for you in learning.giz, please open the link learning.giz.de. Then click on ‘Login’. For your first login, then click on ‘Request password’ and enter your email address. Shortly after, you will receive an email with a temporary password.

Enter your email address and the temporary password in the login screen. You will be prompted to change the password. Choose your personal password and save it.

GIZ requires Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for secure use of its systems. To set this up, scan the displayed QR code with an authentication app of your choice (e.g., Microsoft Authenticator, Google Authenticator, FreeOTP, etc.). Then, enter your token in the text field and click "Next." If you haven't installed an authentication app, you can download one for free from the App Store (iOS) or Play Store (Android).

You will now be directed to your dashboard, where you can access the desired functions by clicking on the tiles or using the menu.

Different user groups have access to customized interfaces and functions tailored to their specific needs.

If you already know which course you are looking for, enter its title in the search window in the top right-hand corner of the homepage.

You can also enter keywords or parts of the event title, using the * symbol. You can refine a search using filters focusing, for example, on specific learning formats so you only see the formats that interest you.

If you do not yet know which course you would like to book, it is probably best to head straight for the training catalogue. The different tiles give you an idea of the various topics on offer.

Visit the website learning.giz.de. There in the search bar in the top right corner, enter “your search term”. Alternatively, click on the Training catalogue. There, a variety of themed boxes will be highlighted, where you can find the training course that suits your personal requirements. If you click on the title of the training course, a description of the course opens. Here you can view a list of planned dates, those can be found in the right-hand column of the course description under ‘Events’. Click on the plus sign to the left of each date to view more information and the button "Show event details" and the two "Book" buttons will appear.

If you click on the button "Show event details", a new window opens with further details, e.g. the price of the specific event date or a more detailed scheduling overview. In the new window you then also have the option of booking the course via one of the two "Book" buttons.
 
Please use the “Book as guest” button to complete your registration against payment. If you have already registered (as a sending organisations, for example), you can register by clicking on the “Book with Login” button.

You must now complete the required steps to make the booking.

Please note: You will receive an automatic confirmation of acceptance for your registration. This does not constitute a binding booking. You will receive a binding confirmation of registration from the customer service of the academy.

You can register for individual courses until the respective deadline for applications (generally 20 days before the start of the course). To book, choose the offer that suits your requirement in the Training catalogue: learning.giz.de There, with the course dates, you will find information on the booking status of individual courses.

If no dates have been published for a course, this means that dates have yet to be agreed and will be published online later.

It might also mean that the course is only offered on request and therefore there are no fixed dates. If this is the case, it will be mentioned in the course description.

If you cannot find any courses on a specific subject on learning.giz, please contact the Academy’s customer service team. Perhaps the course you are looking for is listed under a different name that you did not consider in your search, or perhaps we can advise you of other courses covering similar topics.

The price of most courses can be found in the left-hand column of the course description.

If no price is shown there, it means the individual events differ in price. The price of each can be found by clicking on the respective date (as described above, please click on the button “Show event details”).

Before you receive a binding confirmation of registration, your booking will first be checked for completeness of the necessary information. Therefore, you first get a confirmation, that we received your registration. The responsible colleagues will check your registration promptly and then contact you in writing.

You open the product description of the WBT, e.g. by having previously searched for the WBT in the training catalogue. There are then two options:

1. You click on the button on the left “Start WBT directly”- here you can also select if you want to open the WBT in a new browser window.
2. If this button is not available for the WBT, you click on the button in the top right-hand corner “Activate now”. For this version you will need a user account with username and password.

If waiting list places are available in an event, this will be indicated when booking.

If you do not find a corresponding note, either the waiting list is also already fully booked or waiting list bookings are not intended for these events.

As soon as an opportunity to participate arises, you will be informed and can decide whether you still wish to participate. There is no obligation to accept a place that has become free. If you have not received a message by the start of the event, unfortunately no place has become available.

For some trainings it is possible to register for several dates at the same time. If this option is not available, you will be informed accordingly by the system if you attempt to register twice.

If your course is held at the Kottenforst Campus training centre in Bonn-Röttgen, we will be happy to arrange your accommodation. You can also eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in our canteen. You will receive the bill for your accommodation and meals from our programme management during your stay.

If you need an acommodation and for more details about this, please contact the programme management in Bonn-Röttgen directly:
Telephone: +49 228 4460 2000
E-Mail: @email

For other locations, please refer to the separate information on accommodation and catering in our mailings.

Please do not hesitate to contact us ( @email ), if you have any further questions.

The participation fee stated in the training description is a fixed price. The costs of accommodation and meals are usually not included in the course fees.

The invoice will be usually send to you approximately 4 weeks before the course starts and must be paid within 10 days.

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer reductions on our fees.

Unless otherwise stated, the following cancellation policies apply:

• Up to 20 calendar days before the start of the course: cancellation free of charge
• From the 19th calendar day before the start of the course and in case of non-attendance: cancellation at full participation fee.
• Additional cancellation fees for accommodation may apply.

Cancellation by the participant or by the registering institution/company must be sent in writing by e-mail and arrive at the customer service of the Academy for International Cooperation (AIZ) before the relevant deadline: @email If you have an active user account, you can cancel your booking by yourself (within the free cancellation period) in the tile “My current trainings”. Here you click on the course and the option to cancel the course will appear. Please follow the cancellation steps. After a successful cancellation you will receive a confirmation via email. If it is not possible for you to cancel your booking via learning.giz.de, please contact the AIZ customer service: @email

In the event of cancellations, we will first check whether the place can be filled by a replacement from the waiting list. It may also be possible to nominate a replacement yourself. In case that we find a replacement, no cancellation fee will be charged.

Please also refer to the General Terms and Conditions of AIZ: AIZ_AGB_englisch.pdf (giz.de)

Normally, every participant receives a certificate of participation on the training course, listing what the curriculum covered.

Certificates are not issued for all training courses. If a certificate is provided for a training, you will find it under the tile "My certificates" after completion.

If you have any questions about the Academy’s programme or learning.giz, please contact the Academy’s customer service team:

aiz-kundenservice@giz.de
Hotline +49 228 4460 3333
Monday - Thursday 08:00 - 17:00; Friday 08:00 - 15:00

If you are having technical problems on learning.giz, it will be easier for us to deal with your issue if you can send us a screenshot.

If you have any questions about Skills4Abroad, please contact the team: skills4abroad@giz.de

Courses of Skills4Abroad can be identified by the ‘S4A’ at the start of the course number.

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:
BMZ-funded participation

The majority of our courses are also open to people who are working abroad for short periods of time. The prerequisite is that there are free places in the course that are not taken up by professionals who are 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
• Free choice of topic and flexible booking

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:
Media and Information Centre ​​​​​

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 other languages.

We also offer language-learning courses for over 60 regional and 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 in the course description 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 @email.

You can ask BMZ to fund your participation in the Skills4Abroad programme if you meet the following criteria:

You are an expert or manager and work

• in the context of German development/international cooperation or to ensure its effectiveness,
• in a country on the DAC country list (or under a regional approach with a focus on a country on the DAC country list),
• for at least one year (or as an intermittent expert based abroad for at least one year, but with business trips of up to 6 months a year to Germany).

Accompanying partners (MAP) can also attend most of the courses financed by the BMZ provided that the time spent abroad ads up to one year. Training participation by teenagers aged 14 or 16 and over will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

The following institutions are eligible to take part in our programme:

• German federal ministries (especially BMZ and the Federal Foreign Office) and their subordinate units or departments;
• German development cooperation implementing organisations: the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), the Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and consulting firms engaged by KfW or GIZ;
• recognised development services and political foundations;
• non-governmental organisations and universities that receive a grant from BMZ or are involved in a BMZ-funded project.

If you do not meet these conditions, then you can find information on fee-based participation here: fee-based participation.

Employees of sending organisations and accompanying family members should be registered through their organisation’s HR department.

GIZ staff and accompanying family members will find further information on the GIZ social intranet.

Our colleagues Uli Wölfle and Anja Knieps will be happy to provide you with personal advice on our range of courses and answer any questions you may have.

Registration & Support 

T +49(0)228 / 4460-2020 / -2055
E @email

You will need to register no later than 28 days before the training begins. Please ensure that we receive your application as soon as possible if you wish us to make childcare arrangements, especially in the case of children under a year old.

Skills4Abroad is free of charge for German international cooperation experts and managers who meet the BMZ funded participation requirements under the above mentioned conditions. Participants starting their assignment abroad after 15.07.2023 can take part in trainings free of charge during the period of 6 months before and up to 24 months after their departure. For colleagues who left the country before 15.07.2023, the previous period of 6 months before and 12 months after departure applies.

The BMZ financed Skills4Abroad programme comprises up to 30 learning days per person. Additional course participation is possible, however must be paid for by the participant. The right to participate is renewed with every additional new posting abroad.

Here at Campus Kottenforst, you will be learning, living and relaxing side by side with others working in the field of international cooperation. As well as over 60 guest rooms in the main building, the campus has seven large apartments for families. We have also partnered with nearby hotels to ensure that accommodation is available at busier times. All course participants can use the campus restaurant, which offers a variety of dishes from all over the world. Click on the following link for more information about accommodation:
Information about accommodation 

BMZ-funded participants are entitled to free accommodation with full board.

If you have any questions about accommodation or meals, please contact the event management team at Campus Kottenforst. You will receive details of your accommodation shortly before you are due to arrive.

Bonn-Röttgen Event Management Team
Telefon: +49 228-4460 2000
E-Mail: @email

Have you found that you still need training after leaving the country? As part of the BMZ
funded departure preparation, you can still book our courses free of charge for up to
twelve months after departure.

Would you like to discuss your experiences abroad with your trainer after the training? You can arrange so-called "practice-oriented consultation" with your trainer for the majority of our courses. Here you can reflect on individual training-related cases or get ideas for personal challenges. You can book up to three one-hour consultations via the Online Campus: 
To the online Campus

Your certificates are available digitally on learning.giz.de or in the Online Campus.

If your training participation is financed by BMZ, you must cover any costs incurred as a result of cancellation or no-show after the registration deadline.

All international cooperation staff who do not meet the BMZ's participation requirements, as well as other interested persons, can register for our training via learning.giz.de under the section "Skills4Abroad". You will initially be placed on a waiting list. We can only give a binding confirmation of participation after the registration deadline 27 days before the training starts. The prerequisite for this is that there are free places in the training which are not taken up by specialists leaving the country.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions regarding registration for the Skills4Abroad programme.

Registration & Support
E-Mail: @email

The closing date for registration for all preparation for study abroad courses is 28 calendar days before the start of the course.

You will receive the invoice after the course. We kindly ask you to pay the amount within ten days.

On the Campus Kottenforst, learning, living and leisure are very close together. Our accommodation capacity consists of 63 rooms in the main building with an additional four spacious family flats. Partnerships with nearby hotels offer sufficient accommodation on busy weeks. A restaurant is available for all participants, serving a wide variety of culinary dishes from all over the world. More information about our accommodation can be found here.

Please note that accommodation and food costs are not included in the course fees. Please do not book accommodation (incl. full board) until you have received your booking confirmation. Our management team at Campus Kottenforst will be happy to assist you:
Event management team Bonn-Röttgen
T: +49 228 4460 2000
E: @email

We can arrange suitable on-site childcare while you attend your trainings. Qualified staff will organise age-appropriate learning and play activities for children between the ages of one and twelve in our Kids’ Campus.

You can find further information here.

Your certificates are available digitally on learning.giz.de or in the Online Campus. The certificate contains information on the content covered in the course.

You will receive a written confirmation from us if we have been able to book you bindingly for the
course. This usually takes place 27 days before the training starts. If you do not take up your place,
please cancel the course immediately at the latest 14 calendar days before the start of the
training. Please send cancellations in writing by e mail to:
@email
Cancellations after this deadline will be charged a cancellation fee equal to the participation fee.
If the minimum number of participants required for the course to take place is not reached, we
reserve the right to cancel the course. In this case we will inform you immediately. Otherwise, the General Terms and Conditions apply.