Examples for corporate citizenship
As an international construction group, HOCHTIEF designs living spaces all over the world and therefore interacts closely with the people with whom and for whom we work. We are part of society and, as a corporate citizen, take responsibility for the community wherever we do business and carry out projects. HOCHTIEF and its employees act on this mission through monetary donations and donations in kind, by contributing their expertise, and volunteering.
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Garden partner of German-Polish Gardens
HOCHTIEF Polska is one of the “garden partners” in the creation of the German-Polish Gardens in Warsaw. Not only is the company getting involved financially, employees are also doing gardening work on a regular basis. They have planted flower bulbs, for instance, and done some clearing up. In 2018, Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited the gardens and planted a European hornbeam. The gardens are part of Skaryszewski Park in the Praga-South City district, and are being laid out between the north shore of the Kamionkowskie Lake and Emil Wedel Alley. The City of Warsaw and the German Embassy there are jointly organizing the project together with German and Polish partners. The aim of this initiative is to provide people with a green, quiet and friendly place for contemplation and recreation Apart from shared planting activities, talks and workshops are also part of the revitalization program.
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High School Students Paint Aboriginal Murals on Mining Haul Truck
Thiess, in collaboration with Fortescue Metals Group, welcomed ten art students from Roebourne District High School to Fortescue’s Solomon operation to complete an Indigenous mural on the rear tray of an autonomous haul truck. Measuring 2.9 meters high and over 8 meters wide on each side, the mural extends to both sides of the tray and depicts Roebourne’s Mount Welcome lookout and the rivers and streams running through the Western Australian town. Thiess General Manager in Australia & Pacific, Spencer Jose said: “We’re proud to be partnering with Fortescue and the local community to deliver this incredible piece of moveable art. The murals on the truck work together to represent the past, present and future generations of Roebourne. This innovative initiative is enhancing student’s studies, allowing them to apply their research, technical skills and creative ideas to a real-life project.” The painted haul truck re-entered operations in August 2017.
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Teddy bears for young patients
HOCHTIEF company Turner Construction’s community management also looks after the youngest members of the community: the construction team at the new John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus in the state of New York donated more than 200 teddy bears for young patients on the occasion of the hospital’s completion. The bears—wearing T-shirts with the words “A Bear Hug for You” on them—are a surefire way of cheering the children up.
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Fast help after the hurricanes
Hurricanes Harvey and Irma that swept across the US states of Texas and Florida in late summer 2017 had fatal consequences: Dozens of people were killed, residential districts flooded, and houses damaged. Keeping the people supplied with drinking water, food and gasoline proved difficult. HOCHTIEF’s American subsidiary Turner Construction Company, which has branches in these states, provided swift help without red tape. The company quickly set up an emergency fund of over 100,000 US dollars to assist affected employees and their families in order to obtain the most urgently needed food and materials. Parallel to this, the company lent its support to organizations such as the Greater Houston Community Foundation and the Saint Bernard Project, both of which are helping hurricane victims in different ways such as helping to rebuild their houses and with stress and trauma management.
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Cash and material donations for mother-and-child homes
Employees at HOCHTIEF Infrastructure Austria have made a huge effort for a good cause by putting up boxes in their offices and construction sites to collect cash and material donations. The money raised by the employees was doubled by management and rounded up, raising a grand total of 4,000 euros as well as numerous material donations. The recipients of the donations—two mother-and-child homes run by Caritas in Vienna—were chosen by the employees themselves on the basis of an in-house vote. These facilities provide shelter to homeless mothers and their children. The donations raised were handed over to the mother-and-child homes just in time for Christmas, and the recipients were delighted. Part of the material donations were quickly wrapped up by the Caritas team so that each child received a little gift for Christmas. At Haus Luise, a twelve-member Caritas team provides care around the clock for the 20 mothers and their 34 children currently living there. Haus Immanuel has 19 residential units for homeless mothers.
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Successful support for university canoe team
A fast-paced connection between sport, education and engineering knowledge: Our Group company Flatiron—part of the HOCHTIEF Americas Division—lends support in various areas, including to the Concrete Canoe Team of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. The 2016 team placed in two competitions: the Canadian National Concrete Canoe Competition in Montreal and the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Pacific Northwest Concrete Canoe Competition. By investing in advanced materials and applying their engineering knowledge, this year’s canoe turned out to be the strongest and lightest they have ever built. A showcase for turning learned theory into practice.
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Furniture donation in Australia
In 2016, CIMIC, part of the HOCHTIEF Asia Pacific Division, relocated to a new headquarters: 177 Pacific Highway is a modern, innovative and sustainable building. Many well-preserved pieces of furniture and items from the former headquarters in St. Leonards, where the company had been based since 1984, were now no longer required. CIMIC donated some of them to the “Out of Home Care” program run by the charitable organization CatholicCare. This program supports young people up to the age of 18 who for various reasons cannot live with their families. Other pieces of furniture went to the Salvation Army which can thus expand its “Salvos” program which offers different social services.
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Exclusive construction site tour for kindergarten children
Getting to know the world of construction in a playful way—something that HOCHTIEF Infrastructure Austria made possible for 17 kindergarten children in summer 2016. The project team gave them a guided tour of the Semmering Base Tunnel 1.1 project in Gloggnitz (Austria). During the tour, the children—fitted out, of course, with personal protection equipment—marveled at huge crawlers, diggers and trucks, and asked the workers endless questions. A highlight for the little visitors was the exciting ride with the foreman on the wheel loader. To end their tour, the proud engineers of the future were presented with a “construction site diploma”.
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HOCHTIEF supports cultural diversity exhibition "1,2,3 Kultummel" for children
Our world is full of diversity and colors—something even the youngest can feel. But what does this mean exactly? Here, the exhibition "1,2,3 Kultummel" which opened in May 2017 at the Labyrinth Children's Museum in Berlin and is sponsored by HOCHTIEF comes in. The interactive museum, a project of social and cultural center "Osloer Street factory", has been an important element in the capital's cultural and educational landscape for 19 years now. You can actively experience diversity here: In a playful and creative manner, the young visitors encounter a variety of cultures, languages, ideas, etc. Changes in society require new solutions which children, in particular, can also help shape. The exhibition's features as well as the accompanying workshops on subjects such as language, home or travel raise the children's awareness for the subject of diversity—they change their perspective and become visionaries. In connection with its sponsoring focus on "Education and Promoting Young Talent", HOCHTIEF thus encourages children's curiosity and openness regarding human and cultural diversity. "We understand diversity as an infinite number of creative possibilities, solutions, ways, questions and answers. Diversity that can particularly also help young people to embrace their responsibility for society wisely and with a ‘Kultummel’-style pinch of cultural creativity," says Ursula Pischel, Managing Director of the Children's Museum. The learning-by-doing approach pursued by the museum lets children test their limits and understand larger contexts—an approach HOCHTIEF supports.