Following the official relaunch of the BIWENAV educational pathway navigator by the Düsseldorf Municipal Coordination Office last September, the tool’s journey is far from over.
Three NRW municipalities get their own BIWENAV
An online tool that systematically bundles a city’s educational offers and clearly displays the various routes?
That can be used independently and intuitively by young people?
That also addresses concerns and fears about the transition from school to work?
The need for such a tool was and is great, and not only in Düsseldorf, where the “BIWENAV” educational pathway navigator was developed.
In the meantime, three other municipalities in NRW have developed the BIWENAV concept for their respective cities/regions: Wuppertal and Remscheid have already put their guides through the local educational landscape online, while Oberhausen is about to launch BIWENAV.
BIWENAV scores across the board
The Düsseldorf team initially presented the BIWENAV in a joint working group of various municipal coordinators, which immediately aroused the interest of their colleagues.
The BIWENAV fills a gap that was already a topic in many local authorities – as Anke Kleinbrahm, Head of Local Authority Coordination in Wuppertal, says: “We were immediately curious because we had been looking for a solution like this for some time, namely how we could show pupils, teachers and parents the many, many opportunities after school in a contemporary way.” She was particularly impressed by the fact that BIWENAV draws its users’ attention to further advice centers and services. 
The fact that the online tool is not only self-explanatory, but also breaks down
Michael Ringert, Head of the Municipal Coordination Office in Oberhausen, was also impressed by the fact thatthe onlinetool isnot only self-explanatory, but alsobreaks down hierarchies between vocational and academic educational pathways by placing them on an equal footing: “BIWENAV offers a high level of transparency for all educational pathways on offer and therefore precisely the information that is so important for career guidance.”
BIWENAV compiles information from and about vocational colleges, chambers, universities and advice centers.
Alternative routes such as a voluntary social year or a stay abroad are also listed.
Looking back: Innovation semester as a springboard
BIWENAV Düsseldorf has actually been around for a while: it was introduced in the North Rhine-Westphalian state capital back in 2014.
Even though the first version already had everything it needed in terms of content, the decision was made in 2019 to give the tool a complete overhaul.
As part of the 2019/20 innovation semester, a diverse team worked on reprogramming BIWENAV in terms of usability, design and language. [perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”The collaboration with the young people in the innovation semester has taken the project to a new level.”[/perfectpullquote] Renate Kiszkiel, who managed the project for the municipal coordination and the PRO AUSBILDING foundation, looks back positively on the time spent together on the innovation semester course: “In my opinion, the opportunity to spend a semester working with the young people to look at and rework this project from completely different perspectives took the project to a whole new level. I was able to learn that there can be many obstacles for young people to make a good and self-determined career choice. Worries, fears and excessive demands are transitional issues that I believe need to be addressed more in vocational orientation projects in addition to the content.”
With this new interpretation, the participants won the audience award at the Innovation Semester’s big closing event in February 2020.
A good six months and many hours of work later, BIWENAV Düsseldorf was officially relaunched on September 7, 2020.
Its success can be measured, among other things, in the high number of hits, the long dwell time and the low bounce rate.
Supra-regional cooperation: a win-win situation for everyone
The Düsseldorf team shared tips, documents and experience in the supra-regional working group and thus actively supported the creation of the three new BIWENAVs.
Cyril Eschweiler from the Remscheid municipal coordination team sums it up: “I would definitely recommend other municipalities that want to develop the BIWENAV to contact the municipal coordination team in Düsseldorf, because that’s where the expertise lies.”
However, the learning process is by no means a one-way street, as Renate Kiszkiel and her colleague Christiane Stedeler-Gabriel also benefited enormously from the collaboration. 
Not at all!
Renate Kiszkiel tells us what the next steps are: “For the future, I would like to see BIWENAV continuously improved and preferably with other municipal coordination centers from NRW.
In fact, a new working group with other cities from NRW is already planned for 2022. I would also like to work on proposals for framework concepts that incorporate the use of BIWENAV in school lessons or parents’ evenings, for example.” You can find a compact overview of the history and regional expansion of the BIWENAV here.
We are delighted that we were able to help write a chapter of the success story through the innovation semester and are excited to see which city will get its own BIWENAV next!
BIWENAV Düsseldorf: https://biwenav.de/ BIWENAV Oberhausen: https://biwenav-ob.de/ BIWENAV Remscheid: https://biwenav-remscheid.de/ BIWENAV Wuppertal: https://biwenav-wuppertal.de/Besten Thanks to Renate Kiszkiel & team for providing images and press material.
