Environment/Sustainability

As the "Digital Business Association Berlin - Brandenburg", SIBB e.V. is concerned with this promising sector. Working in this sector requires future-oriented action in all areas of the association. In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that there is a need for more sustainability. To meet this need, we developed the following environmental/sustainability policy, from which our catalogue of measures was derived. In the following, we commit ourselves as an association to the listed fields of action and goals and thus to contribute our part to a more sustainable future.

The focus of our sustainability activities is on the fields of action "environmental protection - ecological action" and "good work". As a Berlin federation, we are guided by the Berlin Sustainability Goals and the criteria for good work of the district authority of Berlin Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg.

fields of action:

1. betterment and sensitizing:
   • „Berlin educates further“  (cf. point 4 Berlin Sustainability Goals)
   • „act globally and locally“ (cf. point 17 Berlin Sustainability Goals)

2. equal rights:
   • „equal opportunities for girls and women“ (cf. point 5 Berlin Sustainability Goals)
   • „equal opportunities for all“ (cf. point 10 Berlin Sustainability Goals)

3. ecological action: 
   • „Berlin eats more sustainably and healthier“ (cf. point 2 Berlin Sustainability Goals) 
   • „green and affordable“ (cf. point 7 Berlin Sustainability Goals)
   • „Berlin de-pollutes itself“ (cf. point 12 Berlin Sustainability Goals)
   • „ climate neutral until 2045“ (cf. point 13 Berlin Sustainability Goals) 

4. good work:
   • „good work and sustainable growth“ (cf. point 8 Berlin Sustainability Goals) 
   • „safe work“ (cf. point 1 criteria for good work)
   • „well payed work“ (cf. point 2 criteria for good work)
   • „work that values people and is meaningful“ (cf. point 3 criteria for good work)
   • „healthy work“ (cf. point 4 criteria for good work) 

5. promotion of innovation and enterprise: 
   • „for a strong location“ (cf. point 9 Berlin Sustainability Goals)

goals:

1. The further training of our own employees already takes place regularly, for example in workshops. In the future, we will place special emphasis on the above-mentioned fields of action and sensitize our employees about their own possibilities for influencing them. In addition, we would like to use our reach and integrate sustainability into our external presentation in order to sensitize outsiders to the topic.

1. Equality includes, on the one hand, equality between men and women, which we want to achieve within our association. More specifically, we want to increase the number of supported female-led companies and start-ups. On the other hand, the prevention of discrimination is also part of equality, which is why we want to anchor this as a principle of our future work.
2. With regard to "ecological action", we currently have a strong need for improvement, which is why we will focus on this field of action. The gradual development towards climate neutrality of the association is conditioned by a changeover to green electricity, more ecological heating and the increased use of rail transport instead of cars, which is why these steps are the first goals for us. In addition, we would like to make the consumption necessary for the work of our staff and the organisation of events more ecological in the future.
3. "Good work" is of course a central field of action for SIBB, as we ourselves act as an employer and thus have a responsibility towards our own employees. Therefore, we will also focus on this field of action and develop an extra catalogue of measures. In this catalogue we will concentrate on the development of the work in the federation for the better in the sense of the DGB index/guidelines for good work. According to this, our goal is to offer our employees a job that is well paid, safe, health-preserving, appreciative and meaningful. We also want to achieve a score of at least 80 in all sub-areas of the DGB index in order to be assigned to the best possible "Good Work" area in each case.
4. SIBB supports young entrepreneurs in the start-up process, which directly promotes companies. We also ensure good networking and a constant exchange and growth of knowledge within the sector by organising workshops. All these things ultimately ensure more innovation promoted by SIBB. For example, SIBB has been awarded the "Innovative through Research" seal for several years in a row. The research and development projects in which SIBB is involved as a network management organisation also increasingly target sustainability and carbon reduction issues directly or indirectly. It should have become clear that SIBB is already very active in the field of action "Promoting Innovation and Business". It is therefore our goal to continue and further deepen these activities.

To achieve these goals, appropriate measures are taken, which are processed in a regulated process, monitored by a sustainability officer and documented in two separate catalogues of measures.

Came into force February 2022.