Upheavals and transformation processes in the regional economic structures in Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate pose major challenges for the world of work. This applies to sectors that are subject to structural change, such as the automotive sector, as well as particularly dynamic growth sectors, such as medical technology. Working and learning must be rethought, forward-looking, dynamic and aligned with the specific requirements of companies and employees in order to ensure sustainable management. The anchor point for this transformation are values as the core of competence orientation and work design. This is exemplified by sustainability from an ecological, economic and social perspective. Based on the example of the circular economy, KOMATRA tests new forms of working, learning and regionality according to the latest scientific findings and in cooperation with regional companies. The Competence Center for Work Research thus offers companies in the Saar-Palatinate region an orientation in the realignment of their work processes and business models.

The results will be disseminated through transformation coaches, public events, social partnership and cross-industry conferences. The development of learning opportunities and work design approaches is embedded in an interdisciplinary research design, which will also produce profitable scientific findings in the fields of work research, educational science, technology development and circular economy.

 

Background: Future of value creation: Regional Centres of Competence in Labour Research

With KOMATRA, the Federal Ministry (BMBF) is opening the second funding round of the Regional Competence Centres for Work Research. They focus on health, leadership and the circular economy. With the Regional Competence Centres for Work Research, the BMBF pursues the goal of linking work research more closely with work design in company practice and higher education. With a focus on the strengths of their respective regions, the competence centres are to be established as a central point of contact in science in order to target research to the challenges in the regional working worlds and to support the transfer into operational practice and the breadth of society.

The KOMATRA project is part of the funding programme of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research "Future of value creation: Regional Competence Centres for Work Research’, funded with around EUR 10 million over a period of 5 years and supported by the Karlsruhe Project Management Agency.

 

Cooperation in an interdisciplinary project network

The project is led by Prof. Dr. Matthias Rohs, scientific director of the Institute of Technology and Labour (ITA) and holder of the Chair of Adult Education at the Rhineland-Palatinate Technical University Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU). In addition to the ITA and the RPTU, other funded partner institutions are the Institute for Social Research and Social Economy (iso) e.V., Trier University of Applied Sciences with the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld, the Center for Mechatronics and Automation Technology (ZeMA) gGmbH, the AWS Institute for Digital Products and Processes gGmbH, saarland.innovation& Standort e.V. and Arbeit und Leben gGmbH, as well as the University Medicine of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz with the Gutenberg Health Hub. As sponsored corporate and application partners, Lohmann & Rauscher GmbH & Co. KG, Baldus Medizintechnik GmbH, the Wellgo Group, ISL Innovative System Logistik GmbH and Woll Maschinenbau GmbH are in the project.

 

Contact persons:

Prof. Dr. Matthias Rohs / Dr. Vanessa Kubek / Delia Schröder

Institute for Technology and Work e.V.
Trippstadter Straße 113
67663 Kaiserslautern

E-mail: matthias.rohs@ita-kl.de vanessa.kubek@ita-kl.de delia.schroeder@ita-kl.de
www.ita-kl.de

 

Anne Blum and Christoph Speicher

ZeMA - Centre for Mechatronics and Automation Technology gGmbH

Eschberger Weg 46

66121 Saarbrücken

E-mail: a.blum@zema.de christoph.speicher@zema.de

www.zema.de