Gain skills through practical experience

The Economy Weeks are a joint project offered by the Ernst Schmidheiny Foundation, the Chambers of Industry and Commerce and numerous companies in Switzerland.

Manage a company for a week

Economy Weeks are project weeks providing experience for school students at higher level secondary schools (Gymnasien) in Switzerland and in the Principality of Liechtenstein. During an Economy Week, the students take on the role of managing a company. The computer-based WIWAG^® teaching concept simulates market and company for the students. As in the real business world, the students have to develop strategies for their Economy Week companies, learn to understand the activities of their competitors and the development of the market, organise themselves, put marketing concepts into practice and make a great number of decisions. The young people experience the way a company functions in the market in a reality-based way. They are challenged to manage their companies in a creative and responsible manner. They absorb knowledge of economic matters through their own intense activity and interest in economic matters is aroused.

A successful concept "Human plus tool" 

The Economy Weeks owe their great success to the instructors. Economy Week instructors are managers from the world of commerce and industry acting in a voluntary capacity. Numerous companies in Switzerland, large and small, are making management staff available for Economy Weeks. These instructors ensure that the Economy Weeks relate as closely as possible to business practice, and they provide the economy with a face. During an Economy Week, the instructors coach the students in their assigned role as company managers, motivate them and provide them with the theoretical knowledge they require.