Since 2006, the Freiburg Community Foundation has enabled donors to work for the well-being of their regional living space and to support innovative projects and charitable tasks in Freiburg on a long-term basis. From the outset, the foundation has been guided by the goal of sustainable urban development that takes into account social justice, economic and ecological sustainability and the global responsibility of local action. Mission Investment has been an integral part of the foundation’s work since its establishment. Hanna Lehmann, a member of the foundation board, describes how sustainability and the SDGs have permeated the entire work of the foundation from the very beginning.
‘The most important decision of the 60 founders in Freiburg was to pursue an ethical, social and ecological investment policy and also to show regional solidarity. For this reason, the Board of Trustees drew up investment guidelines that provide for investment in companies and investments with a sustainable orientation, primarily according to ethical, ecological and socially responsible criteria. It thus excludes the Foundation’s assets from supporting industries whose activities and products conflict with the Foundation’s principles and objectives. It goes without saying that other legitimate foundation interests are safeguarded, in particular the security and preservation of the value of the foundation’s assets as well as the achievement of stable, average capital yields appropriate to the market situation for the financing of the foundation’s activities.’
‘We wanted to show that invested money can work in support of the objectives of a community foundation” says Hanna Lehmann, pointing out that Freiburg has also become a pioneer for other foundations with this approach. But this is not the only way in which the community foundation expresses its deep solidarity with the sustainability goals: they are the common thread that runs through the entire foundation, from everyday work to funding policy. Volunteers are asked to refrain from driving, and events are held exclusively with regional, seasonal products and local partners.
And all the project work has to take social, ecological and political aspects into account. The apple sponsorships for kindergartens are one of these projects in which 24 kindergartens are supplied with regional organic apples.
Or the bicycle mobile, which can be produced in a wood workshop with refugees and later used as an information stand. A new and very special play for children is “The Little Penguin and the Seal”, which shows children the beauty and vulnerability of our world.’
There are plenty of examples of projects based on the SDGs in Freiburg. Even though the Freiburg Community Foundation does not work with individual SDG goals in concrete terms, it makes things simple! Voluntary, local, ecological and social. Hanna Lehmann would like to encourage others to overcome existing hurdles and barriers, and to simply think about the future.
Community foundations are on the right track and the 17 sustainability goals are an important framework for action.
For more information: Freiburger Bürgerstiftung (only in German)
January 2020
