Within the context of a course on corporate sustainability communication, seven students from the University of Vechta engaged with the enterprise Piepenbrock, a company that offers building cleaning, facility management, maintenance, and security. The aim of the cooperation was to improve the participation and outreach of Piepenbrock’s annual Sustainability Days that were to be conducted for the third time following the nationwide week of sustainability action announced by the German Council for Sustainable Development. Through close consultation with Piepenbrock representatives, the students identified major tasks and questions to address that arose from previous experiences with the event. They took on the challenge to find ways to motivate more employees to actively contribute to the event and thereby increase its impact and overall popularity.
Based on the gathering of information they received from the enterprise about its usual ways of communication with employees and external stakeholders as well as the students’ own evaluation of event announcements, a comprehensive concept for the upcoming Piepenbrock Sustainability Days was developed. The concept entailed suggestions and recommendations for many different aspects of communication, but also for the event’s structure and content. By considering various media channels and the respective modes of properly addressing the target group with attractive topics, the students managed to support Piepenbrock considerably with the organization and realization of its event which will also influence the enterprise’s future events and its sustainability performance in general.
Students involved in the project:
Lisa Beermann, Celina Oppermann, Neele Rucho, Marianne Schirmer, Dorothee Wieborg, Sebastian Zimmermann
