The district of Düren, which is located in the Aachen-Dusseldorf-Cologne/Bonn triangle, is known as a ‘rural economic region’. The business and services sectors are its economic mainstays, as evidenced by its thriving paper manufacturing and processing industry, for example. Lignite opencast mining in Hambach and Inden and the Jülich, research centre, one of the largest in Germany, also make an important contribution to the local economy. The Rur Eifel, together with the town of Heimbach and its symbolic gateway to the Eifel national park, are major tourist attractions.
– The TraCK Düren intercompany training centre offers preparation for careers in the automobile sector in the Düren district and Aachen city region. From 2016 to 2018, European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) appropriations were provided for the purchase of technical equipment, furnishings and vehicles.
– Generous ERDF assistance is also being channelled into the three-year E-Health NRW project run by Caritas in Düren, seeking to improve patient care through the electronic networking of all participating institutions.
– Such funding is also being provided for technology transfer by local companies. Between 2018 and 2020, for example, a company in Düren will receive financial support for the development of an absorbent material for use on agricultural sites and in processing plants that have been contaminated with ammonia.
– The project manager at the Jülich Research Centre is responsible for implementing research and innovation programmes on behalf of the European Commission and other clients, for example in connection with the European ‘Horizon 2020’ framework programme for research and innovation, helping to place over 1000 people in work in 2017.
– From 2011 to 2017, just under EUR 2.1 million in EU Life+ programme funding was channelled into the restoration of forest and water habitats in the Eifel National Park.
Total funding of EUR 3.4 billion is being made available across the EU for the period 2014-2020.