any time and flexible: Spontaneous meetings and courses in the vitero Café case study: vitero in use at the THW training centre

Earthquakes, floods, accidents involving hazardous materials – the men in women in blue arrive on the scene quickly when catastrophes occur. Some 80,000 volunteers from 668 local chapters provide protection for the civil population as part of Germany’s Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW). To make sure that every step is done correctly, preparedness exercises and training events are held regularly at all levels. Theoretical knowledge is also part of this: at three training centres with more than 60 trainers, participants learn all about health protection, power generation, safe methods for moving loads and much more. In addition to the offi cial courses, the volunteers can also pursue training and further education in their local chapters. The vitero Café is a great fi t for these meetings in particular.

Many actions are required during a deployment. Virtual training in
vitero lets us train actions on an interactive basis ahead of time.

Think globally, act locally

Where are the oxygen cylinders located? What can our new equipment vehicle do? And who takes part in the inspection of the chemical plant? Questions such as these are specifi c to the local chapter and are answered at the local level. Previously, the volunteers met in the community room, but now they can also meet in the café – that is, in the virtual vitero Corporate Café. In addition to this informal exchange of information, offi cial training courses are also held online. This might involve simulations in which the volunteers learn how to remove a fallen tree, for example.

The vitero Café – self-organised and spontaneous

THW and vitero joined forces over ten years ago. Many people were sceptical at fi rst, ‘because a seminar in the training centre was and remains a key event, and the volunteers were concerned that we wouldn’t be doing in-person training any more,’ explains Matthias Korth, the training group leader for staff/main offi ce/youth in the Hoya Training Centre. These fears proved to be unfounded. Volunteers have come to truly appreciate the vitero Cafés because they can organise their own meetings there – without an invitation or booking – simply using a link that is always valid. The volunteers can plan to meet but can also have spontaneous chats with THW volunteers that they happen to meet at the virtual tables.

Learning content from deployments can be realistically communicated in the presentation area.

New structures – new programmes

Traditional in-person training continuously posed challenges for volunteers. ‘It wasn’t always possible to get off work for training,’ stresses Korth, ‘but with the new blended learning models, we can reduce face-to-face time and present some of the content online.’ This made the training courses compatible with weekends, i.e. a fi ve-day course can now be held over two and a half days or even carried out completely from home. This accommodates people who work shifts, cannot get away from home, or have time only at the weekend or in the evening. While this doesn’t mean every further training course will be held online, it’s important to Korth that this option is available to THW volunteers.

A special look and feel

There were many reasons that THW initially chose vitero, and many factors have also kept the partnership going until now. For one, the tool was based on many years of research by the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering. ‘The classroom in the tool was a perfect representation of face-to-face learning,’ says Korth. Another aspect he valued was the methodological and didactic approach. This primarily consists of interactive elements such as the freely designable presentation area, moderation cards, tools and much more. The participants are grouped around a central ‘table’ with their images. ‘This allows us to carry out our face-to-face training in a very realistic and fl exible manner – whether for fi ve or fi fty people,’ Korth is pleased to note.

vitero passes the security check

But first, a few steps had to be taken in the background. The switch from in-person to online presented signifi cant challenges, including technological ones. The THW is integrated in the federal system, where strict security requirements apply. This means IT employees have to ensure that a new system can be integrated into the existing one. ‘As a federal organisation for emergency services, we have special requirements in terms of security and server location,’ explains Korth. The problem was solved only because THW and vitero support collaborated on fi nding a solution. ‘The excellent support and data security at vitero were also key factors.’

Flexible even in diffi cult times

The vitero Café is a crisis-proof option – especially when in-person meetings are not possible. ‘The advantages of the café became very clear during the coronavirus pandemic,’ recalls Korth. ‘There are many conference tools on the market, but they don’t give us a comparable, goal-oriented view of participants and content. Other solutions don’t represent these aspects as effectively for us. So vitero is simply much more suitable for our needs.’

Conclusions and outlook

After the coronavirus pandemic, THW is aiming to increase the number of in-person events again. But it isn’t planning to reduce the use of the vitero Corporate Café. Quite the opposite – the online tool is an indispensable part of the organisation now. Korth says, ‘The seminars at the training centres are still very popular, but people love the option of integrating courses and meetings into everyday working life.’

Further Case Studies

Well-known customers and partners from a wide variety of sectors and industries speak for the diversity of vitero inspire. The numerous possibilities of vitero are also evident from the variety of our application settings.