The makers of today meet the makers of tomorrow! This was the motto of the StartUp17 Festival 2022, which gave young people the opportunity to get in touch with the socio-ecological start-up scene and learn from their working methods. The Haufe Group was on site as a funding partner and supported the festival, which aims to promote education for sustainable development. The focus is on climate protection, the sensitive use of resources and socio-ecological transformation.

What does the entrepreneurial mindset for a sustainable world of tomorrow look like? As a family-owned company and responsible employer in the region, the Haufe Group is addressing precisely this question. By sponsoring the StartUp17 Festival, the company wants to sensitize young people to sustainable business and encourage them to implement their own ideas in an entrepreneurial way. To ensure that this sustainable transformation succeeds, the Haufe Group also relies in particular on cooperation with regional partners such as the Social Innovation Lab of the Grünhof in Freiburg - project organizer of the event.

"Sustainable business succeeds when entrepreneurs think about responsibility and business sense together from the very beginning. The StartUp17 Festival encourages and empowers young founders and creates a great framework for bringing together practical experience and completely new ideas and approaches", says Daniel Thiemig, CSR Manager of the Haufe Group.

As part of the StartUp17 Festival, a total of eight social and sustainable projects and their creators presented themselves in various workshops. They shared their experiences and showed what they want to change with their work and what sustainability goals they are pursuing. The students were able to try things out, develop visions together and be inspired by successful projects. The Haufe Group was also represented with an information booth and was able to present itself as a responsible employer in the region to the makers of tomorrow at the "Meet the Makers" marketplace.

"We are pleased that we were able to set up the festival with strong partners like the Haufe Group at our side. On the one hand, this gives young people the space to try out, vision and be inspired by successful projects, and on the other hand, we encourage them to implement their own sustainable, entrepreneurial ideas“, says Vivien Riener, Social Innovation Lab.

Already in the summer, the teachers of the participating schools were sensitized in a separate workshop and equipped with practical tips and methods so that they can accompany the young people on this path and sustainable, social and economic education also takes place in everyday school life.

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Foto-Credit: Nils Theurer / textour Freiburg