Social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is part of the Schwabe Group’s sustainability strategy. The Group’s CSR work rests on several pillars and is brought to life through many different channels.
CSR at the Schwabe Group
Corporate social responsibility has always been an integral aspect of the Schwabe Group. For years now, our social responsibility has been gaining more and more ground, and not just in the financial sense. We have been able to facilitate additional education projects in Africa thanks to the significant investments made possible because of many large and small donations and the work of the Africa Runners.
But on top of growing financial support, we have also been receiving moral support and are pleased to see more and more involvement from people inside and outside of the Schwabe Group. Furthermore, the network of sustainability delegates will promote the topic of sustainability on a global level throughout all of the companies of the Schwabe Group.
Strong social commitment
In the context of our corporate social responsibility efforts, we have already spent several years promoting regional social endeavors at our sites around the world, and we finance extensive educational projects for children and young people in southern Africa via the Umckaloabo Foundation. Our good standing in the field of social commitment is a strong point of departure for us to pursue ambitious goals.
With the Umckaloabo Foundation, we have also created a platform where we can streamline all of our CSR activities, whether it be volunteer work our employees do, CSR initiatives with our business partners, or investments that the Schwabe Group makes in educational projects. We want to anchor the issue of CSR more prominently at our global Schwabe Group sites in the future.
Good schooling creates perspectives for the future -
like here at St. Francis and Clare Secondary School in Zambia.
The Umckaloabo Foundation promotes early childhood development centers in Eastern Cape, South Africa
The class of 2021 at St. Ignatius Secondary School.
The Umckaloabo Foundation also supports informal education:
the Scout Center in Mpumalanga, South Africa.
The Umckaloabo Foundation creates opportunities in contemporary job fields.
The Umckaloabo Foundation
Since it was first established over a decade ago, the
All in all we have committed nearly six million euros to this work. We want to increase the amount by a half million a year with the objective of supporting educational initiatives in southern Africa with a total of ten million euros by 2030.
Several colleagues in Karlsruhe have also become active volunteers on behalf of the Umckaloabo Foundation. We streamline and coordinate this support in a workgroup so we can inspire more of our colleagues to get involved and to anchor our sense of social responsibility more solidly within our company.
The Schwabe Community Grant
promotes volunteering work in sports...
initiatives for children and culture...
... volunteers in inclusive projects.
work in animal protection...
... and Schwabe employees in environmental protection and nature conservancy.
Schwabe Community Grant - working together for our region
Furthermore, as one of the largest employers in Karlsruhe, we want to help make this part of the world a place with a high quality of life — in no small part because the our company headquarters is located in the same city that many of our employees call home. This is how we become involved as good corporate citizens in our region.
We particularly want to encourage the ideas and the sense of commitment that is present in the Schwabe Group and which manifests in a wide range of volunteer activities. This is why the Schwabe Group awards the Schwabe Community Grant twice a year in which it gives €1000 each to five different projects. In doing so, we support social, environmental and cultural work where Schwabianers are active. Together we can achieve more while also honoring the dedication of our employees.
Not all Schwabe employees call the Karlsruhe region their home, which is why we also support initiatives for employees who live in other parts of the world.
“SCHWABIANERS” AT WORK - at a theater project (UK) ...
a global river cleanup ...
in an integrative capoeira group (Germany) ...
as neighbors helping neighbors (USA) ...
or the employee vegetable garden in Mexico.
The Schwabe Corporate Grant for Schwabe employees around the world
The Schwabe Group encourages the charitable work of its employees around the world, and as a result it initiated the Schwabe Corporate Grant. The Grant awards up to €3,000 to a maximum of five groups in which Schwabe employees are actively involved. Everyone in the Group is welcome to apply, regardless of whether they work at an international site or in Germany.
Employees who actively contribute their time to a social, cultural or environmental initiative are invited to submit their application in the spring. Our employees’ volunteer work has many faces: for example, employees are active in inclusive theater groups or sports clubs, local or global environmental initiatives, educational projects for children or social endeavors such as a neighborhood assistance program or hospice services.
The Schwabe CSR Award honors activities in the field of corporate social responsibility.
Schwabe Mexico receives the 2023 Award for its CSR strategy, which combines ecology and social issues and also involves its employees.
Schwabe CSR Award for companies of the Schwabe Group
Our international affiliated companies also fulfill their sense of corporate social responsibility, and some already have many years of experience with these kinds of projects. We want to create greater awareness for local corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities whilst also expressing our appreciation for our companies’ and employees’ commitment to important causes. Employee workgroups are often the driving force behind these efforts. The companies’ activities range from educational initiatives on a domestic level to environmental campaigns all the way to large-scale CSR concepts involving several people and many different projects.
Since 2019 we have granted the Schwabe CSR Award to a company in the Group to honor the most successful or innovative project for children and young people in the field of education, sports, culture, health or the environment.
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