Learning Regions in Germany

In 2000, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) launched the programme Learning Regions — Providing Support for Networks' in cooperation with the Länder. It was co‐financed by the European Social Fund (ESF). Some 90 regions were selected and financially supported. After one year, 71 regions continued to build‐up their Learning Regions. 5 topics were identified as important within the regions:•  Education marketing •  Training and further education guidance •  New ‘learning worlds’ •  New transition schemes between learning and educational phases •  cooperation with small and medium‐sized companiesEducational counselling centres to foster change management, learning centres, curricula, courses, certifications, permeability between relevant stages (from the cradle to the grave), transition from school to employment, SMEs as relevant partners and addressees for training and qualification, communities as learning centres (learning communities) were developed until 2008. Through regional cooperation, players complement each other and benefit from the advantages of their size. The positive results left their mark on several international conferences held worldwide and on the Unesco world conference in Belem (Brasil) in 2009. In the Global Report, we find the recommendation to establish learning communities. This article describes some examples, includes a SWOT‐analysis, and highlights development, results and perspectives.