Apprentices become "sustainability heroes" in their companies

22.07.2024

A total of ten companies registered trainees for the "Sustainability Heroes" program this year. The program took place for the third time this year and is a joint project of the OHA! initiative and Energieagentur Regensburg. The aim is to get trainees to take action through their own sustainability project and thus integrate the topic authentically and credibly into the corporate culture.

From bank clerks and bicycle mechanics to IT specialists: this year's "sustainability heroes" represented a wide variety of training professions. At the final event on July 17 at the Degginger in Regensburg, the trainees presented their various ideas, concepts and, in some cases, already implemented projects from their companies. There was a wide variety of topics, with both social and ecological projects represented. For example, health in the workplace was examined and measures to reduce energy consumption were implemented.

The range of projects shows how much potential there is in giving young people space to develop ideas. One example of this is the "Social Sustainability" project by trainee Jasmin Hoffmann from Ingenieurbüro Pfeffer. Her project aims to further optimize the working conditions in the company with extensive measures and adapt them to the needs of the employees. The trainee drew up plans for improved workplace equipment and a new office layout as well as desk sharing in combination with working from home. Jasmin Hoffmann vividly demonstrated how this can improve the health, satisfaction and flexibility of employees. The topics of water consumption, biodiversity, resource conservation, mobility and energy efficiency were also the focus of some projects. Kilian Kragler from the Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule (OTH) Regensburg, for example, set himself the goal of cooling the university's servers more efficiently with the help of a sealed cold aisle. Yannik Schöferle from the University of Regensburg wanted to address the high proportion of cyclists at the university and therefore presented a concept for bike boxes that would allow twice or three times as many bikes to fit in the same space.

A total of four months passed between the start of the program in March and the presentation of the results. During this time, the trainees received information and assistance in finding ideas and implementing the project in several workshops. In addition, each apprentice was assigned a coach from the network of the Energy Agency and the OHA! initiative, who provided advice and support during the project period. A big thank you goes to the Lower Bavaria-Upper Palatinate Chamber of Crafts and all the coaches from member companies and cooperation partners of the OHA! initiative and energy agency who supported the project.

Source: Energieagentur Regensburg e. V.