Monographie Bonn-Rhein-Sieg

Bonn/Rhein-Sieg Chamber of Industry and Commerce and
the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences have
joined forces and applied for the establishment of a CSR
competence centre in a competition called out by the North
Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Economics. With success:
they were selected as one of five CSR competence centres
in NRW and took up their activities in January 2016 – initially
for three years.
Third example: the Bonn-based DER THÜNKER business
centre. For more than a decade, Wilfried Thünker, who is also
a CSR ambassador, and his team have regularly supported
clubs and initiatives, for example the ZNS – Hannelore Kohl
foundation, the Sarcoidosis network, the German Angel
Initiative, assistance for severely ill children “Bunter Kreis”,
Lebenshilfe (counselling) or the internationally-active relief
organisation “German Doctors”.
Ever since this time, the CSR competence centre team has
been acquainting small and medium-sized companies with
CSR as a management approach, in addition to sensitising
them for the concept of responsible company management.
It sees itself as a central and permanent contact
instance. It bundles existing formats and conveys practiceoriented
information. This refers to the four areas of market
activity, employees/workplace, environment and community.
The holistic approach is important in this respect,
whereby CSR is not viewed as a tiresome obligatory task but
a strategy and method to attain competitive advantages on
the market. This is the only way to ensure CSR will achieve
the objective of broad acceptance.
Exceptionally diverse engagement in the region
The social engagement of the companies in Bonn and
Rhein-Sieg is characterised by exceptional diversity. Within
the framework of CSR, for instance, “Tanzhaus Bonn” (Dance
House Bonn) realises a dance project for older people with
and without dementia and, in so doing, cooperates with the
Caritas association for Stadt Bonn e. V. What is more, through
the “Sun for Children e. V.” association, the company supports
orphans in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
PROJEKT SERVICE Schwan GmbH from Meckenheim promotes
sports activities, combined with the advancement of
children and young adults. Here, together with partners, the
entrepreneur Holger Schwan initiated the “Bonner Nachtlauf”
(Bon Night Run). The funds generated here benefit the
“Sportvereine bewegen Bonner Kinder” (Sport Clubs Get
Bonn’s Children Moving) project. What is more, the man -
aging director of Schwan and Tanzhaus, Timo Müller, is also
active as a volunteer “CSR ambassador” and at events, e.g.
he publicly promotes CSR.
In Bonn and Rhein-Sieg, the offers for companies that are
already implementing CSR and wish to exchange ex -
perience and network to an even greater degree is just as
varied, as well as for those who are curious and would like
to know how this works. In this regard, e.g. there are the
regular CSR breakfasts. According to the motto of “By
Companies for Companies”, small and larger companies
present their CSR strategy so that other companies can learn
from it and exchange views among one another. The ob -
jective is the establishment of an increasingly more dense
company network on the topic of CSR in the Bonn/Rhein-
Sieg region.
At the annual “Marktplatz Gute Geschäfte” (Marketplace for
Good Business Transactions), companies meet associations
and non-profit organisations who are in need of support in
the form of services, personal participation, logistic support
or cooperation. Like on a market, the actors negotiate
cooperation projects, so that supply and demand is co -
ordinated and aligned.
What is more, several times a year at the Bonn/Rhein-Sieg
location, the “CSR-Freitagswerkstatt” (CSR Friday Workshop)
of the Bonn/Rhein-Sieg Chamber of Industry and
Commerce offers a platform for exchange on current social
challenges faced by the responsible CSR actors in com -
panies and non-profit organisations, as well as dedicated
citizens and subject specialists.
The CSR competence centre bundles all these formats – and
at the same time develops additional ones, for instance
special CSR workshops and information events. All of this is
done for the benefit of the companies and the people in the
region.
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