WCR Consortium Partners

WHKT – Westdeutscher Handwerkskammertag e.V.

Volmerswerther Straße 79, 40221 Düsseldorf, www.whkt.de
Contact person at the WCR Coordination Office: Regina Kahle, regina.kahle@whkt.de, 0211 3007 711

Within the WCR, the WHKT is responsible for …

… coordination tasks related to joint public relations, monitoring, and communication with stakeholders involved at the state level in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), as well as with the Ministry of Labor, Health, and Social Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia (MAGS NRW) as the funding authority. The WHKT is also responsible for the strategic direction of activities for SMEs and international skilled workers in the context of project funding and the Rheinisches Revier. As the grant recipient for the WCR Rheinisches Revier, the WHKT is also responsible for drawing down the funds, forwarding the funds to the WCR sponsors, and documenting and compiling the project documentation.

About the WHKT

The Westdeutscher Handwerkskammertag e.V. (WHKT) represents the interests of the chambers of crafts for the benefit of member businesses and all craftspeople. Its mission stems from the priorities of its members – the chambers of crafts in North Rhine-Westphalia: As self-governing economic bodies, they assume and carry out tasks on behalf of the state at the expense of the business community. They serve as service providers for business owners and employees, thereby strengthening the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises.

We place particular importance on valuing all social groups that are committed to our democratic, liberal constitutional order. Without prejudice to the autonomy of the individual chambers, the WHKT has the following tasks:

Coordinating views on the uniform implementation of the joint tasks of the Chambers of Crafts,
representing the joint interests of the Chambers of Crafts vis-à-vis the state government, the state parliament, the highest state authorities, and the democratic parties,
maintaining the chambers of crafts’ relations with other craft organizations, other chamber organizations and trade associations, labor unions, churches, universities, and scientific institutes,
implementing joint measures at the state level that serve the interests of the craft sector as a whole
carrying out special tasks.

WHKT`s Focus Areas

The key issues addressed by the WHKT include trade and business law, organizational management, vocational training and education policy, securing the next generation of skilled workers, as well as migration and integration.

In the critical area of securing a skilled workforce and integrating international skilled workers into the small and medium-sized enterprise sector, close regional cooperation between local governments, employment agencies, and the business community plays a central role. For this reason, the WHKT, in coordination with the Ministry of Labor, Health, and Social Affairs in North Rhine-Westphalia as the funding agency, has established a project consortium with the WCR. Together with the project partners and by involving other relevant stakeholders, the goal is to successfully address the challenges of structural change in the Rheinisches Revier in a sustainable manner.

The WCR is just one of many initiatives of the WHKT. An overview can be found here: www.whkt.de/initiativen

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