The projects we support
are our windows onto the world.

The projects we support
are our windows onto the world.

What We Support

Project Insights

The goal of our public relations work is to make our current activities and exemplary projects more visible. That’s why the people and initiatives that we support take center stage, both in our print publications and on our website. Lighthouse projects both large and small are given a special place.

Here, we provide short updates that reveal current happenings among our projects. In addition, we present in-depth reports and interviews that create a vivid picture of the initiatives that our foundation is privileged to enable and support.

To make this possible, our public relations team visits many of the projects together with the responsible project managers and gets to know the organizations and people on location.

We hope that these reports, in text and image, help to orient engaged individuals regarding possible support from the Software AG Foundation (SAGST) – and encourage them to tread new paths.

More Inclusion in the Education System

Menschen mit und ohne Assistenzbedarf im Gespräch
Photo: “German Inclusion Center”

“Not without us, about us” is the motto under which the Kiel Institute for Inclusive Education is committed to training and further education. “We are convinced that the active educational work of people with disabilities strengthens and distinguishes technical colleges and universities, politics, administration and companies”, is what appears on the institute’s website, which is based at Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel. The fact that this approach works well, is demonstrated by the success of the world’s first three-year full-time qualification as an educational specialist, whose graduates are employed full time as lecturers at Kiel University and who sensitise students to the needs of people with disabilities in their seminars. An existing cooperative venture with the university town of Heidelberg is to be followed by others – so that qualified individuals with disabilities will have more of a presence at universities nationwide in future and be able to convey their expertise proficiently on their own behalf.

With the non-profit company IIB2 Advice Education Work that has emerged from the institute and  today bears the name “German Inclusion Center”, the advisory work for inclusive education and work will also be expanded. This is necessary because despite all the effort invested in an inclusive school system so far, only a few young women and men with disabilities have started regular training. “Most of them still work in what are known as workshops for the disabled”, as SAGST project manager Markus Kleikemper explains the background of the project.“ In addition to the universities, public administrations and companies are also very interested in better embedding inclusion in our everyday work – but for this we need the appropriate qualification opportunities.”

This is why SAGST promotes the development of model training paths in five different occupational fields: over five years, 30 individuals who need help in terms of day care, nursing, job market coaching, communication / digitalisation and advice are prepared for their first job market. The concept of trial training through easy learning combines the skills of people who need help with the requirements of the employer and ensures the required support for participating. Regional specialist groups connect people with disabilities, companies, educational institutions and participation supporters. “This means a crucial expansion of the usual dual vocational training system”, Kleikemper continues, who sees this as an important step towards more inclusion. “Similar to the model project for qualified educators, concepts are being created here that may also lead to more diversity and barrier-free living together elsewhere in our society.”


Whether in the stables, the school garden or the classroom: the Schmeli farm school in the Swiss canton of Wallis opens up a wide range of spaces for learning and experience for its pupils. The first private school to be founded in the region relies greatly on hands-on educational elements.


What effects do the barriers between the brood box and the honey super normally used in beekeeping have on the bees’ welfare and honey quality? A group of biodynamic beekeepers investigated this issue in a participatory research project, which produced some complex results: other management factors are thus more crucial than the barriers.


What kind of agriculture could feed us humans healthily without depleting our natural resources? And how can medicine take a broader view of health that considers not only the composition of our diet but also the circumstances under which food is produced? Until now, medical students have rarely found answers to such questions during their studies. This is where the medical-agricultural study year comes in.


The Software AG – Foundation is a new sponsoring partner of the Virchow Prize for Global Health, established by the Virchow Foundation in 2021. This year, the internationally acclaimed award recognizes the life's work of Cameroonian scientist Rose Gana Fomban Leke for her infectious disease research towards a malaria-free world and relentless dedication in advancing gender equality.