The Preparation Conference
At
the end of May 2000, the project "AIESEC meets EXPO 200" set sail with the Preparation
Conference organised by the Local Committee Oldenburg. For the 25 trainees coming
from various countries of the world (e.g. Greece, Colombia, Russia, Estonia,
Slovenia, Italy) this was the "dual" preparation for their traineeship in Germany:
On the one hand it was an introduction about sustainable development and on
the other hand it was a preparation in terms of cultural differences. The first
day was an introduction in the field of sustainable development. Therefore,
AIESEC invited Prof. Schneidewind from the University of Oldenburg as well as
speakers from the local Agenda 21 office, BUND and the EXPO 2000 GmbH. On the
second day, company workshops took place regarding different aspects of sustainability.
They were held by KPMG, Naturwarenhaus.de and Ergon, respectively. The third
and fourth day was reserved for the cultural preparation. Of course, the participants
had also the opportunity to get to know the very lovely city of Oldenburg. Certainly
one highlight of the conference was the Official Dinner at the first day sponsored
by EWE AG which was also the official opening of the project.
Introduction Sustainable Development:
Prof. Schneidewind from the University of Oldenburg held an introduction on
the topic of sustainability. He first gave a definition what sustainability
is: Sustainability can be defined as "satisfying the needs of today's generations
without comprising future generations from satisfying their needs". This, basically,
is a broad understanding of human rights! He presented three perspectives that
focus on sustainability: Firstly, "efficiency" describes the satisfaction of
needs with less effort of resources. Then there is "sufficiency", comprising
needs and lifestyle: A society of the "less", "slower", "better", "more beautiful".
Finally, "consistency" is about the technological sphere approaching the ecological
one ("waste equals food"). Comparing opportunities and risks of these three
perspectives, he concluded that a combination of them would be needed in order
to enhance a Sustainable Development.
Local Activities in the area of sustainability: Agenda 21
Dr. Peach from the local Agenda 21 office gave us ideas on how to implement
sustainability on a local level making the point that global problems have local
reasons. The Agenda 21, which consists of 40 chapters, is the final document
of the Rio Conference held in 1992. According to Agenda 21, projects are sustainable
if they are ecologically and economically sound, socially fair and promote the
shaping and participation.
EXPO 2000 and sustainable development:
Frank Müller from the EXPO 2000 GmbH explained how sustainability is implemented
at EXPO 2000 in Hannover. He showed pictures of the Pavilions and Exhibition
spaces set up by some 180 countries and international organisations and showed
how they relate to sustainability. He also talked about the 'Thematic Area'
of some 100,000 square meters, examining the issue of sustainable development
in eleven exhibitions, such as health, energy, mobility and similar themes.
In addition to the pavilions in Hannover, some 800 official EXPO 2000 'Projects
around the World' in 124 countries, presenting innovative and local solutions
to global problems - practical and imaginative responses that point the way
forward - have been identified.
Workshop BUND:
Mr. Ludewig from BUND (Bund für Umwelt- und Naturschutz Deutschland - an environmental
NGO) was invited to elucidate the activities of the BUND in Germany. Examples
of the activities of BUND are campaigns about the genetic engineering (product
labelling) and mass production of animal products (e.g. hen farms).
Workshop Ergon Heizkraftwerke:
Graf von Wedel from "Ergon Heizkraftwerke" talked about the energy supply of
a housing estate with a wood power plant. The company Ergon is an energy supplier
specialised on specific energy supply concepts e.g. for hospitals. Graf von
Wedel first compared traditional energies with alternative energies. After that
introduction he explained how a wood power plant is working in order to produce
energy. The participants then discussed different possibilities to produce energy
and how one can save existing energy sources. During the discussion the delegates
identified financing as the main problem of the alternative energies because
they are still more expensive than the normal energies. The participants of
the working group therefore discussed a model of a tax on the environmental
pollution that the traditional energies cause, thus giving an advantage to alternative
energies.
Workshop Naturwarenhaus:
Online since March, 1st 1999 the E-business naturwarenhaus.de sells online products
from ecologically controlled production. From cosmetics and pet food over wine
to hammocks all is on offer. The speaker Rudolf Fridum called naturwarenhaus.de
"presently virtually without competitor in the specific product portfolio" -
"We are "the Neckermann" [big and famous German mail-order house] of ecology",
he said. The students' task was to tackle this year's challenges in two working
groups: One group worked on the expansion to Great Britain, the other on the
marketing campaign within Germany.
Workshop KPMG:
Jette Bork and Philipp Hauth from KPMG Sustainability Advisory Services discussed
with their group "Reporting in the field of sustainability". They introduced
the KPMG Environmental Reporting Survey 1999 and presented the two different
approaches of how and why sustainability is implemented in companies: Value
driven (e.g. The Body Shop) because the company wants to offer something to
their stakeholders, or as an adjustment to market demands (e.g. Shell) because
the company wants to avoid huge business damage. Based on the information given
by the trainers and after comparing the sustainability report of Shell and The
Body Shop, the participants developed criteria for a sustainability report.
Cultural Sensitivity:
The cultural preparation for trainees plays a very important role in AIESEC's
exchange program. In order to prepare themselves for their stay in Germany,
the trainees were discussing cultural differences. The workshop started with
a cultural simulation to make the participants aware of the issue of cultural
sensitivity. During the two days, participants were talking about culture shock,
stereotypes and many more. The trainers were explaining evident and deep culture
and how one can identify and understand them in a foreign country. A highlight
was the country presentations where everybody presented his or her country.
The delegates not only brought typical food and drinks but also music and traditional
costumes of their countries.
Vanessa Weihbrecht
Team "AIESEC meets EXPO 2000"