Insights into everyday working life: Trial day for people with disabilities

20.09.24 – On the Europe-wide “Duo Day” today, 35 companies and public institutions in the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district opened their doors for the first time to people with mental, emotional or physical disabilities. The environmental protection department of the Kassel Regional Council in Bad Hersfeld was also there: IT specialist Paul Oldenburg (24) spent a day looking behind the scenes of North East Hesse’s bundling authority with 1,001 tasks.

The basic idea of ​​the day can already be seen in its name: for one day, an employee of a company or institution forms a “duo” with a person with a mental, emotional or physical disability. Manuela Schmermund from the Mining Supervision Department of the Kassel Regional Council registered for Duo Day as Paul Oldenburg’s duo partner. The nationally known para-athlete and Paralympian is also the patron of this year’s Duo Day in the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district.

Get insights

The action day is intended to give participants the opportunity to gain an insight into everyday working life. They should participate as actively as possible in the usual tasks of the employees or gain insights. Accordingly, Paul Oldenburg and Manuela Schmermund observed all the departments located at the Bad Hersfeld site. This includes the areas of groundwater protection, municipal and industrial wastewater, flood protection, waste management, emission control and energy management as well as the mining supervision department. For the trained IT specialist, who has been dependent on a wheelchair since an accident in 2014, the Bad Hersfeld site also organized an information event via video conference with the IT department of the RP Kassel through Thomas Steinbrecher. The Duo Day brought valuable insights for both Paul Oldenburg and the RP Kassel:

“For me, it was very exciting to get to know public administration and the day-to-day working life in a public authority. I found the way the Kassel Regional Council has positioned itself in the IT sector particularly interesting. But the extensive and varied tasks in the environmental sector also really impressed me. “The Duo Day is a good format for getting to know people with professional experience and their day-to-day working life,” says Paul Oldenburg.

“We can only be of use”

“The Hessian state administration and thus also the RP Kassel are committed to the inclusion and professional development of people with disabilities. For me it was therefore clear that we would also take part in Duo Day. As an authority, we can only benefit from the exchange.” “It is a great format for creating encounters, gaining new insights and impressions and breaking down any inhibitions that may exist,” says patron Manuela Schmermund. A new edition of DUOday is planned for next year in the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district. (pm/cdg) +++