WHY SUSTAINABILITY:

• Legal requirements: Understand key legislation, such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG), and the EU taxonomy, and learn how your organization can comply with them.
  
  
• Business case: Recognize how sustainability can be used as a competitive advantage and the strategic benefits it offers your company, including risk minimization and brand strengthening.

WHAT IS THE AIM?

• Compliance: Ensure compliance with all relevant laws and regulations to avoid legal risks.
  
  
• Sustainability reporting: Creation of a well-founded sustainability report that both meets legal requirements and transparently presents your company’s sustainability performance.
  
  
• Cost reductions: Identification and implementation of resource efficiency measures that reduce costs and protect the environment.
  
  
• Competitive advantages: Development of a sustainability strategy that differentiates your company and gives you access to new markets and customers.

WHERE TO START:

• Fit/gap analysis: Take stock of the current situation and identify gaps that need to be closed through sustainable measures.
  
  
• Strategy development: Determine strategic direction to clearly define and prioritize sustainability goals.
  
  
• Sustainable business models: Design business models that are economically successful in the long term while also assuming ecological and social responsibility.
  
  
• Integration into business processes: Anchoring sustainability in your company’s daily operations and processes to achieve sustainable results.

WHO OR WHAT IS NEEDED:

• Organization: Top-down and bottom-up: Building an organizational structure that promotes sustainability at all levels, from the board to the operational team.
  
  
• Roles and responsibilities: Clearly define sustainability responsibilities to ensure accountability.
  
  
• Resources: Identify the necessary financial, human, and technological resources to implement your sustainability strategy.
  
  
• Corporate culture: Promote a culture that anchors sustainability as a core value and engages employees in the transformation.
  
  
• Know-how: Building expertise and skills through training, education and strategic partnerships.
  
  
• Partnerships: Working with external experts, NGOs and other companies to leverage synergies and achieve sustainable goals together.

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE AND WHEN?:

• Resource and time planning: Developing a realistic schedule and resource plan to manage the implementation of your sustainability strategy.
  
  
• Cost calculation: Evaluate the necessary investments and the expected costs for sustainable projects.
  
  
• Project management: Introduce structured project management to monitor progress and ensure that goals are met.
  
  
• Stakeholder engagement: Involve all relevant stakeholders to gain support and acceptance for your sustainability goals.
  
  
• Communication: Develop a communication strategy to inform and motivate internal and external stakeholders about your sustainability efforts.
  
  
• Change management: Support the change process to foster the acceptance of sustainability in the company.
  
  
• Digitalization: Use IT and AI tools to collect and analyze data and efficiently manage sustainability efforts.

OBSTACLES AND SOLUTIONS:

• Resistance to change: Identifying and overcoming resistance within the company to ensure successful implementation.
• Changing environmental variables: Dealing with new legal requirements, market developments and budget adjustments to respond flexibly to change.
  
  
• Competing or ill-defined sustainability goals: Clarifying and prioritizing goals to develop clear, actionable strategies.
  
  
• Unrealistic expectations: Set realistic goals and expectations to ensure the feasibility and sustainability of measures.