Best sustainability initiative awarded in Cologne: VDWF wins special mediaV Award prize
Every two years, the mediaV Award honors special achievements by associations. On June 12, it was that time again: VDWF took the stage at a festive award ceremony in Cologne. The VDWF working group "Sustainability/Future Viability" was awarded the special jury prize for "Best Sustainability Initiative".
"I have a lot of respect for what you are doing to move our society forward," said Heike Mahmoud, the laudatory presenter of the mediaV‘s "Best Sustainability Initiative" category award at the ceremony on Cologne's Volksbühne. In her speech, the head of the Hamburg Congress Center emphasized that many industries represented by these associations are at the forefront of the climate change debate, and therefore in the spotlight. They need a clear course in order to meet challenges, represent their members’ interests, and make their own stances heard – even in headwinds. "Associations are the called-upon pacesetters here," says Mahmoud.
From the industry for the industry
It was all the more gratifying for VDWF representatives to be acknowledged with the mediaV Award in light of the understanding of sustainability’s urgency. Dr. Wolfram Heger (head of the VDWF sustainability working group), Prof. Thomas Seul (VDWF President), and Ralf Dürrwächter (VDWF Managing Director) accepted this special prize from a jury of experts. Jury members emphasized the industry relevance and initiative’s member involvement in their statement: "The VDWF has created tangible, practical support with its 'Sustainability' working group and the comprehensive Sustainability Compendium. Members report that these concrete action initiatives and ideas influence their daily activities, sharpen their sustainability lens, and strategically realign them using the elaborated approaches," the jury said. The concept is exciting and well thought-out, the elaboration comprehensive, well-founded, and differentiated, and the involvement of association members as speakers and authors – along with the use of association events as initiative platforms – is convincing!
This is exactly the aspect that is essential for Prof. Thomas Seul when orienting the association's work on the subject of sustainability: "The Compendium was born out of a need to change our industry. Companies have recognized that 'business as usual' is no longer an option!" Those who do not take action now and are not prepared to align their internal company processes and production methods with sustainably are not only missing out on the opportunity to take responsibility for a future worth living, but will also be left behind economically in the long term. "After all, when it comes to awarding contracts in the tool and die industry, sustainable management is increasingly the key differentiator," says the association President.
For Seul, it is all the more important that the VDWF working group is a “club for people of conviction”. Its members have not only jumpstarted the sustainability initiative using their own experiences and needs, but also support it – and have even implemented a standard as an industry guide. That, he says, is impressive. Seul also emphasizes that, "Receiving the mediaV Award is an honor – and, beyond that, is just a good feeling to be shared. To our member companies’ players: I would hereby like to pin this 'medal' on you, because you deserve it!"
The VDWF Working Group "Sustainability/Future Viability”
The VDWF Working Group "Sustainability/Future Viability" meets online every two months. Participants discuss future topics and show great personal motivation to turn the tide of sustainability during engaged sessions. To make environmental protection and the efficient design of economic processes accessible to the entire industry, the "Sustainability Compendium" was compiled as a concrete practical guide and made available free of charge – in both German and English: www.vdwf.de/kompendium-nachhaltigkeit
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