Vocational Training

Unemployment is a barometer for the health of a society. The unemployed often lack not only the financial means for self-sufficiency, but also the confidence to contribute to their communities.

With a solid vocational education, young people take their first step towards economic independence, learning thereby to care for themselves, their families, and their communities. For this reason, we support vocational training programs as a sustainable investment in societal well-being and cohesion.

Our vision is of a society in which youths and young adults are education- and goal-oriented, regardless of their socioeconomic background.

Afforestation

Currently, nearly a third of Germany’s area is covered with forest. This area was significantly larger and has been decreasing alarmingly from year to year. Never before have the mortality rates been so high. The prognosis is gloomy. Our forests - almost 25% of which are monocultures of spruce trees - cannot withstand the changing environmental influences. Drought, dry periods, pest infestation, and climate change lead to only one in five trees being truly healthy, which means that 80% of our forest stock is sick. The need for reforestation of mixed forests is estimated at 500,000 hectares.

The afforestation of climate-resilient mixed forests not only makes an active contribution to climate protection but also helps preserve the living space and recreational areas of the forests. The forest provides its ecological services (oxygen production, CO2 storage, air improvement, erosion protection) and its value as a local recreation area for society as a whole.

Our vision is a society that protects natural resources and understands this as an indispensable basis for the well-being of future generations.

Solutions Replacing Plastics

The manufacture and use of fossil-fuel based plastics alters and endangers our environment. Plastics production not only consumes natural resources, but also exacerbates problems such as water scarcity. Microplastic refuse poisons animals in the sea and on land.

If this downward spiral is to be halted, the quantity of single-use plastics must be reduced, and used plastics, in the spirit of a circular economy, must be repurposed. This demands that we as a society reconceptualise our relationship to plastics. Thus, the Foundation’s support of project partners who either invest in ecological alternatives to plastics or convert existing plastics for continued use. With this approach, we also hope to create economic incentives for developing novel means of eliminating single-use, fossil-fuel based plastics.

Our vision is of a society that acknowledges natural resources as a crucial component for the well-being of humanity, and embraces ecologically sustainable business practices as an investment in the future.

Wealth Inequality

Wealth inequality poses one of the greatest challenges of our times. It contributes to an inequality of opportunities, as well as to instability and other societal problems that are global in scope. It has an enduring, detrimental effect on the healthy development of business.

A sustainable approach to reducing inequalities of wealth and opportunity is most effective when it includes both financial and social dimensions.

Therefore, the Foundation supports and supervises initiatives that bring together people from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds to create something of value for themselves and their communities.

Our vision is of a mutually beneficial collaboration, from which all stakeholders derive meaning and value, and through which greater competencies are fostered.