Currently, the success of most global economic systems is too often based on social exploitation and the destruction of the environment. Our position is clear: The private sector has a significant impact on the ecological, social and economic conditions in which we all live. In order to ensure the long-term preservation of our planet and to eliminate social inequality, we need to change how we think about the economy. We need an authoritative model for corporate activity that takes on responsibility for both society and the environment throughout the supply chain.
As an outdoor supplier, we have a very close relationship with nature. VAUDE “lives” from people enjoying the great outdoors, so we see ourselves as a company that is responsible for actively contributing to the protection and preservation of nature.
»We want to be a sustainable company through and through. We are coming a little closer to this vision every year.«
We view entrepreneurship as a contribution to the public good. This means that we would like to use our actions to contribute to making the world a better place, for both people and nature. The Economy for the Common Good expresses this understanding precisely. It measures business success not only by means of financial gains, but also by contributions to the public good. Human dignity, solidarity, ecological sustainability, social justice and democratic co-determination along with transparency are also included. VAUDE is a pioneer company in the Economy for the Common Good with an audited Common Good Balance Sheet – more at "VAUDE Economic Activity for the Benefit of All".
Our sustainability approach is based on the United Nation’s guiding principles for sustainable development. We are therefore closely examing the goals for sustainable development adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in the fall of 2015. We understand these goals to be a comprehensive orientation for action; companies play an important role in reaching them. We are taking our responsibility seriously and view the sustainable development goals as an enriching perspective for the further development and assessment of our business activities.
More at "VAUDE and the sustainable development goals".
We have received numerous awards for our understanding of entrepreneurship over the last years. In 2016 we were honored by the Deutschen Netzwerk für Unternehmensethik (German Network for Business Ethics) with their Business Ethics Award. "VAUDE shows that a commitment to sustainability is not in contradiction to economic success; on the contrary, it also inspires it," the jury explained. More information here
VAUDE’s corporate vision expresses the company’s ambitious strategic alignment:
»As Europe’s most sustainable outdoor outfitter, we are contributing to making the world a better place, so that tomorrow’s generation can enjoy nature with a clear conscience. We are leading the way globally and setting sustainability standards around the world.«
Our corporate vision is implemented through a multi-level, strategic approach. This is based on the company’s mission statement, which defines VAUDE’s roots, values and inspiration – more at "Corporate Philosophy".
In order to implement our vision, we have developed a consistently sustainable corporate strategy that’s aligned with the common good; it is designed and managed by the executive board and is integrated into the day-to-day business of all areas of the company. Our interdisciplinary Sustainability Team coordinates all sustainability activities and measures – more at "CSR Team".
Our vision is based on a holistic approach. Sustainability aspects are fully integrated into the corporate strategy. Therefore, we don’t have separate sustainability strategies that run parallel to our economic strategies.
The following elements form the VAUDE corporate strategy:
VAUDE’s executive board reviews the corporate strategy annually in a top-down and bottom-up process and continues its development.
Our goals are defined with concrete target figures and timeframes. We regularly examine to what extent we’ve reached our sustainability goals and/or analyze possible obstacles. These results form the foundation we use to continue our development and improvement.
Goals and target figures relating to sustainability are largely derived from the requirement and key figures of external sustainability standards such as the GRI, EMAS, FWF and others. We use these to measure and direct our sustainability goals. This procedure ensures the materiality of our goal setting – more at "Our Goals".
Sustainability has many aspects and challenges, in particular for a company with a global supply chain. The VAUDE Ecosystem defines how we systematically embed all sustainability activities and measures of our business activities at our company headquarters in Tettnang and throughout the entire product life cycle. The criteria of comprehensiveness and materiality underlie the VAUDE Ecosystem’s defined action fields. This helps us guarantee that all materiality aspects and issues of social and ecological responsibility at the company headquarters and throughout the entire supply chain are identified and addressed – more at "The VAUDE Ecosystem".
| GRI: | G4-1 |
