News

SARA Final Conference – UN Sustainable Development Goals in municipalities and companies
22.06.2022

On 17 August 2022, the final conference of the SARA project will take place. Over the past two years, the project partners have investigated how the UN Sustainable Development Goals can be translated into the local context and how their implementation can be accelerated. The aim was to integrate the topic of sustainability into the everyday work of public institutions and companies.

Wednesday, 17 August 2022

10:00 - 14:00,

Hotel des Nordens,

Alte Zollstraße 44, 24955 Harrislee

Programme

Welcome
Jens Wistoft, Chairman of the Committee for German-Danish Cooperation, Member of the Regional Council of the Southern Denmark Region
Green transition of everyday practices: A ‘designerly’ approach
Morten Krogh Petersen, Associate Professor, Laboratory for Sustainability and Design, Design School Kolding
Sustainability in Schleswig-Holstein
Dennis Scheffler, Ministerium für Energiewende, Klimaschutz, Umwelt und Natur des Landes Schleswig-Holstein

Lunch

From goals to local and regional measures - examples and perspectives from the SARA project
Helle Knudsen, Chief Consultant, Region of Southern Denmark
The SDGs as driver for business strategy and development
Jesper Fuglsang, Chief Consultant, Development Council of Southern Denmark
Requirements for a regional forum on sustainability and SDGs
Mandy Drebold, Project Coordinator, KielRegion GmbH
Outlook and concluding remarks
Jeppe Kristensen, Head of Department, Region of Southern Denmark

The event is simultaneously interpreted in German-Danish and Danish-German.
Participation is free of charge.

Corporate sustainability - SARA online event with Sustaineration

21.06.2022

How sustainable is my company? Where is the greatest need for action? Do I know the chances and potentials? At the online meeting on 15 June 2022, Niels Christiansen from the consultancy Sustaineration addressed these questions together with the SARA project partners. Participants also learned more about the CSR Check (Corporate Social Responsibility) - an online tool with which every company can check how sustainable it is compared to the industry average. Afterwards, the participating companies discussed their goals and the state of implementation of sustainability management.

Click here for the meeting minutes (in German)

From Goals to Action —SARA online workshop for public institutions

24.05.2022

How can we work with SDGs in public procurement? How can we adapt strategies and involve citizens in concrete actions? In an online workshop on 22 June 2022, the SARA project partners will provide answers to these and more questions.

Presentations:

Forum Meeting on cross-border sustainability strategies

11.05.2022

On 23 May 2022, the SARA project partners invite you to another Forum Meeting. The online event will be held in Danish and is aimed at Danish companies, business promoters and public organisations and institutions.
The aim is to assess the potential for establishing a forum for cross-border cooperation on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, drawing on the experience of other EU Interreg projects.
Jan Diers from the Tønder Erhvervsråd and Else Dyekjær Mejer and Peter Lind from the Erhvervshus Sydjylland will report on their experiences with cross-border cooperation in the PositivelyProduced and Fit4Jobs@WattenC projects.

Workshop: Sustainability for municipalities and the region

01.04.2022

On 30 March 2022, the SARA project partners organised an online workshop about municipal sustainability. The focus was on the insights provided by

Svenja Puls von RENN.nord Niedersachsen
Lisa Buddemeier von der GWÖ Regionalgruppe KielRegion
Claus Lass, Bürgermeister der Gemeinde Breklum in Nordfriesland

The speakers shed a light on strategies and measures on how municipalities, towns and counties can become more sustainable and which challenges they face in this process. In the second part of the event, the participants exchanged their own experiences on these topics.

Strategies for implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals – an evaluation

24.03.2022

How are the UN Sustainable Development Goals implemented in the German-Danish border region? What strategies already exist? The SARA partners have analysed these questions in more detail. You can find the results on our publications page: https://www.sara-interreg.eu/en/publications/

Forum Meeting on Corporate Sustainability Strategies

23.02.2022

On 22 February 2022, the SARA project partners invited German companies and administrations to an online event. The focus was on the topic of sustainability management and how this can be established permanently and economically in companies and organisations. Niels Christiansen from sustaineration gave exciting impulses. The participants also discussed success factors for a future German-Danish forum on regional sustainability.
You can download Niels Christiansen's presentation via the link below:

Sustainability strategies and tools for companies (PDF in German)

How do companies become more sustainable? Results of the SARA workshops

04.02.2022

At the end of last year, the SARA partners held two workshops on sustainability in companies. Together with Flensburg University of Applied Sciences, existing approaches, practices and development opportunities were elaborated and discussed.

On February 3, the SARA project partners were invited by the Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft Kreis Rendsburg-Eckernförde to an online meeting to present the results of these workshops. The focus was on recommendations for corporate practice and the discussion and further explanations for operational implementation.
Professor Brandenburg and Professor Müller from Flensburg University of Applied Sciences were available to answer individual questions.

Click the link below to download the summary of the workshop results:

Sustainability strategy workshop for SMEs: procedure and results (PDF)

Guidelines for sustainability in companies published

12.01.2022

The SARA project partners have published a guide to help German and Danish companies integrate the UN Sustainable Development Goals into their own business strategy and implement them in practice. The guide also aims to provide guidance on where to find further inspiration, support and, where appropriate, financial assistance for this process. The guide was developed in close cooperation between the Danish and German partners of the project: Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft des Kreises Rendsburg-Eckernförde GmbH & Co. KG, KielRegion GmbH and the
UdviklingsRåd Sønderjylland.

On our publications page you will find the guide in German and Danish.

Prize for master's thesis on sustainability in companies

27.01.2022

Franziska Lau has received the Dr. Hans Adolf Rossen Award 2022 for her master's thesis with title “Sustainability in companies in the German-Danish Interreg area" (German title: “Nachhaltigkeit in Unternehmen des deutsch-dänischen Interreg-Gebiets”). The thesis was written within the SARA project at the Department of Economics at Flensburg University of Applied Sciences. It focusses on the importance of sustainability management for companies and supply chains in the German-Danish border region. The aim of the thesis was to derive fields of action which are specific to the region and to develop concrete recommendations for practice. Franziska Lau was supported by the SARA project partner Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft Kreis Rendsburg-Eckernförde.

Click here for the master thesis "Sustainability in companies in the German-Danish Interreg area" by Franziska Lau (PDF download in German)

Taking responsibility - checklist for sustainability in companies

05.01.2022

What are the first steps for a company to integrate sustainability into its everyday work? The SARA project partners from the Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft Kreis Rendsburg-Eckernförde (WFG) tackled this question and have defined 10 measures that companies can implement quickly and easily.
to the "10 starter tips for sustainability in companies" at the WFG partner website

Ways to work with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in public institutions

22.12.2021

On 14. December, the SARA project partners organised an online workshop with public administrations and institutions from Germany and Denmark. The subject: How can we implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals into administrative structures? Speakers from two Danish municipalities, a German county and the University of Southern Denmark told about their experiences working with the SDGs – externally together with citizens, enterprises and educational institutions – and internally in their own organisation

Read the inspiring presentations here:

Forum Meeting – input to a cross-border networking hub
10.11.2021

The Danish and German partners of SARA want to establish a cross-border regional forum to ensure a regular exchange of experiences between private and public actors in the region who work with or engage in the application of the SDGs.
The focus at the meeting will be on how business organisations work with the SDG agenda as a business development tool for small and medium sized businesses. Case studies and discussions will feed into the development of the future cross-border regional forum.

Join us for knowledge and experience sharing on Tuesday, 23. November 2021, 9:30 to 13:00 (followed by lunch) at Akademie Sankelmark.

Programme:

From Global Goals to Everyday Goals – inspiration on how small companies can work with the SDGs as a part of their future business development.
Haderslev Erhvervsråd
Green Transition and Sustainability in a Business Perspective – inspiration on how to start, accelerate and integrate sustainability at a company level.
Erhvervshus Sydjylland
Why SDGs have to be implemented in corporate practice - and how it works.
CIVICON, Institute for Sustainability and Transformation management
Discussions and generating ideas on potential cross-border SDG initiatives.

The meeting will be held in English. Participation in the workshop is free of charge, but registration is required.

Workshop for companies: Developing a sustainability strategy

20.10.2021

How can companies set up a successful sustainability strategy? Where can you find impulses and support? On 28 October and 25 November, 2021, the SARA project partners from Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft Kreis Rendsburg-Eckernförde (WFG) will answer these questions at a two-day workshop on "Sustainability Strategy". Together with Master's students from Flensburg University of Applied Sciences and interested companies that are already in the process of developing sustainability strategies for their company, the WFG is offering a framework for exchanging ideas and benefiting from the experiences of other industries.

When & where?
1st seminar: Thursday, 28 October, 2021, 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
2nd seminar: Thursday, 25 November, 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The venue is Rendsburg, details will be provided after your registration.
The workshop is free of charge. In order to register please send an email to Salim Dinzad (SARA project team): salim.dinzad97@gmx.de

SARA project meeting -
Exchanging experiences for more sustainability

20.09.2021

On 2nd to 3rd September, professionals from Denmark and Germany met in Sonderborg to discuss possibilities and challenges in implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The framework for the meeting was the EU Interreg A project SARA and six partners from Germany and Denmark.
‘It was the first time we met each other physically even though we have worked together for almost a year. We all shared our experiences on how we work with the Sustainable Development Goals. It was very inspiring and we look forward to sharing with many more representatives from companies and public institutions in the months to come,’ emphasises Olav Sønderskov from lead partner Region of Southern Denmark.
The objective for the coming months is to attract interested representatives from business sector and public institutions to share experiences and best practice and at the end, develop a toolbox that can also be used by many more organisations to integrate the UN Sustainable Development Goals into their own strategy.
Finally, the project pursues the development of the first cross-border regional forum for a regular exchange of experience on the development of methods, indicators and regional cooperation to strengthen the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the programme region.

Invitation to Webinar: Sustainability in Business: How Can Businesses Prepare for the Supply Chain Act?

18.08.2021

SARA project partner Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft des Kreises Rendsburg-Eckernförde mbH & Co. KG invites to the online event "Sustainability in business: How can businesses prepare for the Supply Chain Act?" on 26 August. The web seminar will cover the topic of the impact and challenges around the German Supply Chain Act, which will come into force on 1st January 2023. According to the the current draft bill for the Supply Chain Act of the European Commission, companies will be obliged to verify to what extent their supply chains are organised in terms of sustainability.
Markus Körber (Head of Department for Economy, Foreign Trade and Internal Market at the Hanse-Office of the Federal States of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein), and Werner Koopmann (Head of the International Division of the Lübeck Chamber of Commerce and Industry) will provide insights on prospects and obligations suppliers and service providers have to meet in the future.
Participation is free, but registration is required. Click here to register.

Online-Seminar: Best practices for sustainability

22.04.2021

Presentations

UN Sustainable Development Goals as an accelerator for sustainable growth.
Stine Kirstein Junge, Private Sector Advisor and Head of the SDG Accelerator, UNDP
Making the SDG’s happen: setting the direction and creating awareness.
Bo Hanfgarn Eriksen, Ph.D., Chief Consultant and Head of SDG’s and Analysis, Region of Southern Denmark
For Kiel and the world: think global, start local.
Lisa Eglhofer, International Affairs and Sustainability, City of Kiel
Digitalisation as a means to green transformation.
Nina Jørgensen, Project leader, PERO Solutions
Implementation in operational practice: field report from a medium-sized company in the chemical industry. Barbara Eschke, Head of sustainability management, Worlée-Chemie GmbH

Questions and answers

Questions and answers from the live chat

Click here to watch the recording of the online seminar

To the video (external page)

Invitation to online seminar: Best practices for sustainability

15.04.2021

On 22 April 2021, the SARA project partners invite to the online seminar "Implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals in Denmark and Germany". Participants will receive ideas on how to use the SDGs as a catalyst for the development of regions and companies.
As keynote speaker, Stine Kirstein Junge, who is responsible for the implementation of the SDGs at UNDP, will give an impulse on how the SDGs are and will be the framework for global and local sustainable development. Furthermore, Danish and German companies and public administrations will present their best practice examples.

There will be simultaneous interpretation in Danish and German. Participation in the workshop is free, but registration is required. Click here for the programme

Click here for the press release

Online workshop: sustainable economy - Strategic sustainability goals as innovation drivers

31.03.2021

Workshop programme
Project presentation SARA
Sustainability check for companies
Anette Benz, Enterprise Europe Network Investitionsbank Schleswig-Holstein
Case study: "Sustainability in companies in the German-Danish Interreg area"
Franziska Lau, Student Business Management (M.A.) Flensburg University of Applied Sciences

Invitation to the online workshop: sustainable economy - Strategic sustainability goals as innovation drivers

15.03.2021

The SARA project partners organise an online workshop on 31 March . The workshop will take a closer look at sustainable supply chains and products. You will also be introduced to young companies which business models are based on sustainability. Get inspired by the presentations and practical examples and discover potentials for your own company. Click here for the workshop programme with the registration link. (in German)

Insights from the OECD project on UN Sustainable Development Goals

18.12.2020

At the meeting of the SARA partners on 15 December, the Southern Denmark Region presented its work in the OECD project "A Territorial Approach to the Sustainable Development Goals". The project has showcased how cities and regions in different parts of the world work with the Sustainable Development Goals. The Region of Southern Denmark participated together with regions such as Flandern in Belgium, Viken in Norway and Cordoba in Argentina and the city Bonn in Germany, Kitakyushu in Japan. The OECD developed an online tool for working with the Sustainable Development Goals that they consider relevant for regions and cities. The OECD published a report for each of the participating regions and cities. The report recommends ways to continue working with the UN SDGs. For example, by using the regional development strategy to support and raise awareness about SDGs in the region and its municipalities. Another example is to identify and further potentials of public private partnerships through the SDGs by exploring instruments like public procurement.

Please find the Report on Southern Denmark here.

Green light for the German-Danish cooperation 

07.12.2020

The SARA partners met for a kick-off on 3 December 2020. Aims of the meeting were to gain a better understanding of the partners’ competencies and roles within the project. Furthermore, the project partners discussed about the status and the further procedure in the individual work packages. The common goal of the partners is to adapt the global approach of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to local conditions in the German-Danish border region as well as to the requirements of the respective organisations and to apply the sustainability in practice.

SARA receives funding from Interreg Deutschland-Danmark programme  

04.06.2020

The Monitoring Commitee of Interreg approved the project application of SARA during their biannual meeting which due to the COVID-19 pandemic this time took place online. The Interreg programme Deutschland-Danmark will provide funding of around 610.000 Euros for the coming two years.