CC-Projects in Germany

The prestigious IT school 42 was founded in France and is now being established in Heilbronn by the Dieter Schwarz Foundation and in Wolfsburg by Volkswagen AG. 42 Wolfsburg e.V. and 42 Heilbronn gGmbH offer an innovative concept where students learn how to program in a practical way in teamwork (“peer to peer”). The 42 learning model has proven successful internationally. 10,000 people currently study at more than 30 schools in over 20 countries.

The schools will start their work in 2021 and will have a total capacity of 700 and 600 respectively in their final stage. The two IT schools are recognized as non-profit institutions and aim to make IT accessible to many people; that also includes, for example, helping women find jobs in technological vocations. The scholarship program is intended to help young programming talents with an eye to relieving the problem of a shortage of IT experts.

Giving something back to society and rewarding exceptional voluntary commitment with prizes – that was the motto for the award ceremony for the Citizens’ Prizes that was held for the tenth time in the Porsche Museum in November 2021. The awards are presented by the Bürgerstiftung Stuttgart, which is marking its 20th anniversary. A total of nine prizes were awarded to exemplary initiatives and projects, with a total prize money of €40,000.

Three prizes in the categories “Sustainability” and “Innovation” and a special prize for exceptional engagement in times of the pandemic were presented at the award ceremony at the Porsche Museum. Citizens of Stuttgart were also able to vote online for the public choice award. A new feature this year was the Children’s Prize. It was likewise donated by Porsche and presented to the bee study group Bienen AG.

The bee project is aimed at children and youngsters who have suffered traumatic experiences in their life, are affected by violence and neglect, or are not able to participate in the mainstream school system due to mental health issues. The project aims to develop children’s personality and strengthen their social and emotional skills, independence and personal responsibility. The bee colonies teach them how to be patient, stay calm, and display tact and sensitivity.

Artistic ambition with a great entertainment value – Audi ArtExperience has been sponsoring the 20minmax International Short Film Festival since its inauguration. The short film scene flocks to Ingolstadt every year to attend the festival. Around 70 international short films are shown in the week-long event. The main venue of the festival is the Audi cinema.

Audi ArtExperience not only donates prize money, but also supports the media skills workshop for schoolchildren. Under professional guidance, the children aged 7 to 12 view short films, discuss them, and choose the best entries for the children’s matinée. In addition, the children themselves devise and shoot a film that is presented as part of the festival. In this way, children are given a playful introduction to practical media work and can develop an awareness for media.

The Klinikum Stuttgart is an economically independent, non-profit public-law municipal institution which groups the three city hospitals Katharinenhospital, Krankenhaus Bad Cannstatt and Olga Hospital and so is the largest hospital in Baden-Württemberg. Apart from providing medical care, it is involved in complementary projects aimed at counteracting current health problems.

One of them is the “A Room For You” project. Schoolchildren are a high-risk group as regards the consumption of legal and illegal psychoactive substances, a problem that is compounded by isolation and loneliness in the current situation. At present there are only few online offerings to help those affected, despite the fact that the Internet is where this age group mainly turns to in order to obtain information. That is the reason for establishing the “A Room For You” project. It is a modular online counseling, treatment and self-help offering and an information platform. It means more youngsters at risk can be reached and action taken against their addiction at an early stage. Youngsters can obtain information on the platform, as well as help and details of places and persons they can contact for their existing problems.

In cooperation with engaged citizens and companies, Weihnachtsmann & Co. (“Santa Claus & Co.”) provides on-site help under the slogan “Helping Makes You Happy.” The organization aims to provide assistance where help cannot otherwise be expected. It sets up a stand every year at Stuttgart’s Christmas Market, where work by apprentices, in-kind donations and meals from a daily changing menu are sold. All the proceeds and donations benefit social and cultural institutions. In past years, Porsche trainees traditionally sponsored the stand for a day and helped staff it.

However, the coronavirus pandemic meant that the association was not able to run the stand in the past two years and so lost an important source of revenue. Porsche is giving the campaign a donation so that charitable institutions and organizations in the Stuttgart region can continue to be supported. For example, a Repair Café was opened in Stuttgart in the fall of 2021 with funds from Weihnachtsmann & Co. in cooperation with Stuttgart’s Youth Welfare Department. It gives youngsters from socially deprived environments a point of contact where they can spend their spare time and acquire practical knowledge in repairing objects. The proceeds are again being donated this year to this project, which gives youngsters instruction in how to repair broken objects and so teaches them to act in a resource-conserving way.

Porsche is supporting “Aktion Weihnachten,” a fund-raising campaign staged by the local newspaper Stuttgarter Nachrichten, with €10,000. The campaign aims to help people from Stuttgart and the region whose life has been thrown into turmoil due to illness, unemployment or family problems. The initiative’s focus in 2021 was on supporting children and senior citizens. The fund-raising campaign supports projects of Stuttgart’s Child Protection Center in its efforts to prevent violence and the Evangelische Gesellschaft (eva) in its work to promote inclusion during the ongoing pandemic.

The humanitarian organization “Johanniter” (“St. John Accident Assistance”) helps shape society and offers a home for people who want to help voluntarily or full time. Its day-to-day activities focus on people who need support. Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe makes a contribution to child and youth welfare with this violence prevention project. A certified anti-violence coach is to train employees and the children and youngsters at the children’s and youth residential community MOGLI, which was set up in October 2020 and consists of three mixed-age flat-sharing communities for up to 28 children and youngsters aged up to 18, and a special training room is to be established. Experience with and/or use of violence on the part of children and youngsters are often grounds for action to be taken to protect their well-being. Both the clients and educational experts in the field of child and youth welfare may repeatedly be affected by the health consequences of violent conduct. Measures to prevent violence in child and youth establishments also have a health-promoting impact. In particular, these measures include joint (also sporting) activities.

The Art Mobile provided by Volkswagen Financial Services takes pupils from the Brunswick region to Wolfsburg Museum of Art free of charge. The successful cooperation between Volkswagen Financial Services and Wolfsburg Museum of Art dates back to 2002. The bus has technical equipment that lets pupils watch a film during the journey so that they are playfully prepared for their visit to the museum.

The total number of pupils who have visited Wolfsburg Museum of Art in this way from when the project was launched up to 2021 is 82,877.

The project was expanded in 2003. Senior citizens from various institutions, such as residential homes and community centers, have been given the chance to take part in excursions to the Museum of Art and then have a coffee in its restaurant. 8,892 senior citizens have now used the bus shuttle (figure at 2020).

The Customer Center at the Audi Forum Ingolstadt is transformed annually into a concert hall. In December 2019 the Audi Young Persons’ Choral Academy and the Berlin Academy for Early Music under the artistic direction of Martin Steidler conjured up a festive mood among the audience with classical works and Christmas carols. The Audi Christmas Concert was not able to be held in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus.

The Audi Environmental Foundation has made an active contribution to protecting the environment for more than ten years. As part of that, it takes new approaches to enable sustainable activities. The foundation’s engagement is long-term and diverse. It was established on December 1, 2009, by AUDI AG as a wholly-owned subsidiary with the goal of strengthening the company’s social and environmental engagement.

The Environmental Foundation’s focus in all the projects it supports is not only on nature and the environment. It also aims to contribute to creating a sustainable system that benefits people and the environment.

The foundations want to shoulder social and ecological responsibility with targeted projects and so give something back to society and the environment.

Audi Environmental Foundation

Since 1962 Audi has given music lovers among its employees and citizens of Ingolstadt the chance to play in the company’s Philharmonic Wind Orchestra. The Audi Philharmonic Wind Orchestra with its around 60 members plays at the Summer Concerts, stages a benefit concert every fall, and is a regular guest at concerts throughout Germany.

Every Christmas the Audi Philharmonic Wind Orchestra supports a fundraising campaign by holding a benefit concert at Ingolstadt City Theater. The proceeds of €10,000 benefit social welfare institutions from Ingolstadt and the region.

Since it was founded in 2009 by AUDI AG and FC Ingolstadt 04, Audi Schanzer Soccer Camp has supported young soccer players – from beginners to top talents.

A festival that brings together and inspires people in Ingolstadt: Since being founded in 1990, the Audi Summer Concerts have attracted more than a quarter of million visitors. They range from living room, chamber, symphony, film to open air concerts. The brand with the four rings attaches great importance to providing a stage for regional ensembles in addition to international stars. The popular Audi open-air classical music concerts in Ingolstadt’s Klenze Park are also a firm part of the concert series. Since 2019, the world-famous violinist Lisa Batiashvili has placed her creative imprint on the festival as its artistic director.

Music belongs on stage and needs an audience, especially in difficult times – which is why the Summer Concerts have been held in the last two years despite the pandemic, both digitally and as open-air events.

You can find details at www.sommerkonzerte.de

The Audi Sport Academy of the soccer club FC Ingolstadt 04 and ice hockey club ERC Ingolstadt has existed since 2014 and offers full-time accommodation with pedagogical care to youngsters from the FCI and talents from the ERC aged 14 to 18. The perfect combination and balance of learning life skills, professional sports, and education and vocational training allows the young talents to show their potential.

By sponsoring the Sport Academy, Audi aims to support the work developing youth talents at the two clubs so as to ensure the future success of FC Ingolstadt and ERC Ingolstadt. These two clubs are flagships for the region of Ingolstadt, which is why Audi has been supporting them for years.

Audi employees work in their spare time on a Saturday in various social projects of regional social institutions, on site and digitally, across all the sites in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm.

The Audi Young Persons’ Choral Academy was founded by AUDI AG in 2007 and has been a non-profit association since 2017. The ambitious youth project is a fine example of the Audi ArtExperience’s work and of the company’s cultural commitment. It offers young singers aged 16 to 27 the chance to sing in a professional choir. Professor Martin Steidler is the choir’s artistic director.

The Audi Young Persons’ Choral Academy appears with famous artists and orchestras, such as Kent Nagano, the London Symphony Orchestra or the Berlin Academy for Early Music. It is also a regular guest at prestigious festivals and in concert halls worldwide. In January 2017 the choir took part in the ceremony to mark the inauguration of Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie concert hall. International highlights of the Audi Young Persons’ Choral Academy were an appearance in the Vatican and a tour to Singapore and Taiwan.

Ensemble of around 80 selected young and motivated singers ages 16-27 under the artistic direction of Prof. Martin Steidler.

Porsche’s Leipzig plant has won the Lean & Green Management Award 2021 in the category “Automotive OEM.” The jury has bestowed the title “Lean & Green World Class” on the production site of the sports car manufacturer in Leipzig. The contest rewards the most successful lean management approaches in conjunction with environmental and sustainability aspects. 250 plants from more than 10 countries and 20 branches of industry took part.

Mentoring under the “Aufwind” program was launched in 2015 with the objective of providing children of parents with mental problems with preventive support, since they have a significantly higher risk of falling ill themselves. Such mentoring can be a key factor in protecting the children. It also reduces the workload on the affected parents, who often have to cope with their own difficult life situation without a social network to help them. Civically engaged people find this mentoring a meaningful type of voluntary engagement that expands their horizons and counteracts stigmatization of people with a mental illness. Approximately 60 to 70 children, youngsters, parents and volunteers obtain assistance under the “Aufwind” offering.

Porsche is supporting the soccer club FC Erzgebirge Aue with a donation to create even better conditions for handicapped fans. The aim is to give them easier access to the sport of soccer and enable them to participate in society. The donation will be used for walls to protect wheelchair users from drafts in the arena, the work of sign language interpreters at events they accompany, and procurement of new technology for audio description commentary for visually impaired fans.

Improving the habitat (former ammunition bunkers) for the bats living there through installation of fittings (so that the bats can hide or have a place to withdraw to).

Since 2014, several bee colonies have been making honey at the Neckarsulm site. More than 35 types of flower are sown every year on former monotonous lawns so as to create a habitat and sources of food for these important pollinators and other insects.

Audi has been a member of the cross-industry initiative “Biodiversity in Good Company” since 2015, committing itself to preserve biodiversity at all its sites. Examples of its efforts include near-natural open spaces, green facades or wet biotopes.

Audi is committed to preserving biodiversity and has converted 17 hectares on the grounds of its production plant in Münchsmünster into near-nature habitats for flora and fauna. It is now home to 112 plant species and around 90 species of wild bees. Audi’s biotope-like campus includes meager meadows, as well as areas for shrubs and woody plants. Audi has also integrated a meadow garden, dead wood areas and a richly structured stream in the concept. The grounds’ design is constantly optimized with the support of biologists.

Biodiversity tours with interested external groups have been held since 2017. Visitors used the free tours of the Emden plant to learn more about biodiversity in the form of the different regional, old fruit tree varieties in the industrial surroundings. The tours begin with talks on the relevance of biodiversity. Practical accomplishments are then explained with reference to projects that have been implemented at and around the Emden plant.

As part of the “Bavarian Blossom Pact” initiative, the Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Consumer Protection offers free initial consulting on the subject “Biodiversity – Blossoming Business.” The Augsburg site successfully applied for such consulting in 2021. An inspection was conducted in October with an expert from the “Naturgarten e.V.” association, during which further areas for a near-nature design were identified on the campus. After successful implementation of the relevant measures, the site will apply for the government award “Blossoming Business.”

Arousing enthusiasm for reading and books – what easier way to do that can there be than for them to experience and make a book on their own at first hand? The association Buchkinder Leipzig e.V. is a book and writing workshop for children and youngsters aged 4 to 18 that has helped young people create stories for their own books since 2001. Involving children and youngsters in all bookmaking processes is intended to kindle their enthusiasm for reading and books and so promote their language development in general. Since 2001, the association has accompanied more than 2,000 children in putting their own stories into printed form and is currently supervising 190 children.

Since 2021, Porsche has supported the creation of a new printing and writing workshop in the Leipziger Osten district to ensure a stronger presence there for children and youngsters with a migrant background or from difficult socio-economic circumstances.

Employees can register as potential bone marrow donors.

The busy “Bulli Bees” make a major contribution to protecting and preserving the biodiversity of flora and fauna in the city and region – and the honey season was a big success. Three strong colonies numbering a total of around 180,000 bees gathered honey on the meadow in front of the VW Commercial Vehicles Customer Center in 2021. There is a wild flower meadow specially created for the project next to the Customer Center. 250 kg of VW Commercial Vehicles honey have been produced since the project’s inception – equal to one thousand 250 g jars. The bees belong to a VW Commercial Vehicles employee who takes care of their well-being. Trainees from VW Commercial Vehicles designed the beehives and the children from the company kindergarten designed the logo for the bees and their honey. That means the “Bulli Bees” and their honey are a 100% product of VW Commercial Vehicles.

As part of its #guterdinge campaign, the Bürgerstiftung foundation is conducting projects to help homeless people, who are particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Institutions were completely closed for some time in the wake of the lockdown. Various measures were also implemented to support homeless people in this time, such as a cargo bike initiative, in which food and toiletries are brought to them.

Since their operation and also the provision of food to the homeless in Stuttgart are still severely restricted due to the hygiene rules that have to be observed, the Bürgerstiftung has initiated the Supp_Optimal (“Soup-Optimal”) project. The preparation and serving of warm meals and distribution of food to people without a roof over their head in Stuttgart is coordinated as part of it. As part of the project, more than 12,000 meals have been issued to people living in precarious circumstances in Stuttgart city center since November 2020. There is now far greater demand for this aid.

This year’s donation has helped create temporary serving stations in further districts of Stuttgart. The donation was raised by Porsche’s workforce. The temporary reduction in value-added tax during the coronavirus pandemic was deliberately not implemented at Porsche’s catering unit. Instead, the Board of Management and Works Council decided to use the savings that would have otherwise resulted to provide food to the needy.

73 places in Neckarsulm

Porsche AG is supporting the Disabled Persons Aid Service of the Caritasverband für Stuttgart e.V. with €70,000. Urgently needed equipment to protect against the coronavirus was purchased with this emergency aid. The masks, protective clothing and disinfectant will benefit the around 170 inhabitants and staff of Caritas’ Zuffenhausen residential complex.

The Caritas Stuttgart association has around 1,900 full-time and some 750 volunteer employees, making it one of the largest non-statutory social welfare organizations in the region.

One of its missions is to help people with handicaps in Stuttgart lead their life as they wish and in accordance with their needs and so to experience inclusion and participation. It offers people with handicaps and their family members diverse means of support, ranging from general advice on holiday and leisure time offerings, assisted living in their own four walls or care in a home for people with a mental handicap or multiple disabilities, to employment in a workshop for disabled people.

The Caritasverband für Stuttgart e. V. is currently staging the “check-e.jetzt” project, in which more than 30 volunteers are able to provide constant supervision and learning support for children and youngsters with special educational needs, thanks to digital formats and despite contact restrictions. The voluntary supervisors are each assigned one child. The tandems meet via video at least one hour a week, or more often if desired, and jointly discuss homework, repeat difficult topics and revise vocabulary.

In order to relieve the burden on employees, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles offers them in-house childcare each week for 30 children aged 6 to 12 during vacations. The childcare was provided for two weeks during the fall vacation. The times at which childcare is provided during vacations give employees greater flexibility in reconciling work and private life. As part of the vacation program’s concept, a focal theme tailored to the needs of children of VW Commercial Vehicles’ employees is chosen.

VWI draws 180 Christmas trees: Christmas is around the corner and two candles are already lit on the Advent wreath. So it’s high time to take care of a further decoration that adds that special Christmas touch to your home and makes the festive period so nice and cozy: The Christmas tree, which – lovingly decked out with ornaments – stands resplendent in the living room and catches the eye every year.

With a little luck of the draw, 180 tenants of Volkswagen Immobilien and 50 interested persons from Steimker Gardens no longer needed to embark on the traditional effort of searching for the most beautiful tree for their own living room and could instead win a magnificent fir in the “Mietermagazin”. A contact-free “drive-in-fir-to-go” concept at Steimker Gardens meant our tenants and visitors were able to come by and pick up a Christmas tree by car. 20 trees were reserved beforehand for the Wolfsburg Tafel food bank. A further 20 remained at the end of the day, meaning VWI’s nursery was able to take 40 firs to the aid organization.

Employees have the chance to fulfill the Christmas wishes of the children and youngsters who are looked after.

Campaign for employees of AUDI AG, with the goal of reducing CO₂ emissions.

Since January 2016, numerous young refugees aged 18 to 26 years old have been attending the Vocational College in Ingolstadt. They receive instruction in German, math, and cultural studies, among other things, with the goal of achieving the B1 level of language proficiency.

Around 80 employees, including the whole management team, from the Procurement division took part in a voluntary Climate Challenge. It gave participants the chance to learn about new ways to reduce packaging waste, avoid microplastics, save water and rethink their own consumer behavior, for example. In addition, more than 20 trees were planted and several bags of refuse cleaned up as part of the campaign.

With its 96 affiliated organizations, more than 11,350 clubs and 3.7 million members, the State Sports Association of Baden-Württemberg is an umbrella organization that represent the common interests of sport toward state policymakers, the media and the public. Its overarching goal is to promote sport in all its facets. That is the reason why the State Sports Association, together with the insurer BARMER and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, presents an annual Coach Award in acknowledgment of exceptional commitment and sporting successes. Porsche supports the Coach Award so as to highlight the importance of the many coaches and their engagement. After all, they are vital to preserving clubs’ ability to run and offer sports.

Since being founded in 2004, the foundation Stiftung Kunstmuseum Stuttgart gGmbH has been dedicated to promoting art and culture in the Stuttgart region. It accomplishes that purpose as a museum for fine arts, in particular by staging art exhibitions and art events in Stuttgart. Kunstmuseum Stuttgart aims to convey an appreciation of, enable research into and collect and preserve art.

//KUB1C0D3 is the computer and programming club of Kunstmuseum Stuttgart and a participatory offering for 13- to 17-year-olds that brings together art and digital media and aims to blend analog and digital aspects in terms of content and technology. The program was launched on July 1, 2021, and is intended long term to produce mentors, who in turn will win over disadvantaged persons (the hard of hearing, deaf, pensioners and immigrants) as a target group.  

Under the “Combined Transport” concept, some of the truck traffic for the Emden plant is being shifted to rail: Material deliveries are pooled and arrive by rail and are therefore trucked for only part of their route. Instead of 102 trucks a week, just three freight trains a week are needed. Transferring the main shipment legs from road to rail means the plant reduces CO₂ emissions by 5,000 tons a year.

"Demenzparcours": parcours with self-awareness for employees;  personal experience/self-awareness, creation of awareness/sensitisation for the symptoms of dementia and at dealing with people, who have dementia.

Information platform with Germany-wide nursing homes, organizations and secondary and helpful information for employees, who care a family member.

Matching the needs of families with au pairs, emergency hotlines, child minders, etc. in Ingolstadt.

Volkswagen Financial Services and the German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) have been working together since 2009 to protect moors and restore them to their natural state. That is because moors are exceptionally important for climate protection and biodiversity.

From 2012 to 2020, Volkswagen Financial Services invested a total of four million euros in the German and International Moor Conservation Fund established together with NABU. In Germany, the money is currently being spent on 13 national project areas. In the international arena, the company supports the European Union's LIFE Peat Restore Project, as a result of which an additional four million euros in public funding has been obtained due to the fact that the basic financing for the project has been secured.

It is an international EU project the NABU is implementing together with its cooperation partners from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Its objective is to renew degraded peatlands and restore their natural function as carbon sinks in the five partner countries.

The joint commitment of Volkswagen Financial Services and NABU has already received several accolades from independent bodies.

Porsche has been committed to supporting education and science for many years. Its cooperation with leading universities was expanded further in 2017 with a specific focus on the subject of digitalization. Porsche has partnered the newly founded CODE University in Berlin from its inception. A scholarship program commencing in 2018 was launched with the Department of Computer Science at RWTH Aachen University. There is also a newly launched research project at the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) in Potsdam. The company has extended and adapted the content of its engagement as part of the endowed chair of Porsche AG established at Leipzig Graduate School of Management in 2013. The chair has addressed the subject area of “Strategic management and entrepreneurship in the digital era” since 2018.

German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) Platinum certification for the site of Porsche Leipzig GmbH, sustainability certificate.  

The whole of production at Böllinger Höfe is net carbon neutral. Green electricity has been procured exclusively at the entire Neckarsulm site since the beginning of 2020. A combined heat and power plant operating on biogas supplies the heat required for production at Böllinger Höfe. Audi compensates for emissions that cannot yet be avoided by using renewable sources of energy with carbon credits from certified climate protection projects.

All five Audi sites (Ingolstadt, Neckarsulm, Brussels, Győr and San José Chiapa) comply with ISO 50001, a standard that demands particularly high requirements in terms of systematic and continuous reduction of energy consumption. Since it was published in 2011, it has become established as the international standard for energy management systems; all Audi sites have since successfully gained certification under it.

There is a total of almost 100 full-time Energy Officers at Audi’s five locations, who are tasked with identifying and leveraging new potential to reduce power consumption in production. The result: Audi even surpassed its energy-cutting targets in 2020, reducing consumption by a total of more than 83,000 megawatt hours of energy over all sites and also emitting around 11,900 tons less CO₂.

The Gewandhaus Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Leipzig. It is one of the leading international orchestras and is regarded as the world’s largest professional one.

The Society of Friends of the Gewandhaus launched a cultural education program in 2020 so as to offer a cultural program despite the restrictions due to the spread of the coronavirus. Instructional videos for children and youngsters on the connection between music and physics were produced. Topics include how sound is produced and instruments work, as well as the physical processes in a musician’s body.  

The Marienhospital Stuttgart is a modern hospital that provides central care and boasts a long tradition and unique history. It has 19 specialist clinics and 18 interdisciplinary centers. Patients thus receive a comprehensive medical offering. The Marienhospital Stuttgart has 761 beds, making it one of the largest hospitals in Stuttgart.

This project’s declared objective is to provide the general public with learning content on the subject of palliative care. As part of that, it also aims to produce and publish audio-visual learning content on the subject of palliative care for family members, patients and employees, in particular nursing staff, participants in further training and education measures, and the broader public. The content is specially produced in the form of videos, podcasts and information materials and provided free – in different degrees of complexity and in different ways to suit the needs of the particular target audience. The offering enables low-threshold access and reaches various target groups – not only medical experts, but also a wider audience (patients, relatives, volunteers, etc.).

Volkswagen’s Emden plant has been offering an eco-friendly deposit system as an alternative to disposable cups since November 26, 2018. The reusable cups, which are embellished with East Frisian motifs, can be obtained from the company restaurants and shops.

With around 34,000 students on bachelor’s and master’s degree programs, the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW) is one of the largest universities in the Stuttgart and Upper Neckar regions. The university pursues the principle of dual training, where students alternately attend three months of theoretical courses followed by three months of practical work experience, at three locations in cooperation with business enterprises and social institutions. Around 100 students from the DHBW train at Porsche. The theoretical and practical contents are closely coordinated, since the aim is for students to gather not only technical and methodological know-how, but also hands-on experience and relevant decision-making and social skills.

The DHBW Foundation supports the Cooperative State University in order to strengthen its profile and expertise and further boost its educational, research and training activities. Porsche was one of the founding donors when the foundation was established in 2013. The funding from 2021 will help finance a DHBW Preparatory College, which prepares foreigners who are interested in studying, but do not have university qualifications, for a dual course of study.  

The Donors’ Association for the Promotion of Humanities and Sciences in Germany campaigns for equal opportunities in education, excellent universities and internationally competitive research institutions, providing holistic support in the three core areas of education, science and innovation.

Digitalization demands an intensive process of change throughout the education system. That is why the support initiative “Future Skills” was founded. Its goal is to improve conditions for acquiring digital and other skills of relevance in the future by giving further impetus to teaching of digital skills at schools and by supporting universities in developing new methods of teaching and learning. Under this three-year initiative, the Donors’ Association aims to boost efforts in German society as a whole to provide people with the necessary competences for the digital transformation in business, science and society. It develops concepts and instigates processes that help initiate new forms of learning and teaching and that take into account the needs of business during the process of digitalization in society.

Canceled leisure-time offerings and events were a common occurrence in 2020. Porsche Leipzig stepped up to the plate with “Roadmovies,” a new event format at the customer center: a drive-in cinema on a stage where sports cars usually demonstrate their performing abilities. That meant social distancing was able to be ensured without any problems. There was space for 200 vehicles at each viewing in front of the impressive 144 m² big screen. “Roadmovies” proved to be a successful event format, attracting more than 2,400 participants.

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has been cooperating with Hanover Council in the “FLUXX Emergency Care” project since the beginning of 2018 and so additionally helps employees improve their work-life balance. Employees not only face challenges in looking after their children, but may also have to care for relatives. If their private care arrangements fall through at short notice, or in the event of unplanned changes to working time, sudden illness or other family-related problems or constraints, employees of VW Commercial Vehicles can obtain low-cost aid from the qualified staff of FLUXX.

International Day of Care, World Alzheimer's Day, information platform Job & Care 

FAMILY CLICK – the web talk for parents. Faced by a deluge of online offerings, it is not easy for parents to find professional, high-quality educational offerings. The family educational institutions therefore initiated FAMILY CLICK.

The around 60-minute online meetings in FAMILY CLICK are always held weekly and are aimed at all parents who are worried about their children’s education, have questions on specific subjects, and feel at home in a digital space. The free web talks are each designed by a specialist from the various family education institutions and accompanied by two female moderators.

Porsche strengthened its social engagement by establishing the Ferry Porsche Foundation in 2018. It funds and initiates not-for-profit projects in the fields of social welfare, the environment, education and science, culture and sport. As part of its social commitment, the foundation mainly aims to support young people at the locations of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG. It is named after Ferry Porsche, who founded the sports car brand Porsche in 1948.

Once again in 2021, the Ferry Porsche Foundation made an important contribution to society with its own programs and funding.

The new Ferry Porsche Challenge was initiated in 2021, for example. Under the slogan “Inclusion in Sport,” small and large sports clubs from Baden-Württemberg and Saxony can apply for funding totaling one million euros with their inclusion project.

Inclusion in sport makes an important contribution to diversity and equality of opportunity in our society. The Ferry Porsche Foundation therefore aims to promote social engagement in this area with its Challenge, thereby reinforcing cohesion both on and off the field. By supporting clubs that implement creative ideas in this area sustainably, Porsche strengthens participation in society and fosters a culture of integration at clubs.

The best inclusion projects in sport will receive awards and funding in the summer of 2022.  

Since 2013, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has been supporting the Leckerhaus, a social and pedagogical institution for children and youngsters in the Stöcken district, as part of its social engagement in Hanover and the region. The Leckerhaus is located in the direct vicinity of the company’s Hanover site. It was launched as a lunchtime social group that also provided homework supervision for children and youngsters (who now number 50), but has since between expanded continuously to include offerings to promote language development and movement, as well as recreational activities. With its language courses and voluntary assistance it offers for visits to public offices and authorities, the Leckerhaus team is also a point of contact for refugees who have settled in the area. In 2020, employees again gave their voluntary services to the best of their ability even under the challenging conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic – in particular to support single parents and large families.

The Marienhospital Stuttgart is a modern hospital that provides central care and boasts a long tradition and unique history. It has 19 specialist clinics and 18 interdisciplinary centers. Patients thus receive a comprehensive medical offering. The Marienhospital Stuttgart has 761 beds, making it one of the largest hospitals in Stuttgart.

The in-house volunteer services are to be expanded by the service “accompaniment for patients suffering from dementia” with the objective of enabling these persons to overcome fear and disorientation. That requires the volunteers to be trained in handling this disease. Apart from the voluntary employees, full-time ones are also to have the chance to gain additional qualifications as “dementia officers,” among other things so that they can act as multipliers and contact persons for the voluntary staff. A further target group is relatives who provide care. They are to be supported with courses, series of events and accompaniment on the ward and be empowered to care for relatives who suffer from dementia after they leave hospital, for example in their own home.

Audi offers flexible day care for children at its locations in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm: 25 places in Ingolstadt and 15 in Bad Friedrichshall/Neckarsulm.

Porsche AG supported the “Aktion Deutschland Hilft e.V.” coalition in its work in flood-hit regions with a donation of one million euros. The money will go to provide emergency aid to the flood victims and also strengthen the operations of the various rescue organizations in the affected regions. Porsche also called on employees to make private donations. The internal platform “Porsche Helps” shows ways that can be done.

The “Aktion Deutschland Hilft e.V.” coalition supports more than 2,400 projects worldwide. It brings together relevant aid organizations and services to help search for missing persons on site and rescue them, for example. It arranges accommodation for those affected, supports clean-up work and secures hazardous areas. It also helps supply medical care, buys food and feeds members of the emergency teams.

In addition, Porsche and Borussia Mönchengladbach wanted to give children and youngsters from the flood regions a moment free of cares and worries with the “Flood Relief Summer Camps.” They jointly launched the campaign “Flood Relief Summer Camps,” as part of which children and youngsters from the Ahrweiler region were invited to a three-day summer camp at the Borussia-Park stadium.

Before an area of approximately three hectares in the production facility grounds is used for an orchard meadow - slated for early 2018 - a preliminary, large-scale effort was made to plant a flower meadow. And the experiment was a success! Not only has the flower meadow thrived, it has also acted as a food source for many different types of insects.

In den Obstbaumschnittkursen für Anfänger und Fortgeschrittene teilen engagierte Mitarbeiter vom Fach ihr Wissen und fachliches Können mit den Mitarbeitern des Werkes Emden. An zahlreichen ehrenamtlichen Samstagen  wurde praxisnah und mit viel Freude demonstriert, wie Obstbaumpflege funktioniert. Die Kursgebühren wurden für Naturschutzprojekte wie z. B. Nistkästen gespendet, um weitere regionale Umweltschutzprojekte zu unterstützen.

Transforming monotonous coniferous forests into biologically high-quality mixed forests – that is the goal of this cooperation project in the Barnbruch nature reserve. The existing successful cooperation between Lower Saxony’s state forest authorities and Volkswagen AG is being extended by this biodiversity project.

Barnbruch is located not far from Volkswagen’s parent plant in Wolfsburg and is ecologically one of the most precious low-lying areas in the region. With the aid of Volkswagen, a total of 10 hectares of commercial forest are to be developed into a wet forest so that this area can again fulfill its original ecological functions.

Employees at the plant and the general public will benefit from the project and will able to experience how the forest is upgraded as part of Forest and Landscape Days and excursions.

The not-for-profit foundation “Unsere Kinder in Braunschweig” (“Our Children in Brunswick”), which was established by Volkswagen Financial Services AG in December 2008, focuses on socially disadvantaged children. Thirteen institutions – day care centers and primarily and secondary schools in socially deprived areas – are currently being provided with support to suit their needs in the areas of education, exercise, music and nutrition. A hallmark of the foundation is its sustainable approach, i.e. it nurtures long-term partnerships flanked by extensive assistance, not just of a financial nature.

Other institutions, such as the public health department (alcohol and cannabis prevention), youth centers and youth welfare institutions, are supported in one-off campaigns.

In order to counter the stigma prevailing against mental diseases in society as whole, the University Hospital of Leipzig has initiated a kick-off project on anti-stigma work with people going through mental health crises in their life. Its main objective is to enable people with mental illnesses who were isolated during the pandemic to return to the community and help them decide with confidence, reasonably and in relation to the specific context whether they wish to reveal that they suffer from a mental illness or not.

The affected persons are to learn how to handle their own illness and so be able to reduce their self-stigma with the aid of people who are experts in this field due to their own experience with mental health crises and tackling them, all under the supervision of a psychologist. The project is also intended as a spark for further preventive projects that focus on changing the public stigma with the aid of peer leaders.

Making the dreams of seriously ill children come true – that was the objective of the first Porsche Virtual Run. The Porsche Virtual Run replaced the traditional 6-Hour Run at headquarters in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen in 2021 due to the pandemic. Employees worldwide were able to demonstrate their sporting prowess from September 17 to October 3, 2021, and raise donations for each kilometer they ran. The new format offered the chance to harness Porsche’s locations worldwide for a good cause – true to the spirit of the Porsche brand purpose “Driven by dreams.”

A total of 2,324 Porsche employees from 35 countries – from Iceland to Nigeria, the U.S. to China – took part in the three challenges in the Virtual Run and covered a sensational combined total of 67,559 kilometers. Porsche AG had previously pledged 50 cents for each kilometer. In view of the great willingness to compete and large number of wishes, the company decided to top up the donation to three euros per kilometer. The money is intended to help the international Make-A-Wish Foundation fulfill the dreams of as many seriously ill children, youngsters and young adults as possible – in the hope that this positive experience mobilizes unimagined powers among children and their families in the battle against illness. More than 500,000 children worldwide have benefited from its help to date.

Public buses drive up to the factory during layer times.

The GemüseAckerdemie (“Vegetable Academy”) is an educational program of the non-profit association Ackerdemia e.V. that aims to raise awareness for the importance of nature and increase respect for food in our society. It helps spread knowledge about interconnections in nature, food production and agriculture at partner schools and day care centers, as well as to promote healthy nutrition and sustainable consumption.

Children at kindergartens and schools grow their own vegetables as part of the GemüseAckerdemie’s program. The aim is to increase respect for food and interest in biodiversity by learning through play and practical experience. The children acquire basic agricultural knowledge by growing, harvesting and processing vegetables, while experiencing interconnections in nature with all their senses. Thanks to Porsche AG’s financial support, three places of learning (called “Field Schools”) have already been set up.  

The history of the Georgian Chamber Orchestra Ingolstadt is closely linked to Audi AG. The company’s commitment enabled the musicians to find a second home in the heart of Bavaria when the country in the Caucasus was plunged into civil war. A deep partnership has been forged since 1990 with the Georgian Chamber Orchestra and it is now an integral part of Ingolstadt’s cultural life.

The ensemble is a firm part of the cultural events organized by Audi, such as the Audi Summer Concerts and the Audi Christmas Concert.

The goal of the German Society for Immunology is to promote basic immunological research and clinical immunology. In order to specifically support the next generation of scientists, the society annually awards prizes to budding talents in the field.

Thanks to Porsche AG’s engagement, the German Society for Immunology has presented the Otto Westphal Thesis Prize and the Georges Köhler Prize for years. The Otto Westphal Thesis Prize is presented to the best thesis on the subject of immunology, and the Georges Köhler Prize goes to scientists whose work has contributed to a better understanding of the immune system. They are both bestowed in acknowledgment of outstanding research work.

The 2021 Otto Westphal Thesis Prize went to Dr. Tim Wartewig from the Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Pathobiochemistry at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) for his outstanding research work into mechanisms that cause and promote the development of malignant T-cell transformations.

The findings could be useful in finding new ways to treat T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Dr. Veit Buchholz received the Georges-Köhler-Prize for Neuroimmunology in 2021 for his groundbreaking work on the emergence of immunological memory using single cell fate mapping technologies.
 

The Germany Scholarship, totaling €300 a month, is awarded to students and freshers whose past achievements suggest they are likely to be high fliers in their studies and career. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles again supported four students at Hanover’s Leibniz University in 2020.

Porsche supports young talents in various sports nationwide under the slogan “Turbo for Talents.” It has teamed up with the soccer clubs RB Leipzig, Stuttgarter Kickers, SG Sonnenhof Großaspach, Borussia Mönchengladbach and FC Erzgebirge Aue.

The Porsche Soccer Cup was held for the first time and sent out a signal for social engagement. The junior talents at Porsche’s partner clubs also had the chance to do more than win the cup when the event was premiered at the ADM Sport Park of Stuttgarter Kickers on the first weekend in September: Porsche donated €500 for a good cause for every goal they scored. 36 goals were amassed, raising a sum of €18,000 for two Stuttgart sport and exercise projects for children and youngsters, which Porsche topped up to €25,000.

The following projects can look forward to receiving donations: “Sport VereinT” of Caritas Stuttgart and “GESund & GEStärkt” from the initiative “Gemeinschaftserlebnis Sport” (“Sport as a shared experience”). The focus of both projects is inclusive sport where people with and without a handicap train together. Apart from the health aspects of sport and exercise, the projects mainly foster the social and emotional development of the children and youngsters.

• Holiday care for children in Neckarsulm

• Holiday care for children in Ingolstadt

• Childcare during Easter, Whitsun and the fall holidays

• "Audi Children’s Day” at Ingolstadt on the Day of Prayer and Repentance
  

13 bee colonies were settled at the plant’s meadow orchard at the Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen site in 2020. Five more beehives were erected there in 2021. In addition, a second location with 10 beehives was established at the edge of the forest on the campus. Porsche started offering forest honey in 2021.

50 bee colonies have been established on the campus, in the area of the off-road track, and are looked after by an external beekeeper.

Internship days for pupils from the Astrid Lindgren School at Audi’s Training Center and learning station.

AUDI AG and Ingolstadt City Theater can look back on a long history of cooperation. Audi ArtExperience is a partner to the theater’s season and selectively sponsors unusual projects and program formats.

With this long-term cultural partnership, AUDI AG and Ingolstadt City Theater are continuing their successful collaboration in 2021 and 2022.

Since 1984, Ingolstadt has become a mecca of jazz for a few weeks in the fall. International stars in the scene come together with budding talents from the region. Apart from their stylistic openness, a distinguishing feature of the Ingolstadt Jazz Days has been their uniquely intimate atmosphere – especially at the “Jazz Parties”, which have long been legendary. The festival’s guests have an almost unrivaled opportunity to look directly over the shoulder of world stars. AUDI AG is the festival’s main sponsor and so enriches cultural diversity at its Ingolstadt site.

The Foundation for Concrete Art and Design was launched in 2007 by Ingolstadt Council, the founding donors Ingeborg and Ludwig Wilding, and AUDI AG. Numerous artists and designers have entrusted their work to the foundation since then. In 2014, Audi ArtExperience expanded the cooperation to cover the Museum for Concrete Art as well. The event format “Sundays?Art!” offers families and all interested persons a varied program with free guided tours and workshops. As a result of the strong and positive reception, the cooperation was expanded to include new series of events in February 2017. The “The New DIY Tuesday” aims to give adults the chance to get to know artistic work more closely.

Since 2010, the Foundation for Concrete Art and Design has hosted the legendary “Art and Beat” Night of Art, a ravishing annual event that kicks off an exhibition of the foundation and the Ingolstadt’s Museum for Concrete Art. In 2021, the Museum for Concrete Art presented an interactive “Art & Beat Party,” at which guests were able to try out cyanotype printing and lomography. A spectacular audio-visual live performance by the hammerhaus duo round out this year’s Night of Art.

In order to develop and preserve meadows with an abundance of flowering plants as habitats for butterflies and to combat the extinction of species, a total area of 12,619 m² was identified as flower meadows on PLG’s off-road campus and prepared for that purpose in the spring of 2021. The aim is to tend the meadows and create a butterfly-friendly ambiance long term over at least five years.

This move also involves participation in the initiative “Saxony is flourishing ! Dollhouses wanted – blossoming meadows for Saxony’s butterflies,” which gives PLG the chance to communicate its engagement for nature conservation and sustainability beyond the region.

MAN offers refugees career prospects. To enable that, the company systematically integrates them into working life at MAN. The company has done so in different ways in the past years, such as by offering internships, entry level qualifications, training and a start in a job. MAN also aims to offer refugees a range of different perspectives in the future.  

Porsche is supporting the flood relief work of the German Red Cross with a donation of €500,000. The money is intended to assist flood-hit regions in Belgium, the Netherlands and Austria. The partner organizations Belgian Red Cross, Dutch Rode Kruis and Austrian Red Cross have worked actively to offer relief since the flooding in June 2021. One particular objective of the donation is to help and speed up reconstruction in the regions.

In Belgium, the donation is to be used to re-equip and renovate school buildings and to purchase materials for school children. The Austrian Red Cross aims to provide sustainable aid and prepare better for future extreme weather situations with investments. That is to be ensured by means of drones, tents and infrastructure for them, mobile flood barriers and vehicles for operations management. In the Netherlands, the donation is mainly to be used to replenish emergency stocks and maintain ambulances.

The basis of the project is the establishment of specially designed trial areas under different climatic conditions. The trees are planted in concentric circles and spaced apart at defined GPS coordinates (Nelder experimental design). The first trial area was created back in 2008 in the Kösching Forest near Ingolstadt when around 36,000 English oaks were planted. The project was continued internationally at other Audi production sites, including Brussels, Győr and Puebla in Mexico in the following year. The project’s objectives include exploring the interrelationships between tree population density on the one hand and carbon binding capacity and biodiversity on the other. Oak trees are particularly resilient – an important factor in view of the different requirements due to global warming.

https://www.audi-umweltstiftung.de/umweltstiftung/en/projects/responsibility/planting-trees-against-climate-change.html

Internship as a bridge to the labor market: Volkswagen Financial Services gives refugees with vocational IT qualifications the chance to obtain supplemental training and upskill so that their prior vocational qualifications are officially recognized. Their opportunities on the labor market are increased by completing such training.

Tens of thousands of visitors have experienced concerts of exquisite quality at the Audi Forum Ingolstadt since 2001. Jazz plays a special role in AUDI AG’s cultural commitment. One not unimportant reason for that is the successful collaboration with the Birdland Jazz Club Neuburg.

As a result, big names – including the Count Basie Orchestra, Freddie Hubbard, Paul Kuhn and the Pasadena Roof Orchestra – have made guest appearances in the past 20 years. Four CDs have been made of live music from the concerts at the museum mobile. The “Live On Stage” event (Warner), which Klaus Doldinger recorded with his longstanding ensemble Passport at the museum mobile in 2007, is now legendary. The production won an “Echo Jazz” award in the category “Best Live Album” in 2010. Audi and the Birdland Jazz Club Neuburg present the concerts and After Work Jazz Lounges with their different jazz genres between January and April/May and from September to November/December.

Information events with the care support base, counseling interviews and lectures.

Audi offers its employees at Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm a subsidized ticket for public transportation in cooperation with the local public transport associations. The job ticket is valid for 12 months on all public transport and there is also one that is valid for six months. The goal is to offer an incentive for employees to use bus and rail instead of cars, thereby reducing traffic in the region.

Youth unemployment is a social challenge of our time. The “Joblinge” initiative, a cooperation between the business community, government and civil society, gives youngsters without prospects an opportunity. Joblinge has been a success model since it was founded in 2008. In a program lasting around six months, youngsters acquire key qualifications on the job, learn social skills, and earn a training place or job.

Porsche AG was one of the initiative’s co-founders in May 2014 and has supported it unswervingly since. Among other things, the company is involved in it through the Porsche Basketball Academy and has integrated a sports component in the existing program. The sports program instills important qualities, such as confidence, team spirit and endurance, so as to help the youngsters get off to a successful start in working life. Alongside the company, Porsche employees also work voluntarily as mentors in support of the program.

MAN Energy Solutions has been a partner company to the German youth science competition “Jugend forscht” since 2012 and stages the annual contest for the Augsburg region. Its focus is to systematically foster talent and innovation. “Jugend forscht” is a competition that aims to encourage children and youngsters who are interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM disciplines).

Stuttgart’s Jugendhaus gGmbH funds 41 private child and youth work institutions, cooperates with schools as part of school social work, offers diverse educational and care services ranging up to career guidance in the transitional phase from school to work, and implements numerous projects.

The “Mobifant” playmobiles have been a firm part of the Jugendhaus’ offering for more than 40 years. They are vehicles that are equipped with a wide range of different play materials and visit public places. The aim of that is to ensure children have a safe space to play.

A new pedagogical program for refugee families called the “Flümo Refugee Mobile” was also developed and implemented together with Porsche in 2016 so that children can be provided with special care and support. Its offers them the chance to play and be creative (such as with handicraft materials, active games or boxes of building blocks) and provides educational support if required, as part of which the Mobifant teams can call on the schools directly. The assortment of games and playthings offers distraction, promotes the physical and psychological development of the children, and teaches them social skills. The project brings together children from different backgrounds and lastingly promotes integration at the Stuttgart location.
 

Porsche has supported the Gewandhaus Orchestra since 2011. A focus of its engagement since 2014 has been “Klassik airleben” (“Experience classical music in the open air”). The open-air concerts are staged on the meadow in Leipzig’s Rosental park and admission is free. Sustainable promotion of cultural and social engagement at its sites are part of Porsche’s corporate philosophy.

Offering families a place for education, encounter, counseling and care where they feel at home – that has been the goal of the Haus der Familie in Stuttgart since it was founded in 1917.

Its “Einfach Wissen” (“Knowledge Simply”) is an educational offering in easy-to-understand language for people with and without a handicap. Regular events are held at the Hospitalhof Educational Center, where a wide range of different topics from politics, society and science are explained in simple language in short talks.