15 February 2023
The knowledge of the many: How the Haniel Sustainability Community works
In the field of sustainability, trends and opportunities emerge just as quickly as new laws and regulations are enacted. Maintaining an overview is one of the tasks of the Sustainability Community. Once a month, the group of sustainability experts meets for a virtual exchange.
What do they talk about?
Impulses from the community
"As community members, we can put topics on the agenda that either serve as a basis for discussion, provide food for thought or highlight a concrete best practice case," explains Kristina Huhn, Senior Manager Growth Strategy at KMK kinderzimmer. When Kristina, who is from Hamburg, took up her position with the provider of early childhood education, she had little previous experience in the field of sustainability. "I was very happy to hear that there is this Community in the Haniel Group that I can exchange ideas with," says Kristina. The business model of kinderzimmer, which offers high-quality childcare regardless of the parents' income, is socially sustainable anyway. Kristina’s current work mainly consists of integrating ever more aspects of ecological sustainability into the kindergarten concept. To do this, she collects suggestions and impulses from the Community.
Highlighting business opportunities
Leonie Biesen, Corporate Sustainability Manager at CWS, has experienced how portfolio companies can learn from each other in her work with the Sustainability Community: "We see a rapid development of ESG regulations at EU level. Dealing with these in more depth and exploring our options has been a priority for us in recent months. What we have developed at CWS provides an important basis for other portfolio companies. This is why it was important for me to bring the topic into the group and show what opportunities exist for the business – because, after all, this is what our enkelfähig strategy is all about." Leonie, who has been part of the Sustainability Community since the beginning of 2022, sees sustainability as a major task for society in which everyone really must work together. She is convinced that more people should get involved with the political framework – although it is complex. That is why she passionately drives this aspect within the group.
A big boost for collaboration
Demet Tunç, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at BekaertDeslee, is also convinced of the added value of the Community. Throughout her career in various sectors such as FMCG and automotive, Demet has gained experience in the field of marketing and customer excellence. For her, sustainability plays a critical role in defining the corporate strategy. It is particularly important to her that the Community, which mostly meets virtually due to the geographical distance, also sees each other in person from time to time. Demet explains that such meetings give a big boost to cooperation. The last meeting took place during a Haniel leadership event. "It was clear to me that this meeting would be a good opportunity to present BekaertDeslee’s efforts on developing sustainable products, reducing our carbon footprint and working towards circular economy. The interactive discussions and sharing best practices amongst the Haniel portfolio companies will definitely help to shape up a sustainable future," Demet says enthusiastically.
Sparring partner for the evaluation of products and solutions
It is not always about ambitious and long-term projects – the Community also helps each other out in day-to-day business: "Many of my colleagues from the portfolio companies have developed a comprehensive methodology to evaluate their products and solutions using the Future Worth Living criteria. But measuring services on a shared basis is new for us as a group," says Kristina. "Since we at KMK kinderzimmer had already started measuring our services, I was able to act as a sparring partner by sharing our approach. On the other hand, I have also contacted colleagues and asked for advice myself."
For Kristina, who took on the role as sustainability officer at KMK kinderzimmer just over a year ago, the Community is not only important for sharing successes: "For me, it is also a space to address challenges. I firmly believe that we can only find truly sustainable solutions if we have an open dialogue and share what did not work."
Not all challenges can be solved within our own company - thought-provoking impulses and ideas from outside are therefore very welcome in the Sustainability Community, explains Demet Tunç. "Even though we are all experts and bring a lot of knowledge and experience with us through our diverse career paths, external impulses are very valuable. In the future, we want to invite experts from other companies and organizations to our meetings more often. This will be a great addition to our work in the Community."
