SDG-Scouts® – business for greater corporate sustainability

Two ID colleagues are currently undergoing further training as ‘SDG-Scouts® – business – Employees for Sustainability in Companies’ at Ideenfabrik Euskirchen. Lea Gottschalk and Jens Janke are currently participating in a workshop series where their awareness of the need for a corporate sustainability strategy is being enhanced, and they have the task of developing a very specific sustainability project for their company. Although it will still take some time until they receive the final certificate, the current progress already sounds very promising.

In the first workshop module in mid-March, the workshop leaders of the corporate network for sustainable business B.A.U.M. e.V., Karina Frochtmann and Dieter Brübach, introduced the future SDG-Scouts® to the significance of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established by the United Nations. With over 500 members, the German Association for Environmental Management (B.A.U.M.) is the largest business environmental initiative in Europe and therefore possesses extensive expertise in this area.

On the second day, the workshop participants built upon the work from the previous day. In individual and group tasks, they interactively explored the various sustainability goals in economic, ecological, and social terms, always with a focus on their own company. One of the tasks was to select the three most important SDGs for their professional environment. Lea Gottschalk, who works part-time at ID alongside her Master’s studies in Sustainability Management & Leadership, and Jens Janke, a state-certified mechanical engineer who has been with ID for four years, chose:

• SDG 4: Quality Education
• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
• SDG 12: Responsible Consumption & Production

In the third workshop module in mid-April, the project ideas developed in the interim for their own company, ‘Bicycle-Friendly Employer’ and ‘Nature-Oriented Company Premises’, were further elaborated. In the practical phase currently underway, the aim is to work out the projects and propose appropriate measures. The ideas and measures will be finally presented in June within the workshop group and, if possible, in the presence of the company management. After a successful presentation, the ID duo will receive the SDG-Scouts® – business certificate. We will report more on the specific sustainability projects for ID shortly.