We at VAUDE are open and interested in partner-based dialog with our stakeholders. We believe that by working together, we can make a bigger difference than working alone. Therefore, we address important issues and concerns in dialogs with our stakeholders.
»We want to use active dialog with our stakeholders in order to learn and actively involve them in the value-oriented community of VAUDE.«
We have drawn valuable insights about how we can improve our company from discussions with these stakeholders – an example:
VAUDE has made a clear commitment for itself: We only use down that comes from sources with high standards of animal welfare.
Triggered by a campaign by the Four Paws organization against the practices of live plucking and force feeding geese, we reviewed our down supply chain and found that we could not guarantee 100 % control over the conditions at the time. We entered into an intensive exchange with Four Paws, our suppliers and competitors to understand exactly what we needed to do better. This has resulted in a new industry standard, the Responsible Down Standard, with which we have since had all the down we process certified. More about down here
Want to know whom we’re talking with and what structures for dialog we have? Then read further...
In 2017 we provided training on sustainability issues for 60 salespeople at our Green Shape Campus and discussed sustainability management at VAUDE. The results of these discussions were incorporated in the company through our sustainability team.
Green Shape Campus topics:
Sustainable products and their significance for retail trade
VAUDE – the environmentally friendly outdoor outfitter
Dialog Workshop
In 2016 we also organized two sustainability breakfasts with retailers. Together we worked on the issue of how we can successfully and authentically communicate sustainability issues in retail stores. The essential input to come out of this dialog was incorporated as inspiration in our sustainability communications. In 2017 we decided to intensify our dialog with our retailers via the Green Shape Campus rather than hosting the sustainability breakfast.
The desires and needs of consumers are extremely valuable for our development. Therefore, we value direct contact with them. We offer you various channels to contact us directly. Here you can find out which possibilities you have and how we evaluate the feedback.
You can contact the VAUDE Service Department directly by e-mail, at ticket.vaude.com or by phone. The telephone number is: + 49 (0) 7542 5306-0.
If any questions, uncertainties or complaints arise here or in the stores that can’t be answered immediately, the issue will be forwarded to the VAUDE CSR team and then directed to an expert at VAUDE who will either answer directly or give the information back to the original sales representative to answer.
We have surveyed the readers of our report (report year 2013, 2014, 2015) three times now. We have incorporated their insights into this report (report year 2017).
We could incorporate a total of 50 complete surveys. About 96 % of the respondents evaluated our sustainability report as good or very good.
Respondents made the following suggestions for improvement:
In the supply chain, we have so far only established systematic findings procedure for social issues - read more about the "Findings Procedure". Environmental issues can also be addressed through this channel, but the awareness of employees in the supply chain has so far not been very pronounced.
We still need to take action in this area: in the supply chain, the awareness of both the management and the employees of the individual companies on environmental issues is of paramount importance. For us, it would be valuable and helpful to directly identify possible complaints from the manufacturing companies of local residents, employees of companies or even NGOs.
In a pilot project, we are currently implementing an environmental management system at various suppliers. Suppliers are also trained on these subjects within the scope of the "Environmental Stewardship Program".
In 2018, we will introduce an even more comprehensive and strict system of cooperation and dialog with our producers and suppliers in the form of Vendor Management - read more here
We prepared a comprehensive stakeholder analysis for the preparation of our first GRI Report 2013. An interdisciplinary team with members from other companies in the industry identified our stakeholder groups, their key concerns and how they are included – "Who are our stakeholders?".
| GRI: | 102-42 |
| GRI: | 102-43 |
| GRI: | 102-44 |
