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Social sustainability

Social sustainability: diverse and equitable

Making things happen with software. For reliable, more equitable supply chains. And a more equitable society overall. This is what drives us when it comes to social sustainability. Our focus here is on the UN Sustainable Development Goals of “Quality Education,” “Gender Equality,” and “Reduced Inequalities.”

Quality education

Promoting education. Improving opportunities. Developing personalities. That’s the slogan of the AEB-Stiftung, the charitable foundation we founded in 2017. The AEB-Stiftung is helping to build more schools in socially vulnerable areas of Uganda and Brazil, for example, and is involved with KinderHelden in Germany, which provides mentoring to disadvantaged children.
AEB funds the foundation’s activities from its annual profits.

Sample projects of the AEB-Stiftung

KinderHelden

KinderHelden creates “tandems,” pairing children who had a difficult start in life with local mentors who can intervene early on to offer personalized, preventive support.

Educare

Educare is committed to helping children in Brazil living in extreme poverty, giving them perspectives for the future.

ADEPT

ADEPT is dedicated to empowering young people in Uganda to earn their own living in a skilled profession.

More information on the AEB-Stiftung

Gender equality

The UN goal is to end all forms of discrimination against women and girls everywhere in the world. Women should be able to participate equally in political, economic, and public life. AEB has taken many internal actions toward gender equality. A few examples:

Launched “More Women in Leadership” initiative, including tandem and mentoring programs plus various workshops
Initiated a program to send female tech workers to participate in external events, provide info on careers in tech, and recruit more women for the industry
Published an internal “Guide to Inclusive and Gender-Neutral Language” to promote a more equitable dialog among all employees

Equal opportunity and reduced inequalities

We are committed to SDG 10: “Reduced Inequalities” – at our company, in Germany, and around the world. Within our direct sphere of influence, this means above all ensuring equal opportunity. This is a key pillar of our shared values and interactions. That’s why AEB is also fully committed to the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Non-discrimination, freedom of expression, freedom of association, worker participation in management decisions, fair and satisfactory working conditions including equal pay for equal work and occupational health and safety: All these issues are near and dear to us in our own business operations. We’ve been busy on this front as well. Some examples:

Raised or harmonized standards and benefits (number of paid vacation days, etc.) at all AEB sites worldwide to the most advantageous conditions, as permitted under local laws
Established equitable working conditions at all AEB sites worldwide
Adopted policies to support employees who are caring for family members
Equipped workstations age-appropriately, made company’s HQ wheelchair accessible
Established a working group on inclusion

Our Sustainability Report, which we voluntarily published for the first time for the year 2022, offers a detailed look at our strategy, along with the programs and activities designed to support that strategy:

AEB Sustainability Report 2022

A look at some of our programs and initiatives

Waste not weeks
Under the motto waste-not-weeks, we organized a "circular month" with various formats and campaigns to conserve natural resources, reduce waste and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Vocational training in Uganda
Only 5% of those who graduate from public school in Uganda go on to a university, and only 15% attend a vocational school. So it’s not surprising that experts estimate youth unemployment to be around 80%. We’ve partnered with Adept to provide financial support and share technological expertise with St. Bruno Secondary School in Masaka’s heavily impoverished northern district of Ssaza.
Vehicle fleet
We’ve had a company car policy for over ten years designed to reduce emissions from our vehicle fleet. Our company headquarters and AEB offices offer free electric and hybrid vehicle charging. We even add our own self-generated solar electricity to the energy mix used to charge the cars.
Sustainable cuisine
More creativity, less meat – and where we do use meat, we source it directly from the farm. AEB’s on-site “Kantino” cafeteria in Stuttgart also buys locally and has policies in place to ensure that as little food as possible is thrown away.
Suppliers and partners
Sustainability is a key criterion in the selection of partners and suppliers and in our procurement processes.
Public transit and bikes for lease
We subsidize the use of public transit for the sustainable mobility of our workforce. We also give employees the option to lease bicycles under the “JobRad” program.
More moor
AEB’s support for the Pfrunger-Burgweiler Ried nature reserve has helped restore an additional 15 hectares of moorland and sequester significant amounts of CO2.
Local sharing economy
AEB’s Stuttgart HQ is part of a growing hyperlocal community of companies with a big potential for sharing and collaboration. The first step has been to open up AEB’s “Kantino” to allow employees of neighboring businesses to take away meals from the cafeteria’s delicious and varied menu.
Educational equity with KinderHelden
The nonprofit “KinderHelden” offers mentoring to children that have had a difficult start in life, and we support them through volunteering and financial assistance.
AEB Inclusive Language Guideline
An interdisciplinary working group has been partnering with an external consultant to develop a “Guide to Inclusive and Gender-Neutral Language” for AEB. The guide for external communications in German is complete, and the English version is in progress.
New Stiftung project “I will survive”
The “I will survive” project from EYD Social, a manufacturer of humanitarian fashion, supports young women in India who have survived human trafficking and exploitation, offering a broad program of support and education to give them a realistic chance of shaping an independent future for themselves. The AEB-Stiftung has initially pledged to support the “I will survive” project for three years.
Green dreams
AEB ranks hotels based on eco-friendliness and always refers employees traveling for business to the greenest option available.
100% green energy
All our offices in Germany use green energy from regenerative sources.
Green data centers
The key component of the sustainable energy concept of our data centers is a water storage tank: The water cools the server rooms by absorbing waste heat and is then circulated through the company headquarters for heating purposes. The cool night air in the summer cools the sprinkler tank, which then helps keep the data center and the whole building cooler during the day. A photovoltaic system supplies both data centers with electricity during daytime hours.
Focus on sustainable commuting
October 2023 was Mobility Month at AEB, and the focus was on sustainable commuting. Commuting accounts for 10% of AEB’s carbon footprint. Employees could take advantage of a one-time €49 travel allowance plus a variety of other activities and offers for commuting alternatives. All aboard!
AEB’s first Sustainability Report
AEB is not yet required to report on the company’s sustainability but decided to voluntarily publish its first report anyway. Various guidelines were studied, and the specifications were then tailored to AEB and implemented. This has helped us establish the foundations and processes for our first mandatory report on fiscal year 2024.
More EV charging stations
AEB has greatly expanded its charging infrastructure for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles: As of August 2023, it now includes 20 wall-mounted charging stations with 40 charging ports in the parking garage under AEB headquarters. This reflects the general trend in orders for company cars away from combustion engines and toward EVs.
School and sanctuary in the slum
The residents of “Cracolândia” – the notorious neighborhood in São Paulo that is one of the world’s largest open-air drug markets – endure conditions that are unimaginable for us. The AEB-Stiftung has partnered with educare, providing funding and employee volunteers to build and run a preschool. Children here find not only a place of learning but a sanctuary and afterschool partner.
A home for bees
Our bee colonies in the garden of AEB headquarters make a small contribution to biodiversity. Bees are essential for the pollination of flowers, trees, and shrubs, which would not exist without these insects.