Group Management Report Products Safety and Health Environment Human Resources Social Commitment Consolidated Financial Statements 97
Social Commitment
The natural sciences, mathematics, informatics, and technology
are among the drivers of economic development and
social progress around the world. In this context, ALTANA
wants to help introduce young people to these disciplines at
an early stage and to kindle their enthusiasm for them. In
addition, ALTANA is involved in a number of selected social
projects. In cooperation with experienced partners from
the education sector, we support concrete projects, often in
the immediate proximity of our sites. To maximize lasting
impact, the company usually promotes these projects over a
period of several years.
Educational Coaching of Elementary
Schoolchildren
ALTANA has supported the educational coaching project at
GGS Innenstadt, the largest public elementary school in
Wesel, for six years now. The project was initiated by the City
of Wesel and implemented by the Klausenhof Academy
in close cooperation with GGS Innenstadt. The main aim of
the coaching is to promote elementary schoolchildren
and to achieve equal opportunity for children with a migration
background and from socially deprived backgrounds.
The project also supports the development of children with
special talents.
As in the previous years, ALTANA financed the personnel
and material costs for a socio-educational expert at the
Klausenhof Academy. The expert assigns “personal mentors”
to each child, trains the mentors, and coordinates their
work. A total of 46 children have been supported since the
project began in 2014. Currently, 18 volunteer mentors
are taking part. They support and challenge the children in
their personal development according to their interests
and abilities. Some of the mentors now even look after two
children. The support focuses on extracurricular activities such
as library visits, music, and sports.
Junior Researchers Visit ALTANA
Furthering children’s and adolescents’ scientific knowledge
has a tradition at ALTANA. Employees of BYK-Chemie at
our Wesel site have worked as school ambassadors for many
years. ALTANA is a network partner of the Germany-wide
foundation House of Junior Researchers. For a number of
years now, it has accompanied two elementary schools
and one daycare center in Wesel. The aim of the initiative,
which is sponsored by the German Federal Government,
is to get children interested in science. The concept includes
special research days that take place in cooperation with
school ambassadors at the respective school or daycare center.
In 2019, air and water were the main topics of the
research days. In April, the junior researchers presented their
results to parents, teachers, and employees at the traditional
closing event held at the ALTANA conference center.
In the context of various events, employees at other
sites also give young people insight into the world of science,
conduct experiments together with them, and introduce
them to scientific training and career possibilities.
Youth Startups Competition
ALTANA supports the online competition “Jugend gründet”
(Youth Startups), sponsored by the German Federal Government,
and in 2019 offered a special prize in chemistry for
the fifth time in a row. In the national finals in 2019, a team
of students from Lingen, Germany, won the prize for a
sustainable business idea – a perfected mini biogas system
for the restaurant trade which produces electricity and
heat and with which at the same time organic waste can be