Moving TogeTher

Moving
Together
The VfL Wolfsburg Sustainability Report
www.vfl-wolfsburg.de
Engagement and
responsibility
This sustainability report is the first of its kind
published by VfL Wolfsburg.
This sustainability report is the very first of its kind published
by VfL Wolfsburg. For this very first time, it provides a bundled
overview of the club’s achievements in the field of corporate
social responsibility (CSR) and also represents the first phase
of regular CSR reporting. It emphasises the fact that VfL Wolfsburg considers the subject of sustainability and sustainability
improvements to be top priorities.
This first report makes public the full spectrum of the club’s
activities to emphasise the broad-based social engagement
of VfL Wolfsburg. There has deliberately been no preselection or restriction in this regard. The contents of the individual chapters are based on talks and discussions with the
members of staff responsible. They set out the basic understanding of CSR in the club. All contents refer to and are with
respect to the VfL Wolfsburg-Fußball GmbH in its entirety.
This report is intended for fans, employees, partners and sponsors of VfL Wolfsburg, as well as for Volkswagen AG. It is also intended naturally to address NGOs, stakeholder organisations,
representatives from the fields of politics, the social environment as well as science and research. To this end it is available
in both German and English language versions.
Reflecting the requirements expected of a sustainability report, a classic reporting structure has been chosen. Again,
this is a move with which the club seeks to emphasise how seriously it takes both its engagement and the reporting thereof in all respects. The report starts with a portrait of the VfL
Wolfsburg football club. The chapter on Strategy and Management describes the structural alignment of the club as
well as its strategic approach. Information about dealings
with suppliers is also integrated in that section. The chapter
on Employees highlights the high priority given to people by
VfL Wolfsburg and its social engagement. The Ecology chapter sets out all the club’s activities focusing on the environment and climate under the motto “We Believe in Green”.
Society, as the core element of VfL Wolfsburg’s social engagement, is described in the next chapter. The final chapter then describes fans and club members as key stakeholders and the club’s fair and respectful interaction with them.
For more information and news about all of these issues,
please visit the club’s website at www.vfl-wolfsburg.de; all
contents on the subject of sustainability are available in the
www.vfl-wolfsburg.de/social section.
The period covered by this report is basically the 2010/2011
and 2011/2012 seasons. Where useful to clarify certain subjects, contents have also been included from previous years.
There is no structural focus on calendar years, because the
club’s activities are themselves not based on an annual timescale. The VfL Wolfsburg sustainability report will be published on a two-year schedule, with the next report planned
after the 2013/2014 season.
It should be noted that for purposes of simplicity the report
mainly uses the masculine singular form: it is stated explicitly that this writing style is inclusive of both male and female genders.
The VfL Wolfsburg CSR report is compliant with the current
standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) GRI 3.1 and
the IÖW/future e.V. in order to allow comparability with other
sustainability reports. GRI has reviewed the contents and confirmed that the report is compliant with Application Level B.
2 | 3
content
Content
Welcome by Klaus Mohrs, Lord Mayor of Wolfsburg Foreword by Thomas Röttgermann, Managing Director of VfL Wolfsburg-Fußball GmbH
A club writes history – VfL Wolfsburg from 1945 to the present day
Strategy and Management
With warmth and understanding on the path to the top
Moving forward together – Management and Supervisory Board of VfL Wolfsburg-Fußball GmbH
Rooted in the region – active worldwide
Together in partnership – VfL Wolfsburg and its partners
Interviews Katrin Bornschein – teacher at the Erich-Kästner primary school in Weddel
Nico Briskorn – Director Corporate Social Responsibility of VfL Wolfsburg-Fußball GmbH
Gudrun Kneiske-Spitze – Wolfsburg health and social affairs representative
Olaf Tschimpke – NABU President Liesel Westermann-Krieg – silver medallist at the 1968 Olympic Games and Muuvit ambassador
Employees
Responsible employer
Making players fit for life after sport
Fit for the office – health offers for administrative staff
Ecology
Believe in Green
Leaving a green legacy – reducing CO2 emissions
A heart for Wolves
Society
VfL Wolfsburg – more than a sports club
Education projects make learning fun
Combined strength in the fight against intolerance Inspiration for a healthy lifestyle
Fans
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54
Solidarity is a major factor
In close contact with the fans – Fan Liaison Officers of VfL Wolfsburg A club for young and old
Always a sympathetic ear for VfL fans – Fan Project and Wolfsburg Supporters
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64
Programme
66
GRI index
68
Imprint
71
Promoting
cooperation
Lord Mayor of Wolfsburg Klaus Mohrs discusses
VfL Wolfsburg’s social engagement.
Football in Wolfsburg is one of the main
attractions for sports fans in the town
and the region overall. Since the promotion of VfL Wolfsburg into the B
­ undesliga
First Divison in 1997, between 20,000
and 30,000 fans regularly visit the home
matches at the Volkswagen Arena in
Allerpark. VfL Wolfsburg football club
achieved its greatest success in season
2008/2009 when it won the German
championship for the first time.
While professional football at VfL Wolfsburg is known far beyond the city limits,
there are many other activities which are
also very successful. The club is not only
in the premier league in sporting terms,
it is also outstanding in its social engagement. Thanks to its innovative projects
it has helped foster better co-operation
within society and embodies the values
of a modern club in a clearly focused
way: team-orientated, innovative, sustainable. VfL Wolfsburg has established
itself as an excellent ambassador for the
town and the region. In the name of the
council and the administration of the city
of Wolfsburg as well as on behalf of all citi-
zens of Wolfsburg, I would like to express
my very warmest thanks to the club for
its outstanding activities for the good of
society as a whole.
An indispensable aspect of corporate social responsibility is transparency. This
first sustainability report of VfL Wolfsburg
presents information about its social engagement and shows what the club is
doing for our region – along the lines of
“Do good and talk about it”. VfL Wolfsburg has developed into a dependable
partner with whom we are
pleased to jointly shape the
future of Wolfsburg. We are
proud of the sporting and the
charitable achievements of
the club which have enriched
the town and the region.
The city of Wolfsburg is doing everything it can to ensure
that the collaboration with the
club continues to work so well
and that joint successes can
again be celebrated in the future. The club lives above all
from the support of its fans. And therefore, as Lord Mayor, I always keep my fingers crossed for the players and regularly watch the sporting action from the
stands.
Yours, Klaus Mohrs
Lord Mayor of Wolfsburg
4 | 5
Foreword
Using publicity
to set an example
Thomas Röttgermannn, Managing Director of
VfL Wolfsburg-FuSSball GmbH, discusses the club’s self image.
Football is everything. Football is excitement, emotion, passion. But football is
also all about accepting responsibility. As
a football club, we are in the focus of public interest. It is our intention to use this
high level of attention to play a proactive
role and set a good example, in order to
motivate people to think and to join in.
We have come up with a name describing our activities. We want to get things
‘Moving Together’.
This sustainability report is intended to
explain the depth of VfL’s engagement in
corporate social responsibility and illustrate that we are following a structured
approach in these activities. Sustainability is now an integral part of everything at
VfL. At the same time, we realise we are
only one small part of the whole. It is for
this reason that we not only wish to provide full information about our CSR ac-
tivities, but also and above all we hope
to motivate you to join together with us in
the future to achieve and move still more.
Education, integration, environment and
health are subjects which are of fundamental importance to us. They are the
core areas in which we have been able
to move, implement and achieve a great
deal with the support of our competent
social partners. We are not treading water. ‘Kick-off VfL – 100 schools & 100
associations’ was the platform for our
regional activities and with
Wolfsburg United we have
now raised our engagement
to an international level.
May I ask of you, dear Reader,
to cast a critical eye over the
contents of this report. Please
do not hesitate to share your
ideas with us – after all, our motto is ‘Moving together’. Football is everything. And
yet much, much more.
Yours, Thomas Röttgermann
Managing Director of
VfL Wolfsburg-Fußball GmbH
A club writes history
The atmosphere in Wolfsburg, a working town, and in particular­
the closeness to Volkswagen AG have both had a strong and longterm influence on VfL Wolfsburg. With a current membership­of
20,000, the club is one of the largest sports clubs in Lower Saxony.
Established on 12 September 1945 as a
physical fitness club, VfL Wolfsburg celebrated its first major success in 1954
when it was promoted into the Oberliga
Nord, at that time Northern Germany’s
top football league. The club was relegated after five seasons, but in 1963 the
club again hit the headlines when it won
the Lower Saxony championship. The
club qualified in season 1973/74 for the
newly created 2. Bundesliga Nord (West
German League Second Divison North).
After many years in the doldrums the
club again achieved promotion in 1992
into the national Second Division. The
club was able to consolidate its position in that division in the years thereafter and thanks to continuous improvement established itself at the top of the
division’s table. In 1997 VfL Wolfsburg
came second in the Second Division,
gaining it promotion into German football’s top division, the Bundesliga. Only
one short year later it took part in the European Cup for the first time. The club
then gave frequent signs of being able to
repeat that unexpected success. For example, in seasons 2001/2002 through
2004/2005 it finished in the top eight
or top ten teams and became Germa-
ny’s record holder for participating in
the UI Cup. In seasons 2005/2006 and
2006/2007 VfL Wolfsburg had to fight
to stay in the top division, but overall this
was a phase in which it consolidated its
position in the league. After an almost
total restructuring of the team, the club
ended the 2007/2008 season as fifth in
the table, again earning a place in international competitions after a long gap:
Efforts culminated at the end of season
2008/2009 with the club crowned as
German champion for the first time in
the club’s history.
Organised for
long-term success
On tour up North: The team bus used by Vfl Wolfsburg for away
games during its time in the Oberliga, visiting teams like the then
very successful Hamburg SV, Werder Bremen, Bremerhaven 93 and
Holstein Kiel. At that time the Oberliga had 5 divisions: North, West,
Southwest, South and Berlin. Until the formation of the Bundesliga in
1963 it was the highest class in the Federal Republic. Vfl Wolfsburg
took active part from 1954 to 1959.
Following the German football association’s resolution in 1998 that allowed
joint stock corporations to take up shares
in professional football teams playing in
German football leagues, VfL Wolfsburg
split off its professional department, the
1st amateur team and the 1 A- and 1 Byouth teams to form the newly established
VfL Wolfsburg-Fußball GmbH. Company
shareholders initially comprised the Volkswagen AG and the original VfL Wolfsburg
e.V., which subsequently on 12 December 2007 also transferred its 10 per cent
GmbH (LLC) holding to V
­ olkswagen AG.
VW AG was therefore, as of that date, sole
shareholder of the GmbH, which from
1 July 2003 also included the women’s
Bundesliga football team transferred from
WSV Wendschott. As the club’s owner,
Volkswagen AG has a long-term interest in
the club’s success, an interest not limited
to financial aspects, but also on improving and enhancing Wolfsburg’s attractiveness. In sporting terms, the club seeks to
establish­a long-term presence in the top
6 | 7
Club portrait
VfL Wolfsburg was the surprise German champion in 2009 after a sensational second half to the season.
third of the Bundesliga table. The club is
a medium-sized enterprise, but thanks to
its closeness to Volkswagen AG it benefits
from professional structures and many
policies which regulate everyday operations and ensure aspects such as employee rights and equal opportunities.
The central component of VfL Wolfsburg is the professional Bundesliga team,
whose games enjoy exceptionally large
public interest. This interest, by way of
sponsorship, ticket takings, TV earnings
and prize money from participating in the
DFB Football Association Cup and international competitions, also helps generate the lion’s share of the club’s income.
New arena with
huge potential
VfL Wolfsburg’s new home was inaugurated in 2002: the Volkswagen Arena
opened providing capacity for 30,000
spectators. This capacity comprises
22,000 fixed and 8,000 variable spectator places, as well as facilities for VIP and
business customers, helping create many
new marketing possibilities. The overall
costs for arena construction amounted to
EUR 53 million; it is owned by Wolfsburg
AG, a public-private partnership of the
city of Wolfsburg and Volkswagen AG. The
running of the Volkswagen Arena is the
responsibility of VfL Wolfsburg-Fußball
GmbH, in particular as it relates to organisation and stadium operations. Since its
opening, the venue has been continuously further developed and in 2011 received
the “Ökoprofit Stadion” (Ecological Stadium) award (see also chapter: Ecology).
VfL Wolfsburg’s current plans at the Allerpark include the building of a new ministadium with a capacity of 5,000 spectators and including a training pitch. After
completion in 2014 it will provide a venue
for the women’s Bundesliga team matches and the U23 team. A multimedia world
of adventure is also planned, suitable for
providing an extra-curricular teaching facility. The old VfL Wolfsburg stadium in
Elsterweg has already been partly demolished and from 2013 onwards is to pro-
vide a practice stadium for track and field
athletics for club and school sports as well
as training facilities for the U23 and the
women’s teams.
Of great regional
significance
VfL Wolfsburg joins its parent company
Volkswagen AG in being a major influence on the region’s positive image. As
a Bundesliga team, VfL Wolfsburg has
helped the city of Wolfsburg become
known far beyond its immediate vicinity. For the local population the club is
a key organisation which has enhanced
the town’s recreational value. Because
Wolfsburg’s inhabitants are on average
very young, they tend to identify themselves less with their home town than is
the case for towns having older populations. It is here that VfL Wolfsburg, with
its also predominantly young fans, helps
by stepping in to take on this identityforming function. Wolfsburg’s business
community also benefits from the club’s
success: during home matches the town
centre is much livelier and tourism is
flourishing.
Sporting structures
VfL Wolfsburg´s professional team is the
flagship and the most important arrow in
the club’s quiver. Although the club has
only been in the top division of the Bundesliga since 1997 it has long been an established force in Germany football, a fact
emphasized by its winning the German
League Championship in 2008/2009.
During the 2010/2011 season the club
went through a period of some difficulties: the loss of many key players created great upheaval, with the squad seeing 15 new arrivals and 14 departures. A
situation exacerbated by three different
managers. In the end, VfL Wolfsburg only
reached the last 16 in the DFB cup and
finished the season as 15th in the table.
During the 2011/2012 season, the club
again delivered more stable performances and was 8th in the table when the season closed. The club has declared its intention of being in the top ranks of the
Bundesliga over the long term.
2011/2012 season second in the table,
after having previously moved between
eighth and fifth places. This development
means the team is qualified for the Champions League. In the 2011/2012 season
the VfL Wolfsburg women’s team included
four full national-team players, one U17
player and four international players. For
season 2012/2013 the team now includes
six full national players, four U20 national
players, two U17 players and one international player. The women’s team currently
plays at the VfL stadium in Elsterweg.
The teams from the B-youth team upwards belong to VfL Wolfsburg-Fußball
GmbH. The club’s youth work has been
extremely successful in the past. For example, the A-Juniors (U19) were North
German champions in 2011/2012 and
German champions in 2010/2011. In
addition, the team was the first German
club to take part in the NextGen series
and participate for a second time in the
2012/2013 season. The UEFA Under 19
European Championship is for the youth
section what the Champions League
is for the professionals. Playing in the
Bundesliga North/Northeast section,
the B-Juniors (U17) came second in
2011/2012 and fifth in 2010/2011.
Promoting talents
The Football Academy run by VfL Wolfsburg is both the centre and the best advertisement for its youth activities. Since
opening in 2007 the centre has provided excellent conditions for training of
talented youngsters. The philosophy of
the organisation is to provide training
for young players in a systematic, agerelevant fashion in keeping with ability
and covering the aspects of movement
and ball co-ordination, teaching of techniques, football-specific fitness, game
and competition skills as well as personality development. The programme also
includes training in school and personal
aspects, developing team spirit, own responsibility and representation skills as
well as providing all-round support and
optimal training prerequisites. All basic
principles and requirements applied by
the Football Academy are set out in a
written Code of Conduct.
The U23 team is the foundation of the
professional team; U23 manager is Lorenz-Günther Köstner, with Pablo Thiam­
responsible as Sports Director. The team
plays in the Regionalliga Nord (­Regional
League North.) and over the last four
years was able to continuously excel as
the best second team of any club. During 2010/2011 they finished second in
the table, 2011/2012 fourth. The team’s
short-term goal is to move up into the
Bundesliga Third Division in order to
intensify its training effect. The U23
team currently plays at the stadium in
­Elsterweg.
Successful women
VfL Wolfsburg’s women’s team has enjoyed an unbroken spell in the women’s
Bundesliga since 2006. Ralf Kellermann
was appointed Manager in 2008, with
Thomas Röttgerman as General Manager.
The team has gone through a very positive
evolution in the years past and ended the
VfL Wolfsburg women’s team has consolidated its position in the Bundesliga in recent
years: second place in season 2011/2012
takes them into the Champions League.
8 | 9
5th Place
2007/2008
1st Place
2008/2009
8 Place
2009/2010
th
Professional
bundesliga
Club portrait
Positions achieved by
VfL Wolfsburg-Fußball GmbH
professional, U23 and
women’s teams over
the last five seasons
15th Place
2010/2011
8th Place
2011/2012
6th Place
2007/2008
VfL won the Bundesliga
championship in 2008/2009.
The U23 team has been
one of the regional league’s
top teams for many years
and the women’s team is
playing in the Champions
League for the first time in
season 2012/2013.
8th Place
2008/2009
5th Place
2009/2010
7th Place
2010/2011
2nd Place
2011/2012
5th Place
2008/2009
2nd Place
2009/2010
Vfl ii
regionalliga
2nd Place
2010/2011
4th Place
2011/2012
women’s
bundesliga
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10 | 11
Strategy
With heart and
understanding On The
path to reach the top
As a sports club with a long tradition, around 20,000 members
and an even bigger fan club, VfL Wolfsburg is fully aware of its
social responsibility.
Ever since it was founded with an enthusiastic commitment to
sporting activity and strong ambitions to get to the top of the
table, the club’s philosophy has also always placed a high priority on social commitment – and this aspect considerably influences the policies it implements. This is also highlighted by
the VfL Wolfsburg brand philosophy.
its social responsibility: ‘Integrational innovation’, ‘Passionate
team-orientation’ and ‘Sustainable success’. In combination,
these values serve the overriding objective of VfL Wolfsburg:
‘We undertake football in such an integrated way that we will
establish ourselves amongst the international leaders in the
long term’.
Working together with experts in a multi-phase process, the
club took a very close look at the core of the VfL Wolfsburg
brand. This process involved numerous interviews and group
discussions, as well as online surveys with internal and external stakeholders – including VfL Wolfsburg and Volkswagen AG
employees, sponsors, sports journalists and fans. Three brand
values ultimately crystallised from this in-depth analysis – values which define the club and highlight its acute awareness of
Its strategic approaches to the future orientation, as well as the
planning and structuring of all of its activities, clearly reveal
that the club has adopted the professional configuration of a
commercial business in recent years. Powered by its employees, and in close co-operation with its parent company Volkswagen AG, it works with a strong focus and with united forces
on sustainably establishing VfL Wolfsburg in the upper third of
the German Bundesliga.
12 | 13
Strategy
The managers of the VfL Wolfsburg-Fußball GmbH: Thomas Röttgermann, Klaus Allofs and Wolfgang Hotze.
Achieving our
goals jointly
An organisation that works: VfL Wolfsburg-FuSSball GmbH has
two vital committees in the form of the Management Board and
the Supervisory Board.
The responsibility for the business activities of VfL Wolfsburg was deliberately
shouldered by a team to provide a broad
foundation for the club’s commercial decision-making. The following responsibilities were delegated to the members of the
Management Board:
· Finance & Controlling, Chairman of the
Management Board
· Brands & Marketing, Organisation &
Stadium Operations, Service, Human
Resources, and Women’s Football
· Licence Football & Football Academy
· Several staff functions are assigned to
the Management Board as a whole
The managers are appointed, supervised,
advised and dismissed by a Supervisory
Board with up to twelve members, which
is itself governed by a Supervisory Board
Presidium.
The Supervisory Board consists of representatives of the sole partner, Volkswagen
AG, the Lord Mayor of the city of Wolfsburg Klaus Mohrs, as well as leading personalities in Wolfsburg’s economic and
social life.
Volkswagen Arena
has been the Wolves’
home ground for ten
years now and attracts­
football fans from
throughout­the region.
Rooted in the region –
active worldwide
As a Bundesliga club and an important part of the city of
Wolfsburg­, VfL Wolfsburg bears a special type of responsibility
for its region. This has involved much more than just sport
for a long time now, and includes activities covering social
and environmental­aspects.
The club sees itself as a role model and
hopes that its social commitment will motivate others to think about this aspect
and, most important, to also join in. This
is driven by the motivation to give back
to the people in the city and the region a
part of the huge support that VfL Wolfsburg has enjoyed since it was founded in
1945. This mutual give and take is the inner strength of the club. Although initially
concentrated on the region around Wolfsburg, VfL Wolfsburg has expanded these
activities in the meantime to cover the
whole of Germany. And with its Wolfsburg
United initiative, the club joins Unicef in
a co-operation project to become active
worldwide for the first time.
Management Board member Thomas
Röttgermann is responsible for CSR at
VfL Wolfsburg.
Social commitment as a
joint project
harnessing the integrative power of football for treating each other with mutual respect; fairness; integrating disabled people; making more progress in climate and
environmental protection; and promoting
an active and healthy lifestyle.
VfL Wolfsburg’s CSR activities are focused on three principles: effectiveness,
sustainability and honesty. The club’s objective is to integrate within everyday life
the values it brings alive through its sporting activities. The club is particularly committed to four special aspects: education,
integration, health and environment. The
main focusses here are on getting the
message across that learning can be fun;
The new ‘Moving Together’ initiative
launched at the beginning of 2012 sums
up all of the activities in which VfL Wolfsburg is involved in these four aspects.
The name of the comprehensive package of measures­also clearly highlights
the platform on which it is based: the
club, as well as the fans, sponsors and
partners are all pulling together – this
makes the commitment real teamwork.
14 | 15
‘Moving Together’ here sums up the
three elements: moving, getting things
moving, and moving people.
100 clubs and 100 schools, as well as 25
kindergartens from the Niedersachsen
and Sachsen-Anhalt regions – and they
all maintain close relations with the club.
One region – one team
The “Kick-off VfL” project pursues a
long-term strategy and is part of the
‘Moving Together’ initiative. “Kick-off
VfL” has been pursued actively by VfL
Wolfsburg since 2006 with the aim of
inspiring children and young people to
adopt a balanced lifestyle with exercise
and healthy nutrition. The project is run
under the auspices of the Ministry of Education in Niedersachsen. The Niedersachsen Football Association (NFV) also
supports “Kick-off VfL”. Over the years,
the project network has been joined by
VfL Wolfsburg provides its partners with
a wide range of offers via its “Kick-off VfL”
project and these are all closely oriented
to the needs of the target group. In addition to regular invitations to VfL Wolfsburg’s home games, the basic activities
also include annual refresher courses for
trainers and sports teachers. These have
been attended by over 1,000 teachers
and trainers since 2006, who are then
certified by NFV. In addition to its main
focus on health – also involving co-operation with the Ball Schools for one year (cf.
Society chapter) – an event for clubs cov-
Strategy
ering club management has also been on
offer since 2011. In addition, schools can
participate free of charge in the Muuvit
Adventure (an offer used by 50 partner
schools to date) and in VfL-Wiki (with 13
partner schools at the present time) (cf.
Society chapter). The ‘Moving Together’
aspects are brought alive in this way and
actively managed with the involvement
of the partners.
The basic offers also include numerous
creative services which are actively and
creatively managed by the partners in cooperation with the club. For instance, a
partner school organises a VfL party for
5th and 6th grades after every home win
by VfL Wolfsburg. The club supports this
initiative with fan articles, music, and
Presentation of the “Anstoß VfL” partner certificate to the Evangelical
kindergarten­in Knesebeck. In autumn 2011, VfL Wolfsburg welcomed
an additional 25 kindergartens to its existing co-operations with
100 clubs and 100 schools
a ‘Moving Together’ banner. Another
school has installed a green-white reading and relaxing corner which was supported by VfL Wolfsburg with a donation
of seating and reading material. Around
150 partners have now already installed a
VfL Corner, and some of them are continuously looked after and updated by special school societies. The club supports
its partners with fan packages to decorate
the VfL Corners. In addition, numerous
partners organise primary school football tournaments which the club regularly
supports with visits by players. VfL Wolfsburg does all in its power to support all of
the ideas dreamt up by its partners with
activities including around 50 appearances a year of its Wölfi mascot, as well as ten
other appearances by players, or coaches, as well as organising around 30 tours
of the Volkswagen Arena for its partners.
And around 3,000 children every year receive presents as part of its Schultüten
campaign (colourful cardboard cones
filled with sweets given to children on their
very first day at school).
Rules for
responsible activities
The bigger an organisation, the more important it is to create structures which define clear regulations for all of its actions.
The Volkswagen Group has summarised
all of the general principles within its
Code of Conduct. This code of conduct
also applies to VfL Wolfsburg, and thus
provides its employees with guidelines to
help them master the legal and ethical
challenges they face in their every day
working lives. To avoid any risks arising
from conflicts of interest, VfL Wolfsburg
has also appointed a Compliance Officer
and elaborated regulations in close cooperation with Volkswagen AG, which
now establish the framework for responsible corporate actions. Special attention
was given to criteria defined for the acceptance and issuing of presents, invitations and donations. These rules also
stipulate that the Controlling department
must examine and approve every single
contract before it can be authorised by
the Management Board.
16 | 17
The Public Prosecutor’s Office is currently investigating one of the sponsors
of VfL Wolfsburg because of allegations
of corrupt practices. We cannot make
any comment about this state of affairs
whilst the investigations are still in progress. No allegations have been made
at any time concerning VfL WolfsburgFußball GmbH.
Data protection is also an important issue
at VfL Wolfsburg. Every employee is required to treat every kind of document,
confidential data and information, knowl-
Wölfi, the VfL mascot, is active not only
in the stadium but also in clubs, schools
and kindergartens.
VfL’s green activities include not only
the total­change-over to eco-electricity
for operating­all of its equipment but
also its own fan merchandise line made
of organic cotton.
Together with the Lord Mayor
of Wolfsburg, Klaus Mohrs, VfL manager
Thomas Röttgermann­presented the
city bus in spring 2012, painted to
advertise the Moving Together initiative.
edge and results with strict confidentiality; moreover, they are required to confirm
this commitment by signing a relevant
confidentiality agreement. The Head of
Procurement Holger Matysiak has been
appointed as the Data Protection Officer.
On the procurement side, VfL Wolfsburg also works very closely together
with Volkswagen AG. The sustainability
stipulations governing purchasing were
therefore modelled on the regulations issued by the parent company. The procurement of stationery was optimised by
Strategy
taking random samples to identify the
amount of consumables required. In July
2012, the club also began to establish
its own quality management for its merchandising, and iis carrying out this task
in co-operation with experts for quality assurance and textile certification.
One of the aims here is to ensure that
all products satisfy the stipulated product-quality and product-safety criteria.
A sustainable collection of organic cotton clothing was included in the collection as the “Green Line”. In addition, the
third football shirt in the 2012/2013 sea-
son is derived from the “Better-Place” initiative launched by adidas. To guarantee
the satisfaction of its fans and spectators, and to maintain an optimal flow of
information, VfL Wolfsburg has also established a strict procedure as part of
its complaints management process on
how to deal with written and telephone
criticisms and inquiries.
With respect to the financial situation of
the football club, the managers responsible for VfL Wolfsburg are unanimous
that solid financing must be guaran-
teed to safeguard the sustainable existence of the club. The implementation of
the UEFA Financial Fairplay initiative is
therefore explicitly welcomed. However,
the club in Wolfsburg is confronted by a
very special situation: the current regulations do not differentiate between sponsors in the classic sense and sponsors
who are also the owners – as is the case
with Volkswagen AG. Volkswagen AG has
very deep roots in the city, and its involvement in the club is neither an investment
nor a game: its prime objective here is to
pursue long-term objectives which bring
permanent benefits to the whole region.
VfL Wolfsburg is therefore of the opinion
that the justification for sponsoring cannot be measured by standard benchmarks but has to be compared with the
individual benefits for the sponsor. The
long-term impact in particular plays a
role here, unlike sponsoring in the classic
sense. The enormous value of Volkswagen AG’s involvement in VfL Wolfsburg
can be gauged amongst other things by
the fact that public awareness of the parent company as the sponsor of the club
is the highest in the whole Bundesliga.
18 | 19
Strategy
Mutual partnership
The whole of VfL Wolfsburg’s social commitment is supported
by collaboration with experts to guarantee the necessary technical competence at all times.
For this reason, the club is a member of
the German Association of Environmental Management e.V. (B.A.U.M.), and is
involved in the plattform für ernährung
und bewegung e.V. (peb) (Platform for
Nutrition and Exercise). It also maintains
partnerships with Naturschutzbund
Deutschland e.V. (NABU) (German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union); the city of Wolfsburg; and the Niedersachsen Ministry of Education. As part of
the project “Kick-off VfL – 100 schools
& 100 associations” VfL Wolfsburg cooperates with numerous schools, clubs
At the B.A.U.M. annual meeting
2011 in Hamburg, Professor
Dr. Maximilian­Gege (right) presents
VfL Managing Director Thomas Röttgermann with his membership certificate.
and kindergartens; works with a number
of universities; is involved in the working
groups of the Deutscher Fußballbund
e.V. (DFB) (German Football Association) and the Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL)
(German Football League). And finally,
VfL Wolfsburg is one of the founding
members of the CSR Working Group of
the Bundesliga Foundation where it continues to be particularly active.
In addition, the club is involved in regular dialogue with many stakeholders including sponsors and representatives of the
city of Wolfsburg, the partners of each of
the projects, and the Fan Project. Lectures are also held to present information to
interested members of the public.
VfL Wolfsburg has won numerous
awards in recognition of its intense commitment, including the Ökoprofit-Siegel (Eco-profit Label) on the occasion
of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011.
­Moreover, the club was nominated for
the German Online Communications
Prize 2012 in recognition of its barrierfree online presence.
20
Interviews
Together for
people and nature
‘Moving Together’ is an initiative supported and shaped
by people­. It unifies the goals of making positive changes in
social­and ecological areas. Five initiative supporters describe
in interviews what they are striving for with VfL Wolfsburg.
“The club is always coming up with ideas”
22
K
atrin Bornschein, teacher at the Erich-Kästner Primary School in Weddel
on “Anstoß VfL”, the Muuvit Adventure and VfL-Wiki
“Making sustainability understandable”24
N
ico Briskorn, Director Corporate Social Responsibility of VfL Wolfsburg-Fußball GmbH,
on the development of a CSR strategy for VfL Wolfsburg
“Barrier-free, everywhere”26
Gudrun Kneiske-Spitzer – Wolfsburg Health and Social Affairs Representative
on integration and inclusion at VfL Wolfsburg
“An ideal combination”28
Olaf Tschimpke, NABU President, on co-operation with the Wolves in the fields
of environmental protection and environmental education
“Motivating children to enjoy exercise”29
Liesel Westermann-Krieg, Discus silver medallist at the 1968 Olympic Games,
and Muuvit ambassador
Gemeinsam bewegen
21
As part of the muuvit adventure, an
exercise session was organised with 120
schoolchildren at Brome primary school
Interviews
22
Interviews
“The club is always
coming up with ideas”
Katrin Bornschein,
Teacher at the Erich-Kästner school
Could you briefly describe the partner project with VfL
Wolfsburg­?
The Erich-Kästner-Schule has been a partner school to VfL Wolfsburg since 2008 and is now working closely and successfully with
the club for the fifth year. What the children especially like, in addition to the annual visits to the stadium, are the Muuvit Adventure, the exercise and the focus on healthy food. Our latest project
is VfL-Wiki, which offers totally new possibilities and motivates the
children especially well. VfL-Wiki means they can make their own
knowledge available to others and so learn successfully with others and from others.
What were your expectations from the co-operation when the
project started, and of co-operation with VfL Wolfsburg?
Because this was absolutely new for schools, I did not have any
great expectations of the partnership but I did have the hope that
maybe one of the professional players would visit us in the school
or maybe train with the children. And the option of going to a Bundesliga match together with lots of children was something I found
very attractive. For many children the subject of football is a very
important thing outside of school, and I think they feel particularly
at home in a school where this part of their lives is not excluded.
Have your expectations been fulfilled?
They have been exceeded. Over the course of time, the “Kick-off
VfL” project has further developed and many more activities have
been added. Whereas in the early days the co-operation was limited only to sporting aspects, this has changed over the years. Key
aspects are now also education and health education. Our VfL
highlight was the visit by Armin Veh and
Achim Sarstedt to our school at the start of
the Muuvit Adventure, which in the meantime has become a fixed part of our school
calendar. Something very special, and I
think unique in its implementation with a
Bundesliga club, is VfL-Wiki. The link with
football means the kids are especially motivated and really enjoy learning. By working
together on the computer they gain media
skills and also learn which roles and security issues one needs to bear in mind on the
internet. As for the teaching staff, we are
particularly pleased about the further edu-
cation offers provided by VfL relating to the subject of “The Ball”.
The latest further education session, the “Ball School”, was very
practically orientated, and we were able to incorporate new ideas
directly into classroom teaching.
How does the co-operation work with the club? What role
does VfL play?
VfL Wolfsburg demonstrates a great deal of initiative; the club is
always coming up with new ideas. On top of the projects I have
already mentioned, for example there is as of recently the possibility of having the club’s green and white media bus come to
the school. In the bus the children can learn a great deal about
healthy food and movement. These are subjects which are a priority at our school and are also part of our mission statement.
This co-operation is definitely an enrichment for our school life!
How do you see VfL’s influence on the project’s success?
It is of course important for many of the children that the VfL Wolfsburg Bundesliga club is behind the projects. Some children for example only got interested in the VfL-Wiki project because one can
put together a fantastic team poster as a kind of jigsaw puzzle or
because they enjoy the football quiz. But it did motivate them to
use the offers available and now practise their multiplication tables with shirt numbers or similar. Thanks to VfL and the inclusion
of football-related themes, the motivation to learn has increased
amongst many of the children.
How is the project received by the participants?
Various parts of the projects often move different children. Lots of
the girls only visited a football stadium because
of the invitation to a league match, which awakened their interest in football. Many of the children are very enthusiastic about Muuvit and it
has motivated many to move more; even some
of the parents are joining in. VfL-Wiki addresses children who might not otherwise be super
sporting but like writing. It is often the equipment
and organisation at the school which decides
how intensively Wiki is used. Our school was
lucky in that, thanks to the club’s support, it was
able to organise writing conferences with other
schools. All of the kids enjoyed this and showed
great learning progress and high engagement.
23
What effects has the project had on participants?
For many of the children the subject of football is positive emotionally and therefore improves the fun of learning. And everything
which is learned through fun is also retained better.
How would you assess the social engagement of football clubs
in general?
Football is a role model for many people in our society and embodies those elements which many wish for themselves: success, respect, affluence, popularity. Many children say they would like to
be professional footballers and try to copy the examples set. That’s
Interviews
why it is so very important that the football clubs also use their influence and send out positive signals, also in the social domain.
How do you see VfL Wolfsburg’s social engagement in particular?
VfL Wolfsburg has recognised its function as a role model in the
social domain and taken it to heart. Its focus on the subjects of
education, integration, health and environment covers key areas
of our society, and fills them with life. This is something I can only
welcome and, as a partner school, we are very happy about the
support offered us through the co-operation with VfL Wolfsburg.
23 24|
Interviews
“Making sustainability
understandable”
Nico Briskorn, Director Corporate Social Responsibility
VfL Wolfsburg-FuSSball GmbH
Can you tell us about the motives for developing a comprehensive CSR strategy?
Sustainability and social responsibility have long been central elements in our DNA. Since its founding in 1945, VfL Wolfsburg, as
a Bundesliga club and an important component within the town
of Wolfsburg, has always accepted its large responsibility for the
people in the region. The ‘Moving Together’ initiative which started in early 2012 gives this engagement a framework. It is under
this umbrella that we will be communicating all of our CSR activities in a transparent fashion. The decisive factor for us is that we
do this in a way which is credible to 100 per cent and provides a
full picture of the club in all of its CSR facets.
What are your expectations from this initiative?
The ‘Moving Together’ initiative is a vehicle for making sustainability understandable in all of its dimensions so that there is a
higher level of awareness of our CSR activities. The new structure, with its four defined focus areas of education, integration,
health and environment, gives the activities a clearer profile. The
four areas help us to bundle our already existing activities and
initiate new, clearly defined projects. We already enjoy the support of our partner schools, clubs and kindergartens as well as
from the club professionals and trainers, who all regularly make
themselves available for this good course. I am sure that, at the
end of the day, the top priority is gaining three points in the match
on the field. But what we want of our ‘Moving Together’ initiative
is to also set benchmarks off the field. A football match is more
than just 90 minutes. In the future we want to include our fans
and employees in things even more. The precondition for that
is that we are able to reach out to them, to get them on board.
And that means making sustainability understandable, making
it come alive. That is the only way in which this initiative will help
reinforce identification and strengthen the picture of a club that
is team-orientated and sustainable.
Were there examples which provided orientation?
We did of course look around us in the Bundesliga and in other
European leagues even though the professionalisation of CSR in
the football domain is still in its early stages. We also had a look at
classic business enterprises. What can we learn from them and
what can we transfer to football? Last, but not least, we also benefited from the know-how of our parent, Volkswagen, which has
been actively and professionally involved in this field for many
years now. Having said that, we are not trying to copy: we want to
primarily to be innovative! Which is why we are taking an intensive,
in-depth look at the four core fields and considering together with
colleagues, experts and partners which projects and measures
will help us contribute to sustainable development of our society.
Can you describe how things happened?
In November 2009 the management approved the previously
drafted CSR concept, which was then finalised and continuously
improved with ideas and suggestions from colleagues and in various workshops. The high priority already given to CSR at that time
was underpinned by the creation of a dedicated CSR department
as of 1 July 2010. This was followed by the first new projects in
the four focus areas, including VfL-Wiki in the education sector.
And then in January 2012 we presented the ‘Moving Together’
initiative to the public for the first time. Since then we have been
concentrating in particular on communicating our activities. The
latest milestone is the publication of the sustainability report.
Why were the four areas of education, integration, health and
environment selected?
As a football club we have the function of a role model, in particular for children and young people. We believe that we can act
as a force to motivate exactly these children and young people
in the three fields of education, integration and health. Our aim
is motivate them to have sufficient exercise, enjoy healthy food
and be enthusiastic about learning, whether they are in school
or out of school. The focus of the
subject of integration is to sensitise people for a society characterised by tolerance, prepared
to accept everybody in its midst.
The subject of the environment,
which we have been involved
in for quite some time now, has
come even more into the spotlight, not least because of Fukushima. We need on the one hand
to constantly remind ourselves
to become even greener and on
the other to make a contribution
to encouraging people to take
part in their community by com-
24 | 25
EDUCATION
INTEGRATION
HEALTH
ENVIRONMENT
EDUCATION
HEALTH
municating our activities and bringing fans and club members
on board.
Why and how did you select your partners?
We decided to initiate the majority of our projects in our own right,
with the proviso that we have set our sights on topmost quality. In
order to satisfy the expectations we are dependent upon expertise provided by partners. They provide the know-how we lack
and support us in developing innovative and effective projects,
projects which fit our bill. Our education project, VfL-Wiki, is a
great example. Working together with experienced media educationalists, who have in the past realised many national and
international Wiki projects, we have created a highly innovative
e-learning arrangement for schools which is unparalleled in Germany; a project which helps motivate children to learn using the
subjects of new media and football as vehicles.
How is your engagement being received by project partners
and by stakeholders in particular?
The many messages of positive feedback, in particular from our
225 social partners, with whom we have already been collaborating since 2006 under the auspices of the “Kick-off VfL” project, tell us that we are moving in the right direction. There is a
very high level of willingness to take active part in the projects
organised as part of the ‘Moving Together’ initiative in particular from our partner schools, clubs and kindergartens. In addition, the subject of the environment already has three major
sponsors, integrated in the form of VfL Environment Partners.
The sponsors include the LandE-Stadtwerke Wolfsburg (LSW),
the provider of our eco-electricity, as well as zentralsolar and
Avista Oil. For example, our partners provide us with support
in the development of content for new, in part joint projects.
For instance, we offer our fans VfL eco-electricity in collaboration with LSW.
How is this commitment being received by the general public?
After a longer gap, we again started (early in the year) 2012 with a
broad-based campaign in Wolfsburg and in the stadium in which
we also sought to promote our CSR initiative. The feedback was
positive throughout. In addition, we were able to open up new
areas and gain more enthusiastic support for ourselves and our
projects, for example by presenting our education projects VfLWiki and Muuvit at the Didacta fair.
Interviews
Are there any other similar initiatives in the Bundesliga?
In general one can say that CSR is upping its profile in professional sport. Many clubs recognise the major potential of making a meaningful contribution to societal development and at the
same time making gains in terms of fan loyalty, image enhancement or gaining new partners and sponsors – these activities are
becoming more professional. In the Bundesliga, HSV in Hamburg and Werder Bremen are other clubs which have created
their own CSR brands, while other Bundesliga clubs are focusing on particular issues. Examples of this are Mainz 05 and SC
Freiburg, both of which are concentrating on the environment.
Overall the discussions within the league have grown markedly
over the last few years, not least thanks to the support of the Bundesliga Foundation.
What would be your advice to other sports clubs?
That one should never shy away from adopting good examples presented by other clubs. This is an area in which clubs can benefit
much more from each other. Another area could be joint activities
by Bundesliga clubs, because together one can achieve more. In
the first phase, the main effort is on persuasion within the club.
The main factors for success here are having a clear concept, one
which fits the club, and early integration of staff and colleagues who after all have to help realise the concept. Another requirement
for success is also the unconditional support of the management.
In organisational terms, the creation of a CSR department directly
linked to the club management has proven its worth.
Have you any ideas in the pipeline?
In addition to new projects in planning – in particular the extracurricular training area to be provided by building a new mini-stadium in 2014 – our next steps will be trying to improve the networking of our areas of focus. For example, environmental education
in co-operation with the experts from NABU is to be an input into
the Muuvit health project. Our partnership with Unicef will also
help boost our international engagement. We are basically on the
first leg of an exciting journey. On top of this we already have a lot
of ideas on achieving our sustainability goals arising from the CSR
programme. We also intend to include the public even more in our
successes – and communicate our failures openly.
How would you sum up your achievements to date?
We are moving in the right direction, but are definitely still right at
the start. In the last few months, we have entered new areas in
many fields, for example with the first draft of our carbon footprint
and our sustainability report. This has helped us learn a great
deal – which will ultimately benefit us as we seek to become an
even more sustainable club. In the future, I hope that we will continue to keep those people on board whom we have reached thus
far and hopefully encourage even more to join in. We want our
‘Moving Together’ initiative to achieve genuine improvements, to
really help motivate people to get things changed. And to encourage people to move closer together.
26
Interviews
“Barrier-free,
everywhere”
Gudrun Kneiske-Spitzer, Wolfsburg health
and social affairs department
What is your role as the Officer responsible for Persons with
Disabilities?
My role is that of an advisor between the city administration and
its inhabitants. In this sense I can offer people with disabilities
a wide range of help and information. In addition to that I accompany organisations, associations and society on the path to
achieving inclusion. The post of a full-time Officer responsible
for Persons with Disabilities has existed in Wolfsburg since January 2001. The council and the city administration are sending
out the message that the needs of citizens with disabilities are
being taken seriously. At the same time they are also emphasising the goal of making Wolfsburg barrier-free at all levels in order that very individual can take autonomous and unrestricted
part in social life.
What do “barrier-free” and “inclusion” mean for society?
Our society lives from its variety: everybody is different and enriches the community with their unique and special skills and
experience. In the words of former German president Richard
von Weizäcker: “Not being disabled is not a merit in itself but is
a God-given gift which can be taken away every day.” The term
“inclusion” is in that sense a logical further development of what
was started a long time ago under the heading of integration:
living together, for and with one another. The integrative and
inclusive efforts have been a characteristic of the task of community officers for persons with disabilities for many years now,
in particular in the fields of education, living, work, recreation
and sport. I am personally convinced that society must think
and act in an inclusive fashion if it wishes
to provide all people in all areas with an
outstanding and quality future.
Barrier-free has become an important
issue­ for VfL Wolfsburg in the field of
integration. How do you see the club’s
activities­?
VfL Wolfsburg is not only freely accessible and free of barriers in the internet
but also in real life. People with sensory
impairments as well as those who come
to the arena in a wheelchair all feel absolutely welcome. The club has a range of
offers such as barrier-free guided tours
and special training courses which fulfil a very important role. I
consider the way that VfL Wolfsburg has implemented the UN
Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and its engagement for the inclusiveness of all to be worthy of extraordinary recognition.
In the future, VfL Wolfsburg seeks to promote the idea of
inclusion­even more. Can the club set an example and motivate others?
Yes, because it already includes people with disabilities, their
relatives, friends and carers in its activities such that they all
feel they are valued and accepted as individuals. One example
is the club’s engagement for persons suffering from ALS as part
of the Krzysztof Nowak-Foundation, established in response to
the life of footballer Krzysztof Nowak.
What has been your personal experience of working with
VfL Wolfsburg?
For many years now my role as Officer has brought me into close
and positive contact with VfL Wolfsburg, whether this has been
about negotiations for the Ball School or the personal presentation of a donated Kettcar (soap-box racer) by the management to the children of the Peter Pan School. The club makes
an important contribution to our collaboration in that it develops, discusses and realises many creative ideas. One example
is the joint work of VfL Wolfsburg with the Lebenshilfe organisation and VfB Fallersleben at the Special Olympics event in June
2011 involving more than 800 athletes.
How do you see sport and in particular football as a motivating experience in
the ­every­day life of people with disabilities? What is the effect of training with Roy
Präger­?
Wolfsburg without football is simply unthinkable, and VfL is a fixed star in all sports activities. This development, but above all the
proactive engagement of the club, motivates
people to take part, to establish contacts, to
meet or simply to talk. The Special Olympics
event was not only the highlight of 2011 for
all of the athletes. Roy Präger supported the
first Lower Saxony games as a sports pa-
26 | 27
tron and was present personally­– much to the
joy of the athletes and their supporters. Training
with Roy is definitely a highlight for every athlete,
whether disabled­or not.
How would you assess VfL Wolfsburg’s engagement in the ‘Moving Together’ initiative?
“Let’s win together!” is the English translation of
the headline on the club’s homepage. And that
is its goal in every respect: sporting, inclusive,
together, honest – everyone sticking up for each
other! It is a great pleasure for me that there are
people in clubs who not only set out to help people with disabilities, but also invite them to participate, to make them feel welcome and to join
them in clearing barriers out of the way. It is for
this reason that I would like to express my heartfelt thanks as the Officer representing those
Wolfsburg citizens with disabilities and also on
behalf of all guests with disabilities.
Interviews
28
Interviews
“An ideal
combination”
Olaf Tschimpke –President of German Nature
and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU)
Could you give me a brief description of your project in partnership with VfL Wolfsburg?
The “Welcome Wolf” project is a very important one in the protection of nature. When the Iron Curtain came down and the
borders opened, wolves returned to Germany and have re-established themselves here. Unfortunately, wolves do not have
a very good image. It is important to improve that image, so
that wolves can again live here well and receive the necessary­
support­they need, for example in the search for food. The
name of the town of Wolfsburg implies that this was a region
once inhabited by wolves. Our collaboration with VfL Wolfsburg is in that sense an ideal combination. Together we are
now running­the “Tour de Wolf”, a successful PR project for
the wolf.
What were your expectations of co-operating with VfL Wolfsburg and have they been fulfilled?
My hope was that the co-operation would create more attention
than would have been possible alone. And that definitely happened, because the club reaches out and touches the hearts
of people. Our joint campaign is very successful: the wolves are
gradually establishing themselves and people accept it – that is
a huge step forward for the protection of nature. After all, this is
a species which did not leave voluntarily, but was decimated by
humans. The goal is therefore to create a realistic perception of
wolves. The wolf is a species which belongs to Germany, and we
humans simple have to learn to live with this animal. This is something which has long been possible in other regions of the earth,
such as in the Alps and in the Carpathians.
How does co-operation with the club actually work?
VfL Wolfsburg acts not only as a focus of the public eye, it also
takes a proactive role. There are many meetings at which joint
ideas are developed. One example was the home game against
Nuremberg last season at which we started a world record attempt in howling like a wolf.
How is the project received by participants?
The “Tour de Wolf” is a great success; it has created a huge interest in the subject: Where are the conflicts? What can one do?
Our wolf expert Markus Bathen is incredibly knowledgeable and
is great at providing explanations. But people also want to experience the fascination of this animal.
What would you say about the social responsibility of football
clubs in general?
Everybody has a social responsibility. This is particularly so for
professional sports, because the German Bundesliga reaches out
to more people than any other organisation. The Bundesliga also
enjoys the privilege of being an advertising partner in the public
domain. NABU would by itself never get any advertising in public
service television, whereas Bundesliga clubs can advertise with
their sponsors. This gives the clubs the opportunity of demonstrating their responsibility by entering into this kind of co-operation.
How do you assess VfL Wolfsburg’s engagement on the subject
of sustainability?
It is simply not possible for the state to regulate and organise everything; many things today are only possible via the engagement
of individuals. It is in this connection that the German football Bundesliga, in particular VfL Wolfsburg, has an important role to play.
Environmental protection is an important issue at the club. The
club is currently in the process of developing and implementing
more strategies in the field of water management and waste management. And this is definitely positive. If one now adds the nature protection element – meaning the co-operation with NABU
to protect the wolf – it is definitely exemplary. I think it is right that
VfL Wolfsburg is so comprehensively and deeply committed to the
subject of sustainability. A vital thing here is to set specific goals
so that achievements can be measured. VfL Wolfsburg does this
outstandingly well – and that is true for all aspects of sustainability.
Is the co-operation to be extended? What kind of projects are
in the pipeline?
There are no hard and fast plans, but one definite thought is to
adopt a joint approach to the subject of environmental education
– both in terms of new as well as existing projects. For example,
there are already some solid ideas on integrating NABU in one
of the environmental routes in the Muuvit Adventure. Generally
speaking, there is still a lot of potential available in public relations
work for environmental protection. We need to get people behind the energy transition, and make sure they understand that
we need the protection of nature, intact eco-systems and landscapes full of life. The communicative power of a Bundesliga club
can definitely help in bringing all of that forward. Which is why it
is good that VfL Wolfsburg has integrated these topics. The players are role models – especially for young people.
29
Interviews
“Motivating children
to enjoy exercise”
Liesel Westermann-Krieg, Discus silver medallist
at the 1968 Olympic Games, and Muuvit ambassador
What does health mean for you?
“Mens sana in corpore sano“ – this famous aphorism about a
healthy mind in a healthy body is already over 2,000 years old
but still widely quoted today. I would like to emphasise that even
back then it was more of a wish, a hope for a favourable fate. Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that every one of us has a significant influence on this fate. Lots of exercise every day, and a
balanced diet, make a vital contribution to feeling good and keeping healthy. This can be difficult sometimes because of lethargy,
as well as the absence of the right external conditions. Keeping
healthy is a life-long task.
What was the key thing that motivated you to become a sponsor
of the Muuvit Adventure?
Education scientists have been looking at what is happening in
Finland for many decades, and marvelling at the outstanding results produced by Finnish children in international comparisons
of school performance. When I was also introduced to the philosophy behind the Muuvit Adventure, I was immediately impressed,
and wanted to help open this “door to exercise” for our children in
Niedersachsen as well.
How important is exercise for children and young people?
Exercise is the engine for learning and development. People explore their surroundings through movement. This begins with the
deliberate eye movements of month-old babies, then takes in
grasping movements, and then crawling and walking to selected
locations. Attentive parents and carers promote this development,
and are delighted with the child about every sign of progress. As
adults, we only too frequently lose sight of this connection between movement, curiosity, learning and development. Jumping around, messing about, scuffling and running, hopping and
jumping, are also unfortunately disappearing increasingly from
the daily lives of children as well.
To what extent can Muuvit help children enjoy a healthy lifestyle?
Muuvit motivates. With its adventure destinations, the programme
motivates them to get exercise and integrates this within overall
learning targets. It encourages all children – from those that get little exercise, to sports club members – to join together to get more
exercise every day. The special thing about Muuvit is of course
that its strategy is to improve the total amount of exercise under-
taken by a class. The children in the learning group realise that
they can significantly improve their performance if they can successfully motivate the most lethargic in their group. They therefore
focus their attention on these children, talk to them, and get them
more and more involved. This considerably improves the social
atmosphere at the same time as boosting the enjoyment of learning amongst all of them.
What personal experience have you gained of the Muuvit Adventure as an ambassador? How popular is Muuvit in the classrooms?
The children are all very enthusiastic without exception. They
seem to have unlimited creativity and a never-ending supply of
ideas. The teachers often find that Muuvit becomes very catching
in their schools. The “Moving Schools” project in Niedersachsen
gains a new dimension in this way. I am personally very happy to
have helped VfL to introduce Muuvit to Germany and other European countries.
How do you assess the social responsibility of football clubs?
There is a football club in almost every village. An enormous number of children love to kick a football around. They are regularly
trained and assisted by their coaches. It is important that the
coaches employ a great deal of sensitivity to keep all of the children “on the ball”. The social responsibility of football clubs should
therefore not be underestimated.
What is your experience
of the social commitment
of VfL as part of the ‘Moving Together’ initiative?
VfL Wolfsburg brings its
responsibility very much
alive with its initiative.
Teachers, coaches and
parents are all involved in
the activities, to ensure
that the door to exercise is
opened for many children,
and that they therefore
have a chance to develop
healthily. What more could
one ask?!
Employees
A strong team – VfL and VW. VfL Wolfsburg is
the first Bundesliga team with organised employee
representation, offering its employees fair
working conditions and long-term prospects.
Headline Lorem
Headline Ipsum
Vorspann etum velitas aute andem aut illatas as int ut h
­ arum into et
moditisiti sum re aperum quam dolla ne voluptatur, custo blabore
remporionsed mos qui diti consequae veruntis restiamus.
30 | 31
employees
Responsible
employers
Dealing with employees is the core
of VfL Wolfsburg’s social engagement.
Behind the scenes of the club’s sporting
achievements, VfL Wolfsburg employs a
growing number of administrative staff:
over the last ten years the number of backoffice staff has risen from 18 in financial
year 2001/02 to today’s figure of 123 (as
of August 2012).
Employees at VfL Wolfsburg are characterised by their high level of engagement,
their initiative and their absolute commitment to the club’s values. It is only thanks
to the work of this powerful team that the
club is able to convince other partners
and help in moving things, also off the
field. How the club interacts with its staff
is at the core of VfL Wolfsburg’s social engagement.
organised employee
representation­
VfL bears as high a level of responsibility for its administrative staff as it does for
its players. Following the full take-over by
the Volkswagen Group in 2007, the club
was allocated an employee representative from within the Group in 2009. This
move made VfL Wolfsburg the first member of Germany’s football Bundesliga to
have an organised employee representative. Following negotiations with the IG
Metall union and shop stewards, agreements were reached concerning the introduction of wage scales as well as regulations on bonuses, overtime, flexitime and
retirement, which were implemented on
1 July 2010. Although a collective wage
agreement was not established, the provisions concluded are orientated towards
the V
­ olkswagen Group’s high standards.
The social standards at VfL are also reflected in the very low employee-­fluctuation
rate: during financial year 2011/12, only
two of the 123 total of administrative employees left the club; the year before the
figure was zero. Following parental leave,
almost 100 per cent of staff return to their
jobs. In 2011 the club established its own
HR management unit with three employees. The unit is responsible for all essential HR tasks, such as staff recruitment
including applicant relations and the negotiation of company agreements.
Fair play not quotas
One of many employees with a big social
engagement­: during the Berlin marathon
Dawid Pierzchalski collected money for a relief
project­in Nepal­in a sponsored run.
VfL employees are guaranteed fundamental rights such as fair wages, regular working hours, holiday entitlements and fringe
benefits by way of company-internal agreements. All employees with indefinite contracts have the option of an occupational
pension plan – in the administration sector
this affects 84 per cent of all staff. Furthermore, on 1 January 2013 VfL established a
32 | 33
employees
VfL Wolfsburg staff training on a new
office car – an electric Golf blue-e-motion
from the Volkswagen test fleet.
provident fund for employeeswho through
no fault of their own slip into financial distress as a result of accident, sickness or
the death of a close relative.
When hiring new staff, the club focuses
above all on personal qualifications as well
as on the applicant’s experience; introducing a rigid quota system would contradict
the club’s goals. This notwithstanding, VfL
proactively pre-empts every and any form
of discrimination. Reference is made to
the corresponding provisions and regulations of the General Equal Treatment Act
(GETA) and is a fixed part of the recruitment process. To date, no single case of
discrimination is known of throughout the
entire company.
In 2012 VfL joined the “Fair Company” organisation, a public declaration of its acceptance of the organisation’s principles.
These include the undertaking that no
full-time jobs will be replaced by trainees
or temporary staff, and that trainees shall
be appropriately deployed and be paid
a fair allowance. Relating to the employment of underage staff, VfL operates in
strict compliance with the German law on
the protection of minors. This being the
case, the club only employs young persons aged 14+ within the established legal framework - for example, relating to
holiday internships for schoolchildren.
Full backing for
professional footballers
Passionate football and hard work – these
are the two pillars upon which VfL Wolfsburg’s success is based. Because the
physical and mental fitness of all players is
absolutely paramount, the club promotes
comprehensive health and fitness for its
players. Every team has at least one doctor and one physiotherapist at its disposal.
The players enjoy comprehensive support from a specifically established
VfL-partner Ehme de Riese provides regular eye tests for players.
player-support organisation. For example, this covers finding accommodation,
dealing with authorities, organising child
care; effectively all important organisational details, plus the help to help themselves. Foreign players are helped to
achieve speedy integration via intensive
language courses as well as a special intercultural trainer. Events organised specifically for family members and children
help promote integration and also boost
good teamwork. And finally, VfL also provides players’ families with support on
their homeward journeys.
Voluntary staff activities
Moving together – this is the motto according to which VfL also supports the
voluntary community work of its employees. The office team is supported by VfL
and has been in existence since 2003:
VfL helps fund sports clothing, footballpitch rents and trips to away games as
well as stadium tickets for the opposition
at friendly matches in Wolfsburg. In 2012
the employees set up their own fan club,
underpinning their level of identification
with the club.
One of its traditions is travelling to a Bundesliga away game at the end of the season. VfL also supports individual voluntary
activities by its employees. For example it
provides one staff member with his own
sales box at the sponsors’ fair to generate
donations by selling photographs. His efforts collected EUR 2,000 in aid of children in Nepal. The money is intended to
help them attend school. From 2012 onwards, all staff members will also be able
to take part in the Wolfsburg Marathon
free of charge.
Making players fit
for life after sport
The VfL accepts its responsibility for the vocational future
of its players far beyond their sporting careers.
VfL accepts its responsibility for the professional future of its players, with a scope far
beyond active playing careers. For example, the club offers those junior players who
might not manage the step into the Bundesliga a number of alternative vocations
in co-operation with associations and organisations in the region. Working in close
co-operation with AutoVision, a Volkswagen subsidiary, up to five young players are
given the chance every year of vocational
training in addition to their sporting activities, or entering a dual course of studies.
A training concept was developed specifically tailored to the needs of footballers.
During 2011 four junior players took up
this option and entered training courses as
warehousing specialists and as a service
specialist for dialogue marketing.
VfL itself also offers its junior players
training opportunities and corresponding jobs concurrent to or after their foot-
ball careers. As examples, Verena Faißt,
who played for Germany’s national women’s team, and her team colleague Selina
Wagner and former player Melissa Thiem
took up and passed training courses at
VfL and are now employed by the club in
part-time and full-time jobs. In the course
of the current year, football player Luisa
Wensing and the two young players Hendrik Hansen and Julian Brandt entered
training courses at VfL Wolfsburg as office
administrators. As part of its comprehensive training concept, VfL also works in
close co-operation with schools and parents to promote not only the sporting but
also the educational and personal skills of
its players.
Strong partner
for training
With respect to the further training of its
administrative staff, VfL also makes use
of its partnership with the VW Group. As a
result, staff have access to various further
training offers within the Group. In 2010
all employees who need to communicate
in English had the option of attending a
VfL-funded language course. This course
is again available since August 2012 and
involves two groups over a four-month period attending weekly 1.5 hour lessons.
VfL-talent Maximillian Arnold signed his
professional contract aged 17, marking his step into the A-youth team of the
Bundesliga squad. In addition to daily
training he also worked on gaining his
advanced­technical college certificate.
34 | 35
employees
121
84
Days of education and training.
Total period of further education
measures during 2011.
1032
Percentage of workforce
represented on occupational
safety committees to monitor
and discuss occupational
safety programmes.
Sick days in 2011
– with and without pay.
Equivalent to 7.4 days per employee.
The German average is 13.0 days.*
Fit for the office –
Health offers for
administrative­staff
Another area in which VfL benefits from its partnership with
the VW Group is occupational health services. The pillars of
health management are set out in an occupational health care
provision­contract with VW’s health service.
For example, this involves VW ­company
doctors being tasked with monitoring
and supporting occupational safety and
health protection at places of work. In
addition to risk assessments, the procurement of medical aid and occupational medical consulting, this also includes the promotion of risk-aware
behaviour by staff. Similarly, employees
have the opportunity of having medical
check-ups including eye tests for staff
working at computer workstations.
VfL staff are also able to take part in the
VW Group social coaching offers, with a
comprehensive range of advice options.
Personal advisors provide support for
those seeking help to deal with personal
and social problems. They offer crisis intervention and advice relating to addictive
disorders or financial distress.
Another offer is by way of co-operation
with the FitnessFirst fitness club. Staff enjoy discounted membership; in addition,
staff members are also in the front line for
the Muuvit Adventure offered by VfL (see
chapter: Society).
Assuring the fitness of
professionals
In order to protect the unimpaired health
and abilities of its players, VfL has established professional structures for both its
women’s and men’s teams. Every team
has access to its own team doctor and
three (male) and two (female) physiotherapists. These health professionals offer not only intensive monitoring of
general fitness via regular check-ups but
also many supporting measures. These
include osteopathic treatments, annual
eye sight and regular dental check-ups
as well as individual nutritional advice.
The women’s team is also able to make
use of a deal arranged with an exclusive
fitness club in Wolfsburg. Female players can also use an offer for regeneration
and development training with coaching.
Another co-operation also exists with
the Wolfsburg-based optician Ehme de
Riese, which offers annual eye sight testing to all female players.
* Source: AOK scientific institute (WIDO), absenteeism report 2012
Headline Lorem
Ecology
Headline Ipsum
Move to change: VfL Wolfsburg considers climate protection
Vorspann
etum velitas
aute andem
illatas
as int ut
h
­ arum
and environmental
protection
to aut
be high
PRIORITIES,
WHILE
ITS into et
moditisiti sum
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dolla ne voluptatur,
custoin
blabore
­ECOLOGICAL
engagement
is a motivator
for other players
society.
remporionsed mos qui diti consequae veruntis restiamus.
36 | 37
Ecology
We believe in Green
Active environmental protection plays a key role in the ‘Moving
Together’ concept implemented by VfL Wolfsburg. In this context,
the colour green is not only the club colour: it also stands for
its high environmental commitment.
The establishment of the club’s “We believe in Green” slogan
in June 2011 crystallised the dedication to implementing environmental protection with all of its consequences. The aim is
for the club to become even greener and to leave a green legacy.
Even Today, VfL Wolfsburg makes a contribution to climate and
environmental protection with an enormous number of measures, and is firmly committed to expanding its environmental
commitment even further in the future. The club also acts as a
motivator here to press for changes. Specific measures in terms
of environmental management, energy, water, waste and mobility set positive, act as positive examples and are implemented
with the aim of motivating the public and fans fans to participate, in line with its ‘Moving Together’ concept.
Environmental protection
as a key guideline
A large number of fundamental measures graphically highlight
that environmental protection is not a mere side issue at VfL
Wolfsburg: it is an integral part of its management structures.
In the run-up to the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011, the club
took part in the Green Goal sustainability campaign and implemented the Eco-profit environmental management system
(environmental project for integrated environmental technology). The key elements of the Eco-profit programme are joint
workshops held by the project participants, and local consultations with experts. The workshop topics, including energy,
water and waste, involve the collection and evaluation of the
organisation’s own facts and figures with the aim of achieving
improvements across the board. Eco-profit deliberately aims
here to set up local networks to support environmental protection. VfL Wolfsburg was certified pursuant to the environmental
management standard ISO 14001 on 21 June 2011, and was
awarded the “Eco-profit stadium 2011” accolade.
VfL Wolfsburg is also one of only a few of the 36 First and Second Division Bundesliga clubs to have its own environmental
team. Maik Rummel, VW Arena Technical Manager, Kristian
Mallon, Stadium Operations Organisation Assistant, and Nico
Briskorn, CSR Manager, are the three members of this working group. Together with the office staff, they analyse the different departments to assess their potential for intelligent and
sustainable development pursuing climate and environmental
protection strategies. It is hoped that this process will enable
the ideas and potential environmental measures to be implemented in an appropriate practise-oriented way.
VfL Wolfsburg has integrated five key environmental guidelines into its corporate philosophy to ensure that environmental protection can become a practicable part of every day
work. In this way, the club pledges to continuously further develop its environmental protection activities with the aim of
reducing its environmental impact. The environmental guidelines are not a mere declaration of intent, they are binding for
all employees.
Working together
for sustainability
With its membership of B.A.U.M. e.V. – the largest industry environmental initiative in Europe – VfL Wolfsburg again emphasizes that its commitment to an intact environment goes well
beyond its sporting activities. The initiative hopes to help the
club develop and implement measures and concepts for sustainability, environmental compatibility and climate protection.
As part of the annual meeting in Hamburg, VfL Managing Director Thomas Röttgermann was handed the membership certificate by the Chairman of B.A.U.M. e.V., Prof. Maximilian Gege
on 23 September 2011.
Fully in accord with its ‘Moving Together’ concept, VfL Wolfsburg also allows other interested parties to benefit from its expertise and experience. For instance, VfL Managing Director
Thomas Röttgermann gave a technical presentation on 13 and
14 February 2012 in Düsseldorf as part of the “Sustainability and Sport” forum of the SpoBis Sport Business Congress,
on the club’s pioneering role in the region and environmental
­responsibility.
38 | 39
Ecology
Leaving a
green legacy
One of VfL Wolfsburg’s key environmental objectives
is to significantly reduce its CO2 emissions.
As part of its environmental partnership with LSW (a Wolfsburg utility company), the club has been supplied with
green electricity from hydroelectric power plants since 1 June 2011. The offices,
the Volkswagen Arena, the Football Academy and the rooms used by the footballers at the old VfL stadium Elsterweg are
supplied 100 % with eco-electricity. This
corresponds to a reduction in damaging CO2 emissions of 2,188 tonnes in the
2011/2012 season. With its commitment
to the use of eco-electricity, the club also
makes a positive contribution to its influential role in the eyes of the fans.
VfL Wolfsburg also implements numerous
other measures to use the energy required
to operate the Volkswagen Arena in an
environmentally-compatible way. For instance, the stadium is operated with building-management technology: this enables
the ventilation and heating systems, the
lighting and the pitch sprinkler system to
be centrally controlled and monitored with
the aim of keeping energy consumption to
an absolute minimum. The fire alarm-system and the access-control system are
also incorporated within this installation.
Moreover, the pitch-heating system is fed
with the water returning from the buildingheating system, and is equipped with sensors which ensure that the pitch heating
is only switched on when necessitated by
low external temperatures.
Discussions are currently under way to
evaluate options for reducing energy
consumption further. This involves exchanging experience with other technical managers working for First and Second Division Bundesliga clubs. One of the
options includes using only LED lamps to
light the underground car park. According
to the manufacturers, this should enable
the energy consumption in this area to be
halved. The system is currently being tested in part of the underground car park.
A project aimed at air conditioning the
recreation area using a well cooling/well
borehole installation was prevented by the
lowerwater authorities who refused to give
their consent for the extraction of groundwater and its discharge into the sewers.
Another project which was turned down
by the Wolfsburg city administration for
optical reasons was the installation of a solar car port on the P2 car park. VfL Wolfsburg’s commitment to energy measures
is not limited to its own activities: the CO2
emissions at external events in the Volks­
wagen Arena are also compensated for.
Environmental
footprint as an
important indictor
To gain precise figures on VfL Wolfsburg’s
current CO2 emissions, and to provide a basis for future savings measures, the club
has calculated a CO2 footprint in collaboration with CO2OL. The result: in the 2011 cal-
40 | 41
endar year, VfL Wolfsburg generated a total
of 8,305 tonnes CO2 equivalent – including
the mobility of the stadium visitors. If ecoelectricity had been supplied for the whole
of the year, this figure would have dropped
to 7,311 tonnes CO2 equivalent. However,
because the club was only supplied with
eco-electricity starting from June 2011,
this is only a theoretical figure. If the activities of VfL Wolfsburg alone are considered,
then most of the emissions are associated with the Volkswagen Arena. The men’s
Bundesliga football team as an organisational unit accounts for most of these emissions. An important in-house item is the
mobility of employees, assistants, coaches and players. Overall though, the largest
proportion of the emissions, accounting for
46 per cent, are attributable to the stadium
visitors travelling to and from the stadium.
Travel by car in particular here accounts
for a significant proportion of the CO2 footprint. The club has used these findings to
develop emission reduction scenarios and
Ecology
Irrigating the training field in front of Volkswagen
Arena with grey water from the adjacent canal
(Mittellandkanal).
VfL Wolfsburg environment team (from left): Nico
Briskorn, Maik Rummel and Kristian Mallon­. They
constantly review objectives for intelligent and
sustainable development in climate and environmental protection.
has identified the largest savings potential
in the increased use of buses and trains
by fans.
VfL Wolfsburg also endeavours to reduce
the negative effects on the environment
and the climate caused by the shipment
of fan articles, and compensates for the
emissions generated by this transport. In
collaboration with DHL and the environmentally-compatible GOGREEN mailorder service, the club was able to compensate 1.38 tonnes CO2 in 2009, 4.773
tonnes in 2010, and 4.29 tonnes in 2011.
These emissions compensations were implemented by sponsoring a range of climate protection projects run by DHL in India, China, Turkey and Brazil.
Using water sparingly
VfL Wolfsburg places a high priority on using water sparingly. These measures include extracting water from the nearby Mit-
tellandkanal to water its pitches and lawns.
Using this grey water enabled almost 16.5
million litres of drinking water to be saved
in 2011 – around 36 per cent of the overall consumption, and therefore savings of
more than a third. In this context as well, a
pilot project using the osmo-drain system
was used on the pitch in the Volkswagen
Arena. This environmentally-compatible
technology enables the water and energy
consumption to be reduced even further.
Another benefit is that the technology
claims to make the grass more resilient,
which then reduces the work involved
in repairing and maintaining the pitch,
as well as increasing its overall lifetime
– with a positive overall impact on the
long-term costs of looking after the playing surface. Drinking-water consumption
was reduced further by installing watersaving taps in the boxes and business entertainment areas of the stadium, as well
as the installation of waterless urinals.
Water consumption
total for Arena and fan house
45,391.00 m³
equivalent to 182 full bathtubs­ *
of which, grey water:
16,259 m³
from the canal for
field irrigation­
Waste water volume:
9190.78 m³
There are currently 230 waterless urinals
in the stadium, and more will be added
in future. In addition, all of the car parking spaces around the Volkswagen Arena were paved with water-permeable and
water-storing concrete or grass-grid paving. This enables rain water to percolate
without forming puddles and thus reduces to a minimum the impact on the natural water cycle.
Makoto Hasebe drove the Golf
blue-e-motion­for one month.
Jury meeting at NABU competition as
part of the Welcome Wolf project in
VfL Wolfsburg fan house with representatives of NABU, Volkswagen, city of
Wolfsburg and VfL Wolfsburg, represented
by Diego Benaglio­.
Presentation of new environmental partners LSW and zentralsolar by VfL Managing
Director­Thomas Röttgermann.
* Source: Scharzkopf/Schauma, resource statistics
42 | 43
Ecology
Claudia Roth, Spokeswoman of the Environmental Advisory Board to the Women‘s
Football World Cup 2011 and Environmental and Climate Representative on the DFB
Sustainability Committee, presented Nico
Briskorn (for VfL Wolfsburg) with the certified document “ÖKOPROFIT stadium 2011”
award in June 2011.
Recycling paper instead
of fresh cellulose
To help reduce the consumption of forests, VfL Wolfsburg uses recycling paper­
in many of its activities. The club’s business stationery, for instance, carries the
most stringent German environmental label “Blue Angel”. And the stadium magazines as well as the autograph
cards for instance have also been printed on paper with the FSC Mixed or the
FSC Recycled label since 30 September 2011. Another element of this commitment is participation in the “Convert
now” campaign of the Initiative Pro Recycling Paper (IPR). This campaign aims
at further increasing the acceptance of
recycling paper among German companies and institutions.
Less rubbish around
the stadium
Reducing the volumes of waste is another
one of VfL Wolfsburg’s key priorities. The
Paper consumption­
Office-print and copy paper,
A4 format, 80 g/m² weight
approx. 615,000 sheets
largest amounts of rubbish are generated
in the Volkswagen Arena and the immediate surroundings during home matches. Every match day produces around 3.6
tonnes of residual waste and 1.6 tonnes of
waste paper.
Waste volume
The volume of waste generated throughout the season in this way therefore
comes to almost 88 tonnes. To reduce
these volumes of waste, the club has
used reusable cups instead of plastic
cups in its Volkswagen Arena catering areas since the 2010/11 season. The club
also no longer uses cardboard “plates”
for Bratwurst and Schnitzel in the stadium – these items are now sold directly in
buns. VfL Wolfsburg has also implemented a waste separation system in the administrative offices.
Approx. 1.56 t paper
Reducing mobility
emissions
The mobility performance of all 18 clubs in
the Bundesliga First Division was analysed
to determine their climate compatibility.
This was done as part of the “Mobility”
climate check undertaken by GREENCO2MM, CO2OL and CSCP (UNEP/ Wuppertal Institute Collaborating Centre on
Sustainable Consumption and Production). The analysis revealed a great deal
of potential for making improvements, as
well as the relatively good level already
achieved by VfL Wolfsburg in this regard.
For instance, the infrastructural situation
per match day
approx. 3.61 t
residual­ waste
Equivalent to 36 waste bins
(of 240 litres) *
Equivalent to the annual
consumption­of six Germans
(average consumption
per person 250 kg)
associated with the Volkswagen Arena,
and the exemplary visitor information system, came out right on top in a Bundesliga comparison. Areas with potential for
improvement, however, were identified involving aspects such as spectator mobility and the game and business operations.
To reduce the emissions caused by fans
driving to and from VfL Wolfsburg matches, the club has integrated a mobility platform on its website. The features of the
tool include information on all railway and
public transport connections, as well as
an instrument for arranging people to be
given lifts in other people’s cars. The platform also has an integrated CO2 calculator to enable visitors to determine the CO2
emissions of their own inward and outward journeys. Interested parties are also
given an opportunity here of compensating for these emissions.
* Source: Avista Düsseldorf
* Source: German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU)
Energy consumption
total for Arena and Fan House
3,678,652.00 kWh
(enough to iron 55,179,780 shirts)*
Public transport
combined­ticket
Technical assistant
Thomas Kaiser repairs
a lamp under the
Volkswagen Arena roof.
With the launch of the combined ticket, VfL
Wolfsburg initiated an important measure
to strengthen the local public transport
system. The admission­tickets­for games
in the Volkswagen Arena now have in-
clusive outward and homeward journeys
by public transport. Season ticket holders can use the bus and rail network in
the Braunschweig region communal tariff
area free of charge, while day tickets enable the users to travel free of charge on the
buses operated by the Wolfsburg transport company three hours before the start
of the match and three hours after the end
of the match. The aim of these combined
tickets is to slash emissions generated by
fans on their way to and from the stadium.
VfL Wolfsburg reacted immediately to the
CO2 footprint findings by strengthening
the communications for this offer, which
has already existed for the past five years.
Climate competition
To raise the awareness of visitors to the
Volkswagen Arena further, that each and
every one of them can make a contribution to reducing CO2 emissions, VfL Wolfsburg launched a climate competition on
14 April 2012. On the day of the home
match against Augsburg, the club motivated fans to compensate for the CO2
generated on their inward and outward
journeys. The match campaign and numerous climate tips were communicated
in a flyer.
VfL Wolfsburg also acts as a good example for e-mobility by using the Golf
blue-e-motion, a pure electric-powered
car. From the middle of June 2010 to the
end of January 2011, the car was used
by VfL professional Makoto Hasebe and
one of the employees. The user experience gained in this way was passed on to
Volkswagen for the further development
and optimisation of its electric vehicles.
The e-Golf is now being used again by
club employees since May 2012. The car
is charged up at a charging station specifically installed for this purpose at the
Volkswagen­ Arena.
* Source: Verivox, Things you can do
with one kilowatt-hour of power.
44 | 45
Ecology
A heart for wolves
As part of its social commitment under the banner of its ‘Moving
Together’ concept, VfL Wolfsburg is also engaged in the conservation of species diversity.
For instance, the club has been a
NABU wolf sponsor (Naturschutzbund
Deutschland e.V. – German Nature and
Biodiversity Conservation Union)) since
2007. It sponsors the “Welcome Wolf!”
project aimed at reintroducing wolves into
the wild in Germany. One of the main aspects of this collaboration is using a number of different measures to educate people about the habits of wolves living in
the wild. As part of their partnership, VfL
Wolfsburg and NABU launched a world-
record attempt in September 2011 by
asking the club’s fans to take part in the
longest simulated wolf howl in the world.
Participating was possible in various ways
including as part of the “Tour de Wolf”.
conservationists visited the Volkswagen
Arena in October 2011 and gave spectators to the home match against Nuremberg an opportunity to record their own
wolf howl.
This information campaign involving an
interactive touring exhibition took NABU
employees to various locations in Germany where they tried to reassure people that
they had nothing to fear from the reintroduction of wolves into the wild. The nature
During the “Tour de Wolf”, representatives
of VfL Wolfsburg, together with a class of
school children at a partner school, visited Hannover Zoo as part of the club’s
“Kick-off VfL” campaign, and promoted
the “Welcome Wolf!” project.
Wolves again live in the wild in the east of Saxony and in
southern Brandenburg; new cubs were even born in Lower­
Saxony for the first time in 150 years. NABU is seeking
to develop and secure their habitats: the Welcome Wolf
project­seeks to build trust and acceptance amongst the
populace. VfL Wolfsburg supports NABU.
Headline Lorem
Headline Ipsum
Society
Education,etum
Vorspann
health
velitas
and aute
integration
andem aut
areillatas
socialas
issues
int ut h
­ arum into et
close
moditisiti
to the
sum
heart
re aperum
of VfLquam
Wolfsburg
dolla–ne
the
voluptatur,
club has many
custo blabore
remporionsed
innovative
beacon
mos qui
projects
diti consequae
to help sustainable
veruntis changes
restiamus.
happen.
46 | 47
society
VfL Wolfsburg – More
than just a sports club
As a Bundesliga club, VfL Wolfsburg has a major public presence –
on and off the pitch. The club is fully aware that this position also
means that it should set a good example. The club honours this responsibility with a very high level of commitment.
With the start of the ‘Moving Together’ initiative, VfL Wolfsburg sent out a very clear message emphasises that it does
not just react specifically to social challenges, but strategically plans and actively implements all of its corporate social
responsibility measures. The aspects of education, health
and integration mean that three of the four main elements
of its ‘Moving Together’ initiative are involved in the social
sphere.
VfL Wolfsburg has already initiated a wide range of innovative
beacon projects covering all three of these aspects. And in all
cases, to ensure that sustainable changes can be realised, it
always works together with recognised experts. Even beyond
of the activities covered by the ‘Moving Together’ initiative,
VfL Wolfsburg provides unbureaucratic help for social institutions and other organisations by way of cash and non-cash donations. Moreover, the club also assists the city of Wolfsburg
in many ways with its activities involving Agenda 21.
ameliorate the lives of the patients and their families. The
www.novak-stiftung.de website provides information on the
illness around the world, also in the English language.
The Krzysztof Nowak Foundation was launched by VfL Wolfsburg-Fußball GmbH, their players and Deutsche Bank. The
asset base at the time the foundation was established was
EUR 250,000 generated by a friendly match against FC Bayern München. The assets of the foundation have grown considerably since then thanks to numerous generous donations.
A committee with three members manages the activities of
the foundation and allocates the distribution of the foundation’s funds. The foundation receives around one dozen inquiries every year, and up to EUR 5,000 is usually paid out to
the sufferers – in some cases more. Over 100 people suffering from ALS have been assisted in this way since the foundation was established.
Help for people with ALS
International involvement
for education and health
For over ten years now, VfL Wolfsburg’s Krzysztof Nowak
Foundation has been helping people suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease of the nervous system. The foundation established on 2 May 2002 harks back to
the very popular VfL professional Krzysztof Nowak who
had to end his career at the
beginning of 2002 because
of this rare disease, and who
then died in May 2005 at
the age of 29. The foundation provides financial support for people suffering from the
illness and their relatives in line with its slogan “Fast help
without bureaucracy”. This is done to ease their suffering and
VfL Wolfsburg is also involved on the international stage in the
education and health of children and young people. As part
of its Wolfsburg United project, the club entered a strategic
partnership with Unicef on 1 July 2012. Part of this co-operation involves VfL Wolfsburg sponsoring the Unicef project
“Sports for Development”
which takes place in around
75 countries in co-operation with the local sports
and football associations. The minimum sponsorship per year
is EUR 100,000, but is scheduled to rise considerably as the
project proceeds. This sponsorship is made possible by cooperation with selected partner companies from around the
world which participate in the initiative as sponsors.
48 | 49
society
Education projects
make learning fun
Being highly motivated is important to achieve good results –
this is as true in football as in all other areas of life.
VfL Wolfsburg’s main priority on the education side is therefore to get across the joy
of learning to children and young people
and to motivate them in this way to continuously expand their knowledge. Thanks
to its close relationship with 100 partner
schools in the region, the club is able to react in a focused way to the needs of school
children. In the eyes of the managers at
VfL Wolfsburg, the competent handling
of media in particular is considered to be
a key qualification for lifelong learning. In
the configuration and implementation of
the related projects, the club co-operates
with experienced media education experts
from lernmodule.net – a charitable organi-
sation for promoting new media in schools.
VfL Wolfsburg also regularly initiates innovative and creative projects to continue to
act as a driving force for establishing the joy
of learning in the hearts and minds of children and young people.
e-Learning project­
boosts learning
motivation­
VfL-Wiki is a key element in the club’s
commitment to educational aspects. The
innovative e-learning arrangement was
launched in six project schools at the
beginning of November 2011. Its crea-
tive content and wide range of interactive learning formats motivate children to
learn, as well as inviting teachers and parents to join in. The VfL-Wiki is deliberately
kept simple to enable everyone to be able
to write texts and change them even after
only a short period of instruction. In this
way, the users of the Wiki generate knowledge on their own or together with others.
At the same time, they learn how to structure and network this knowledge. Self-initiated learning, as well as the involvement
in a learning group, are therefore boosted by this type of learning. VfL-Wiki is not
only concerned with footballing aspects: a
wide range of specialist fields correspond-
50 | 51
society
burg joined together with VfL-Wiki to present a co-operation agreement with smiley e.V. The society located in Hannover
informs schools, social organisations,
clubs and associations about the use of
media by young people. The co-operation
includes theme-related e-mail support
for the project schools, as well as offers
for seminars and workshops. At the start
of the 2012/2013 school year, VfL-Wiki
was extended to eight additional partner
schools following the publication of an interim report. An information event for this
purpose was held at the Volkswagen Arena in June 2012, and workshops will be
offered at the new schools from the beginning of October.
Career selection
assistance
To give children and young people a practically orientated insight into the world of
work, VfL Wolfsburg has been involved in
the “Girls and boys future day” in Lower
Saxony from April 2011. As part of the
career-orientation activities, 20 pupils
from the fifth grade onwards were given
an opportunity to familiarise themselves
with various departments at the club’s
headquarters. After a guided tour of the
stadium and a quiz, as well as small interactive games, the children and young
people were then able to round off the visit by watching one of the training sessions
held by VfL professionals.
ing to subjects taught in schools – such as
German, mathematics and science – can
be integrated just as easily as unrelated
and creative projects – but all enhance
the excitement and improve the diversity of every day lessons. In addition to “A
visit to VfL”, the current projects include
“Our school ABC”, as well as the topics
“Sustainable development in urban ecosystems” and “Cyber mobbing”. The latter contains important rules of behaviour
to prevent mobbing, as well as information
for parents and teachers.
Because many parents still worry when
their children use the internet, VfL Wolfs-
Students are also given opportunities by
the club several times a year to take a look
behind the scenes at VfL Wolfsburg. This
opportunity was taken up amongst others
by 40 participants of the seminar course
“Management of a professional football
club” run by the University of Göttingen,
who visited the Volkswagen Arena on 2
November 2011 together with the head
of the seminar Dr. Otmar Dyck. After being introduced to the structures of the
company, they were then given presentations on the various departments within the club. These dealt with managers,
trainers and players, as well as controlling, service and sponsoring, all the way
to women’s football.
Nadine Anskeit and Uwe Kohnle­
from lernmodule.net, a non-profit
organisation­promoting new media­
in schools and colleges, explain to
school children how VfL-Wiki works
(at Fallerslebe­n Primary School and in
the Erich-Kästner­School in Weddel).
STRONG TOGETHER
IN BREAKING DOWN
INTOLERANCE­
Football brings a very broad range of people together. The sport
therefore also HELPS TO BREAK DOWN AND STRENGTHEN the feeling
of togetherness and community.
VfL Wolfsburg is very aware of the integrative power of this sport and demonstrates
its commitment with numerous measures
for enhancing mutual respect, fairness,
and the integration of disabled people.
Back in 2004, the club invited the social
services institutions from the region to attend home games at the Volkswagen Arena. With its co-operation partner Special
Olympics, VfL Wolfsburg regularly organises training sessions for mentally handicapped people at the Volkswagen Arena.
Its commitment to tolerance is also spelled
out in writing by the club as a signatory to
declarations against discrimination and
racism. In the same way, the Code of Conduct of the VfL Football Academy requires
all employees, trainers and players to treat
each other with respect and tolerance at
all times, and to treat others in exactly the
same way.
Open, with barriers
VfL Wolfsburg appointed Mike Compagnone Spokesman for the Disabled on 12
October 2001. The 30-year-old is also involved in the Fan Project where, as the
contact for all disabled football fans, it is
his job to represent their needs. His duties
Year 7 class at Westhagen secondary modern school in
the SRTRC workshop with young VfL Wolfsburg players.
include passing on to the club the feedback from the fans and handling their requests for tickets.
To raise the awareness of football fans for
the issue of disability, VfL Wolfsburg supports the Special Olympics – the world’s
largest sports movement for people with
mental and multiple handicaps, and officially recognised by the International
Olympic Committee. By carrying out regular training sessions throughout the year,
the organisation helps children and adults
with mental handicaps to take part in normal social life. Football is the world’s most
52 | 53
popular team sport at the Special Olympics. VfL Wolfsburg has participated in the
Special Olympics European Football Week
(SOEFW) since 2005. One of the key elements of this co-operation is training sessions with the former VfL professional
Roy Präger. As a sports mentor, he also
supported the first Lower Saxony S
­ pecial
Olympics state games which attracted
600 sportsmen and women to Wolfsburg
from 15 to 17 June 2011.
To ensure that people with disabilities
can also enjoy the thrill of a visit to the VfL
Wolfsburg stadium, the club designed the
Volkswagen Arena to be barrier-free, and
continues to further expand its commitment in this context. In the East Stand at
the Volkswagen Arena, there are now a total of 80 spectator places for wheelchair
users, of which eight are for visiting fans,
and seven are VIP places. There are also
ten seats for visually handicapped spectators in Block A in the south-west of the
stadium, making the Volkswagen Arena
one of the first Bundesliga stadiums with
a dedicated zone for the visually handicapped. And up to ten people can also
enjoy the atmosphere at home games via
a special live commentary. Notwithstand-
Mike Compagnone (right), Fan Liaison Officer­
for disabled persons, with fans in the wheelchair area at Volkswagen Arena, directly on
the edge of the field.
ing the matches themselves, the club also
runs tours of the Volkswagen Arena suitable for disabled visitors.
VfL Wolfsburg’s online communications
are also barrier-free. This commitment
was recognised when the club was nominated in May 2012 for the German Online Communications Prize 2012 in the Innovation of the Year category. The special
features of the club website include an audio-reader function, options to change the
size of the typeface, the ability to use the
pages without a mouse, and for pictures to
be accompanied by alternative texts.
Against racism and
­discrimination
VfL Wolfsburg supports UEFA’s ten-point
plan against racism, and signed the declaration Against Discrimination in Football of
the European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation (EGLSF) in March 2011. The club
also emphasizes its committed stance to
tolerance in its stadium regulations. Moreover, fans at Bundesliga home matches
see commercials and banners during the
stadium show on the issue of racism, and
are called upon to refrain from and coun-
society
teract any racist tendencies. VfL Wolfsburg
also supports a range of campaigns aimed
at raising awareness of topics such as xenophobia and racism. These initiatives include the campaigns “We don’t look away”
and “Respect! No room for racism”, as well
as the international Week Against Racism.
And finally, as a partner of the project
“Show racism the red card”, VfL Wolfsburg also plays an active part to combat
discrimination and racism. The sportsmen
act as models here in raising the awareness of children for these important issues. This is done in various ways including workshops for schools in the region. In
June 2011, pupils from the sixth grade of
the VfL ­partner school Hauptschule Westhagen took part in an event of this kind.
This included demonstrating to young
people by way of a real example from 2006
that even football stars are not immune
from racist attacks. Techniques such as
role play are used to help the pupils see
the problem from the point of view of the
players, fans, trainers and referees – they
did this by acting out a press conference.
The next workshop is planned for October
2012 with pupils from the seventh grade
of the Hauptschule Westhagen.
Inspiration for
a healthy lifestyle
Health is a person’s most vital asset. In the case of children, it is
an important prerequisite for learning effectively and enjoying
proper­physical and mental development.
Health is also enhanced by a varied diet
orientated towards the needs of children,
and a wide range of different kinds of exercise – but never forgetting that adequate
opportunities for relaxation are also a basic
requirement for a healthy life. VfL Wolfsburg together with competent partners
has made it a commitment to raise the
awareness of children and young people
for a healthy lifestyle. In numerous projects, the club already educates its young
players about what constitutes a healthy
lifestyle, and the club intends to expand
its activities continuously in the future to
instil these virtues in more children and
young people.
Becoming active together­
One of VfL Wolfsburg’s most successful
initiatives on the health front is the Muuvit
Adventure which the club makes available
together with the Muuvit Project. This innovative education programme began life
in Finland and is now active throughout
the world. On the occasion of the European Championships 2012, UEFA organised a Muuvit Adventure in Poland and the
Ukraine using the activities of VfL Wolfsburg as a model. The Muuvit Adventure
motivates children in a playful way to enjoy learning and exercising. At the same
time, the project also provides assistance
to teachers and parents in encouraging
their children to discover the joys of learning and exercise. On a brightly coloured
map, the children collect points every day
as soon as they become physically active.
This is achieved by all of the children in
the class working together to generate as
many exercise points as possible. These
points correspond to Muuvit kilometres
which the class enters onto a map to take
them on an imaginary journey. The project is supported by a website which creates a virtual learning environment with
information on the exciting destinations,
and tasks designed especially for children, which the pupils can solve during
their lessons. Parents are given a similar
map with tips on how to support their children in their Muuvit Adventure. 30,000
school children have already participated in Muuvit since 2009. In spring 2012
alone, over 300 classes from more than
100 schools in Lower Saxony and SaxonyAnhalt also took part in the project.
To provide positive motivation to the children and young people in the region to
adopt a balanced lifestyle, VfL Wolfsburg also puts its former team bus to
good use. The so-called VfL-Bus was
completely stripped and converted, and
is now equipped with a wide range of
multimedia equipment. Visitors entering
the bus are interactively informed about
exercise and healthy food by presentations, videos and games. Different exercise games and play modules in front of
the bus round off the experience. This
modular education programme has already been used by 100 partner schools,
100 partner clubs, and the 25 partner
kindergartens working with the club, as
well as events organised by the Wölfi Club
and the VfL Football Academy. It has also
been used at home and friendly matches
played by VfL Wolfsburg, not to mention
festivals run by the city of Wolfsburg and
companies in the region. The VfL-Bus
was at the Didacta 2012 education trade
Thomas Röttgermann and LieselWestermann­- Krieg (Olympic Discus
medal­winner­and Muuvit ambassador)
in discussion during the Muuvit
Adventure­presentation at the Finnish
Embassy in Berlin.
54 | 55
society
Further education
for participants
Trainers, teachers and guardians
310
350
300
260
2011/2012
2010/2011
2009/2010
2008/2009
2007/2008
210
fair in Hannover from 14 to 18 February
2012 where it attracted 5,000 visitors. In
accordance with the club’s environmental targets, the VfL-Bus is also run in a
climate-neutral way: after driving 10,000
kilometres, the emissions totalling nine
tonnes CO2 equivalent were compensated for by sponsoring the CO2OL climate
protection project “CO2OL Native Tree
Special Reforestation, Panama”.
The co-operation with the “Ballschule
Nord” (Ball School North) which began
at the beginning of 2011 is another important part of VfL Wolfsburg’s commitment
to the promotion of exercise. The offer is
based on a well-established scientific concept to enable children and young people
to enjoy a diverse range of sports training
and therefore counteract early specialisation in a specific sporting discipline. VfL
Wolfsburg provides the Ball School with
refresher courses for kindergarten teachers, school teachers and coaches, and
thus promotes the development of a sense
of fun amongst children for sporting activities. 159 adults have already participated in
Ball School workshops in 2011/2012. The
fact that almost all of the participants who
attended the basic training courses have
also gone on to take part in the refresher
training sessions highlights the high quality
of the training offered. As part of its “Kickoff VfL” project, the club has also organised
four training courses every year from 2006
to 2011, each attended by well over 200
participants on average – these refresher
courses have also taken place in co-operation with the Ball School since 2011.
Green-white in the
children’s­clinic
The VfL Kids Arena programme is focused
specifically on children in hospitals. The
green-white decorated playroom in the
children’s clinic at the Röhn Klinikum
hospital in Gifhorn helps make the sterile
hospital atmosphere a bit more lively and
colourful, and therefore helps the small
patients feel a bit more at home during
their hospital stay. Laptops, games and
books are available for the children in the
VfL Kids Arena. To break up the monotony
of the hospital routines and speed up the
recovery of the little patients, male and
female football players drop in regularly
for autograph sessions and to read to the
children. Mascot Wölfi also pays regular
visits to the children’s ward – one of the
occasions being a regular visit in autumn
for a handicraft session together with the
small patients to put together VfL lanterns.
In addition, all of the children can watch
the matches played by VfL Wolfsburg on
a large television.
Large and small for
a good purpose
The whole family was in the spotlight on 12
May 2012 for the third VfL Kids Day. This
event was also again completely focused
on exercise and enjoying sports, and featured a lot of sporting modules and a large
accompanying programme. Over 1,000
children collected stamps on their running cards at 18 different stops to acquire
a participation certificate. More than EUR
1,000 was collected over the course of the
event for the United Kids Foundations – a
network for children which sponsors and
supports projects in the BraunschweigWolfsburg region.
Fans
The colour green has no limits: VfL Wolfsburg is an open club,
promoting diversity and against racism: it treats all fans as
members of one big football family.
Headline Lorem
Headline Ipsum
Vorspann etum velitas aute andem aut illatas as int ut h
­ arum into et
moditisiti sum re aperum quam dolla ne voluptatur, custo blabore
remporionsed mos qui diti consequae veruntis restiamus.
56 | 57
Fans
Solidarity is
a major factor
VfL Wolfsburg sees the club and fan community as a large football family and organises all of its activities accordingly.
A cosmopolitan approach is a high priority in this context and
is kept very much alive. According to this philosophy, the club
allows every fan to join its family whatever their age, sex, skin
colour or disability, and the club also works continuously at creating the right conditions to enable everyone to participate in
the shared experience.
Promoting diversity, mutual respect,
fairness and tolerance
VfL Wolfsburg supports numerous anti-racisim initiatives. A
large range of different measures is implemented by the club to
back up its advocacy of diversity, mutual respect, fairness and
tolerance. This is also clearly reflected in the stadium regulations which expressly forbid racism, xenophobia and extreme
political views. One of the ways VfL Wolfsburg highlights this
commitment is its support of the UEFA ten-point plan (cf. Society chapter). The club is also just as active in promoting the
integration of handicapped people with measures such as the
barrierless design of the Volkswagen Arena and its website,
and its support for the Special Olympics (cf. Society chapter).
VfL Wolfsburg launched the “Closer to VfL” campaign to intensify its contact with the fans and their identification with the
club. The first measure in this campaign was the launch of a
fan-article magalog for the 2011/2012 season: a combination
of fan-article catalogue and magazine with stories and pictures,
which provide fans with glimpses of what goes on behind the
scenes. The guiding principle was continued at the beginning
of 2012 with three commercials. The players and the former
team captain, Christian Träsch, kit manager Heribert Rüttger,
and VfL superstar Roy Präger – who now runs the VfL Football
Academy – presented themselves to their fans in personal portraits appearing on the club’s own website, the club Facebook
site, and in the VfL channel on YouTube. And to enable the fans
to publically express their loyalty to VfL Wolfsburg even more,
various fan articles have become available recently with the logo
“My club – My city”.
At the end of the 2010/2011 season, when VfL Wolfsburg only
managed to escape relegation on the last match of the season,
the club launched the slogan “We stand together”. As part of
a photo campaign, the fans could demonstrate that they stood
firmly behind the team. Ultimately, everyone worked together
to save the team from relegation. This difficult period brought
the players and VfL fans even closer together.
In February 2012, the Managment Board of the VfL Wolfsburg,
the trainer squad and the whole professional team, thanked
their fans for their loyalty and support with the “18th away
game”: they visited numerous fan clubs in the region­to give
them the opportunity of talking to them directly.
58 | 59
Fans
Fan Liaison Officers at VfL Wolfsburg
(from left): Holger Ballwanz, Lothar
Schukowsk­i, Mike Compagnone,
André Hahn and Michael Schrader.
In close contact
with the fans
VfL Wolfsburg’s four fan liaison officers are at the service of the
club supporters to provide them with advice and to get things
moving­. They act as a bridge between the club and the fans, and
understand the needs of VfL supporters.
At the same time, they make it easier for
them to contact the club when necessary.
The Fan Liaison Officers organise various
aspects, including trips to away games, as
well as taking part in the regular meetings
of Fan Liaison Officers at a regional and nationwide level. Another important aspect
of their work is their contact with the local
police, the German federal police, and the
club’s own security service. The Fan Liaison Officers also provide assistance for the
establishment of new fan clubs: a club is
only officially recognised when it has been
reported to the Fan Liaison Officers. The
Fan Liaison Officers currently look after
around 160 fan clubs, of which 90 have
applied for the status of OFC (‘Official Fan
Club’). They have also signed the regulations set out by VfL Wolfsburg in co-operation with fans. This agreement accords the
members of OFCs certain privileges such
as advance bookings of day tickets on the
North Terrace, regular information on the
activities of the club, and the option of presenting their own club in the stadium magazine. In addition, regulations include a Code
of Conduct which forbids any form of discrimination and violence. The Fan Liaison
Officers are available in the Fan House built
specifically for fan liaison and merchandising in the north-east of the stadium.
On match days, the Fan Corner (FanEck)
located on the promenade of the North
Terrace, acts as an additional contact point
for fans. The services provided by the club
are supervised by the Fan Liaison Officers,
and on the site itself, the fans are the contacts for everyone. Visitors to the Fan Corner receive information about the Volkswa-
gen Arena, can take part in guessing what
the score will be, and can buy fan articles
made by the fans themselves: “From fans,
for fans”. The revenue generated by the
sale of articles and from the score guessing
game are used for charitable purposes –
during the 2011/2012 season for instance,
EUR 1,000 was raised for the special education kindergarten ‘Rappelkiste’. The revenues generated by the sale of the stadium magazine ‘Unter Wölfen’ are collected
up and then donated at a later date to the
­Krzysztof Nowak Foundation.
To prevent violence at the stadium and
anywhere else associated with the home
games played by VfL Wolfsburg, and to
maintain a good atmosphere between the
rival fan groups, intensive discussions are
always held between the Fan Liaison Offic-
60 | 61
Fans
——Fan clubs

Fan club membership
9,871
8,606
2007/2008
ers and the Security Officers. These regular
discussions are designed to ensure that the
needs of the fans can be taken into consideration as far as possible, at the same time
as guaranteeing the safety at all times of all
stadium visitors. These efforts are also assisted by regular discussions with the city
administration, and dialogue between the
police, the Fan Project and the fans. If the
fans violate or overstep the limits, the stadium regulations come into force, as well as
the associated sanctions. Every year, during the winter and summer breaks, meetings take place between the First and Second Division Bundesliga Security Officers
in the form of a summer and winter conference. In addition, VfL Wolfsburg organises
at least one joint conference per year with
the Fan Liaison Officers in the form of a regional conference. Moreover, at least one
9,260
9,998
8,184
2008/2009
2009/2010
meeting takes place with the Local Committee for Safety and Sport (ÖASS) during
the summer and the winter breaks to reach
agreements on the Bundesliga season. Invitations to attend this meeting are also sent
to representatives of the Volkswagen Autostadt, the professional fire brigade, Wolfsburg AG, the Service Factory, as well as all
VfL Wolfsburg departments. ÖASS meetings also take place in response to specific incidents: for example, six times in 2011
to discuss a package of measures to combat violent VfL fans. At a monthly meeting
(regular fan meeting), local police officers
from Wolfsburg and the federal police hold
discussions with representatives of the Fan
Project, the city administration and the VfL
Fan Liaison Officers and Security Officers.
And finally, the club also has meetings with
the Fan Project and the Fan Liaison Officers
on an irregular basis in response to specific
incidents. The club has also been involved
in the German Football League (DFL) poster campaign “For football. Against violence”, since June 2012. Preventing violence in the stadium is also an important
aspect integrated within the VfL Wolfsburg
stadium regulations. Because of the use of
fireworks by the fans at away matches in
Bremen and Hamburg, the club had to pay
fines to the DFB last season totalling EUR
7,500 – and the level of the fines to be paid
for the matches in Stuttgart and Hannover
is still to be decided. In addition, 14 nation-
2010/2011
2011/2012
wide stadium bans were issued to individual fans because of the use of fireworks, four
because of grievous bodily harm, and one
because of damage to property. The number of local stadium bans in the 2010/2011
season totalled 13.
An indication of the club’s sincere interest in the wishes of the fans, and a positive
demonstration of the way the fans and the
club can discuss things openly and eyeto-eye, are amongst other things the debate on the revival of the old club emblem.
Some of the fans were strongly in favour
of this to highlight more emphatically the
long tradition of VfL Wolfsburg. The decision of the club to leave things unchanged
and stick to the new emblem introduced in
2002 was initially greeted by major dissatisfaction amongst the fans. Managing Director Thomas Röttgermann was personally involved in regular discussions with the
fans and agreed during the course of this
dialogue to allow some leeway for the reuse of the old logo under certain circumstances. Some of the measures included
allowing the old emblem to be used more
often in the new fan bar in the East Stand,
as well as on flags hoisted on the forecourt
before the match. With respect to clothing
merchandise as well, a retro line with the
old logo is planned in the long term, and
this project will also allow fans to participate
in the design of this apparel.
A club for
young and old
VfL Wolfsburg SEES ITSELF AS A club for all age groups.
In recent years, the club has put together a comprehensive package of measures for the youngest VfL fans in particular. VfL Wolfsburg has presented all of its
children’s activities on a child-compatible
website since the beginning of 2010.
The WölfiClub founded in July 2004 as the
official kids club of VfL Wolfsburg, and with
its current membership of 8,000, is one
of the largest kids clubs in the Bundesliga.
The club is also a force behind the kids club
scheme across the whole country and intensively supports the relevant DFL working group since it was founded. The club
places a very high priority on its extraordinary commitment in this context because
today’s children are tomorrow’s fans. The
comprehensive range of services provided by the WölfiClub, whose membership
is open to football fans from the age of 0
to 13 years of age, includes discounts, supervised trips to away matches, as well as
a chance to apply to be one of the mascots
that accompany each player onto the pitch
at the beginning of home games. Fun and
games for kids in the stadium are available
to all children and not just members of the
WölfiClub: these facilities include the Wölfi
Cave, which is a kids fun room in the Are-
na with supervision during home matches;
the Wölfi play area: a supervised children’s’
playground in the middle of the stadium;
Wölfi’s exercise playground in front of
the Volkswagen Arena; and the Wölfi terrace made available specially for families.
The other popular events arranged by VfL
Wolfsburg for children include the VfL Kids
Day which is opened by the Lord Mayor of
Wolfsburg Klaus Mohrs, the children’s holiday programme, kids tours, as well as the
ability to celebrate children’s birthdays in
the stadium.
The VfL Football School founded in April
2011 is also very popular. It provides football training under professional conditions to boys and girls aged between six
and 13 years. In these activities as well,
the organisers not only focus on getting
across the enjoyment of football and exercise in general, they are also particularly interested in communicating values
such as team spirit and fair play.
VfL-fans over the age
of 14 can join the
WölfeClub­, which also
includes the event initiatives WölfeClub Jun-
Membership WölfeClub

Membership WölfiClub
5,084
iorteam and WölfeClub 55plus. Ever since
the start of the 2010/2011 season, the WölfeClub Juniorteam has provided numerous
age-group compatible activities for fans between the ages of 14 and 17: such as supervised visits to home matches in non-smoking standing zones on the North Terrace,
organised trips to away matches for numerous Bundesliga games, assistance for the
WölfeClub team at home games, and internships for school children at VfL Wolfsburg during the school holidays. WölfeClub
55plus, on the other hand, has specially organised activities for older VfL fans. A new
wide-ranging programme is prepared for
them every six months with cultural, social
and sporting activities covering everything
from gallery visits to introductory archery
courses.
10,500
9,874
9,500
8,090
8,000
6,900
7,253
5,443
5,048
4,244
3,564
3,011
2.939
1,426
742
July 2005
July 2006
July 2007
July 2008
July 2009
July 2010
July 2011
July 2012
2,000
children, plus another
2,000 visitors to VfL Kids-Day
300
400
appearances of
the Wölfi mascot
per year
VfL Kids carnival
with
500
children
500
Fans
children
per season
200 flag
500
at four trips to
away games per season
200 children
Christmas party
with
62 | 63
children in the
holiday programme
mascots during
Bundesliga homematches per season
400
children in home-game
supervised activities in
Wölfi’s Cave per season
birthdays with 2,000 guests
200 children’s
in total per year at the Volkswagen Arena
150 participants
children in the
supervised home-match
adventure per season
2,000
participants a year at the
VfL Football School
Always a sympathetic
ear for VfL fans
The Wolfsburg Fan Project and Supporters Wolfsburg
The Fan Project Wolfsburg is particularly
aimed at satisfying the needs of younger
VfL fans aged between 12 and 21. This organisation was founded by the Wolfsburg
city administration in 1997 and has been
committed since then to the establishment of a positive fan culture, the prevention of violence, and improving communications between all of the stakeholders in
football such as club, fans, police, security service and the public order office. In
addition, the five Fan Project employees
are also at the service of the young football fans as contacts for whatever problems trouble them, such as difficulties at
school, or drug abuse.
The Fan Project offices are on the north
side of the Volkswagen Arena. The North
Terrace Hall is the central contact point
for the younger fans and offers them a
range of activities and events. For instance, an accompanying programme
with music and sporting activities begins
here three hours before the start of home
games. The Fan Project Wolfsburg won
an award for its work in the form of the
quality label ‘Fan project pursuant to the
national sport and security concept’ issued by the Fan Project Coordination Office (KOS).
“We don’t look away”
To combat xenophobia and racism, violence, alcohol and cigarette abuse, the
Fan Project working together with VfL
Wolfsburg, the Stadtjugendring (City
Youth Circle), and the public children’s
and young people’s programme of the
Youth Department of the Wolfsburg city
administration, put together a package of
Great mood at the home of the Wolves: 30,000
spectators­fit into the Volkswagen Arena. The needs
of Wolfsburg fans are looked after by VfL Wolfsburg
Fan Liaison Officers, the city‘s Fan Project and by the
Supporters Wolfsburg organisation.
measures with the slogan “We don’t look
away”. The project is aimed at supporting
all of those involved in football activities in
Wolfsburg to develop a positive personality structure and not to turn a blind eye
when they notice unwelcome tendencies
in their environment.
Nationwide umbrella
organisation­for fans
With the aim of intensifying their supraregional co-operation, the Fan Liaison Officers from the five north German clubs in
the Bundesliga, and each of the associated Fan Projects, formed the North Committee at the beginning of 2011. This committee meets once every quarter.
Supporters Wolfsburg e.V. was founded
in the middle of 2006 as the umbrella organisation and representative body for the
interests of fans of all ages. The Supporters wish to provide VfL fans with a communications platform and help maintain
a lively, active and peaceful fan scene.
They explicitly condemn every form of violence, racism and discrimination, and
are dedicated to fighting these tendencies. The Supporters’ activities thrive on
the commitment of the protagonists and
are therefore very wide-ranging. Their activities include providing assistance for
the organisation of trips to away matches, improving the atmosphere in the
Volkswagen Arena by organising various
campaigns in the stadium, as well as organising charitable activities. Members
of Supporters Wolfsburg e.V. are spread
throughout Germany. The so-called ‘exile
supporters’ that live outside of Wolfsburg
meet regularly during away games to get
to know one another and to talk and share
their experiences.
64 | 65
Fans
Future Goals
Sustainability is a FUNDAMENTAL part of our self-UNDERSTANDING
fL Wolfsburg does not intend to
V
rest on its laurels, but seeks to
continuously­improve in all areas.
he club aspires to be a pioneer
T
in the Bundesliga and set new
standards­.
he following objectives are
T
communicated­in all openness.
In stating these objectives, the club
is emphasising its avowal to sustainability and stating in all clarity that
sustainability­is a significant pillar of
its self-identity.
he next report will take a selfT
critical­, unadorned look at the
achievement of its targets in order­
on the one hand to measure itself­
against its own standards and on
the other to communicate with
maximum­possible transparency its
sustainability­efforts, also externally­.
Strategy & management
Objective
Date
Comment
Expand and establish quality assurance
in the merchandising sector
Ongoing
The club seeks to demonstrate its
responsibility for the supply chain.
(Long-term) change of 10 % of all
merchandising products to fair-trade products
Ongoing
Key milestone: the home shirt for
the 2014/2015 season will be sourced
from the ‘betterplace’ collection.
Introduction of data management
for non-financials­(paper, emissions, water, etc.)
Enhance club’s popularity values
Start of season
2014/2015
Ongoing
Furthermore all operating areas
(admin, offices, Volkswagen Arena,
Elsterweg stadium) are to be integrated.
The club’s engagement is to be
acknowledged and perceived
as a brand for sustainability.
Ecology
Objective
Date
Reducing the club’s current carbon emissions
by 25 % by end of season 2017/2018
End season
2017/2018
Expand waste sorting in the Volkswagen Arena
End of season
2013/2014
Conserving natural resources
Ongoing
Promote and comply with latest energy-efficiency
standards – above all for newbuilds
Ongoing
Comment
This measure to also include caterers.
The construction of the mini stadium and
the VfL centre (building to commence 2013)
shall be compliant with the latest energyefficiency standards.
66 | 67
CSR-Program
Employees
Objective
Inclusion of sustainability goals in agreed targets
for management and employees
Date
Start of season
2014/2015
Comment
A move to sensitise employees
even more for sustainability aspects
Expand vocational training for players
Ongoing
The club thinks good training for players must
include not only sporting further development
but also the securing of further career prospects.
Fostering sporting and health offers for
employees
Ongoing
It is the goal to support employees in achieving
a healthy lifestyle. Initial measures to be
implemented during season 2013/2014.
Extending employee further training options –
in particular in terms of sustainability
Start of season
2013/2014
Further training options are to be offered,
in particular relating to sustainability.
Introduction of a corporate volunteering
programme
Start of season
2013/2014
The club seeks to promote its employees’
social engagement and intends to provide
further support in this regard.
Society
Objective
Date
Comment
Further development of VfL-Wiki
Start of school year
2013/2014 and
2014/2015
More schools to be involved and inter-school
co-operation to be intensified.
Further development of Muuvit
Start of season
2013/2014
It is planned to expand the Muuvit Adventure
with an additional environment route.
Expand and reinforce partner network
Ongoing
The club has the goal of continuously
intensifying its societal engagement.
The club considers co-operation­with
experts to be a fundamental pre-requisite­.
Creating barrier-free access to all areas
Ongoing
VfL Wolfsburg aspires to inclusion
for all to all club offers.
Fans and members
Objective
Regular organised interchange between fan
representatives and management
Date
Start of season
2012/2013
Comment
The club intends to further expand
its excellent relations with its fans.
Regular organised exchange is to give
fans the opportunity to express
their issues directly to the management.
GRI Content Index
GRI (Core) Indicators according to G3.1 Guidelines
Strategy and Analysis
1.1
Statement from the most senior decision-maker
1.2
Key impacts, risks, and opportunities
Organizational Profile
2.1
Name of the organization
2.2
Primary brands, products, and/or services
2.3
Organizational structure
2.4
Location of organization's headquarters
2.5
Countries where the organization operates
2.6
Nature of ownership and legal form
2.7
Markets served
2.8
Scale of the reporting organization
2.9
Changes regarding size, structure, or ownership
2.10
Awards received
Report Parameters
3.1
Reporting period
3.2
Date of most recent previous report
3.3
Reporting cycle
3.4
Contact point
3.5
Process for defining report content
3.6
Boundary of the report
3.7
Limitations on the scope or boundary of the report
3.8
3.9
Joint ventures, subsidiaries, leased facilities
Data measurement techniques
3.10
Re-statements of information provided in earlier reports
3.11
Changes in the scope, boundary, or measurement methods
3.12
GRI Content Index
3.13
External assurance
Governance, Commitments and Engagement
4.1
Governance structure of the organization
4.2
Indication whether the Chair of the highest
governance body is also an executive officer
4.3
Members of the highest governance body that are independent
4.4
Linkage between compensation for members of the highest
governance body and the organization's performance
4.5
Processes in place for the highest governance body to
ensure conflicts of interest are avoided
4.6
Reported
Cross-reference/Direct answer
fully
not material
p. 5
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
partially
p. 71
p. 6 - 8
p. 13
p. 71
p. 6ff., 14ff., 48
p. 6
p. 6ff., 14ff., 48
p. 10ff., 30ff.
No disclosure of financial data.
p. 6
p. 19
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
p. 2
p. 2
p. 2
p. 71
p. 2
p. 2
All relevant aspects for a professional football club are covered. This includes
the interaction with fans and especially the combatting of violence and racism.
The report includes the VW-Arena because it is an integral part of the club´s activities.
Where specific measurement methods were used or special explanations of
indicator calculations are required, they are noted in the respective diagrammes
and graphics. VfL Wolfsburg bases its reporting on the GRI indicator protocols,
but also reserves the right to deviate from these protocols. Data and content is
double-checked for correctness, as is customary in management accounting.
First Time Report
First Time Report
p. 68
External assurance is not considered necessary.
fully
fully
p. 13
p. 13
fully
fully
This indicator is not applicable because a Supervisory Board exists.
The owner of the VfL Wolfsburg-Fußball GmbH, VW AG, holds several places
on the Supervisory Board, which enables it to communicate with the management.
All employees and the members of the Executive Board work to individually defined
sets of goals. The degree of attainment of targets influences the amount of bonus
payments for non salary-scale employees. The basic salary is not affected by this.
p. 16ff. – Furthermore, Volkswagen´s Code of Conduct applies.
fully
fully
fully
fully
4.11
Expertise of the members of the highest governance body
for guiding the organization's strategy
Statements of mission or values,
codes of conduct, and principles
Procedures of the highest governance body for overseeing
the organization’s sustainability performance
Processes for evaluating the highest governance body's own
sustainability performance
Processes for evaluating the highest governance body’s
own sustainability performance
Precautionary principle
4.12
4.13
4.14
4.15
Externally developed charters, principles, or other initiatives
Memberships
Stakeholder groups
Basis for identification and selection of stakeholders
4.7
4.8
4.9
4.10
4.16
Approaches to stakeholder engagement
4.17
Key topics and concerns of stakeholders
Economic Indicators
Management approach
EC3
Coverage of the organization's defined benefit plan obligations
EC4
Financial assistance received from government
fully
fully
fully
The Supervisory Board evaluates the Executive Board´s performance.
Environmental and social aspects are included in the assessment.
p. 12, 16ff., 38
fully
p. 16ff., 38 – Activities and relevant events in the fields of environment and
society are reported to the Executive Board in a timely manner.
p. 67
fully
p. 16ff., 33-35, 38, 50-55, 58ff.
fully
fully
fully
partially
p. 19, 32f., 38, 43, 48, 53
p. 19, 38
p. 12, 32ff., 38ff., 48ff., 58ff.
Since the club is an actor of particular interest for media and society,
it engages in constant dialogue with a large number of stakeholders.
In principle the club talks to all stakeholders. The stakeholders addressed
in each case depend on the specific topic.
p. 13, 60f.
p. 60f.
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
EC7
Local hiring
fully
EC8
Infrastructure investments and services
provided primarily for public benefit
fully
p. 7f., 14ff.
p. 30ff.
VfL Wolfsburg-Fußball GmbH did not receive any substantial
financial assistance from the government.
p. 32f. – Employees are hired regardless of gender, origin or other other personal characteristics. Only the qualification is decisive. This is valid for all business divisions.
p. 7, 15f., 19, 46ff.
68 | 69
Environmental Indicators
Management approach
EN1
Materials used
EN2
Recycled input materials
EN3
Direct energy consumption by primary energy source
EN5
Energy saved due to conservation and efficiency improvements
EN8
Total water withdrawal by source
EN9
Water sources significantly affected
EN16
Total direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions
EN18
Initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reductions achieved
EN22
Waste by type and disposal method
EN26
Initiatives to mitigate environmental impacts
EN28
Sanctions for non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations
EN29
Environmental impacts of transporting products and
members of the workforce
EN30
Environmental protection expenditures and investments
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
partially
fully
fully
fully
p. 16ff., 38ff.
p. 40-44
p. 43
p. 40, 44
p. 38, 40-44
p. 42
p. 42
p. 40-42
p. 40-44
p. 43
p. 16ff., 38, 40ff.
No sanctions in this field.
p. 40-42
partially
p. 38 – Latest ecological criteria are considered for all
new constructions. New investments are assessed from both
financial as well as ecological points of view. It is the aim
of the club to strike a balance between both aspects.
Social Indicators: Labour Practices and HUMANE WORKING CONDITIONS
Management approach
fully
LA1
LA2
LA3
LA4
LA6
LA7
LA8
LA10
LA11
LA12
LA14
p. 32ff.
Total workforce
Total number and rate of employee turnover
Benefits provided to full-time employees that are
not provided to temporary or part-time employees
Employees covered by collective bargaining agreements
Percentage of total workforce represented in formal
joint management-worker health and safety committees
partially
fully
fully
p. 32
p. 32
p. 32f.
fully
fully
p. 32f.
p. 32f., 35
Occupational diseases, lost days, and number of work-related fatalities
Training and counseling regarding serious diseases
Training of staff
Programmes for skills management and lifelong learning
Percentage of employees receiving regular performance
and career development reviews, by gender
Ratio of basic salary of men to women
fully
fully
partially
fully
fully
fully
p. 35
p. 35
p. 34f.
p. 34
Regardless of gender all employees
regularly receive a performance assessment.
The basic salary for employees is established in the company agreement.
There is no distinction by gender.
p. 32
fully
fully
fully
p. 16ff., 32ff., 58ff.
No incidents of discrimination detected.
p. 16ff., 66
fully
fully
partially
p. 16ff., 66
p. 16ff., 66
p. 16ff., 66
fully
No grievances related to human rights detected.
fully
fully
partially
partially
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
p. 16ff., 48ff.
p. 12, 14ff., 38ff., 48ff.
p. 16ff.
p. 16ff.
p. 19
No contributions to political parties, politicians or related institutions have been made.
No legal actions in this field.
p. 60f.
p. 12, 14ff., 38ff., 48ff.
p. 40ff., 58ff.
fully
fully
fully
fully
p. 16ff.
p. 16ff.
No incidents in this field.
Stadium regulations govern the process of
sports events. Statutory information for all
merchandising products is ensured by producers.
No incidents in this field.
No incidents in this field.
VfL Wolfsburg complies with all legal regulations.
No incidents in this field.
p. 16ff. – No incidents in this field.
No incidents in this field.
LA15
Return to work and retention rates after parental leave
Social Indicators: Human Rights
Management approach
HR4
Number of incidents of discrimination and actions taken
HR5
Violations of right to exercise freedom
of association and collective bargaining
HR6
Risk for incidents of child labour
HR7
Risk for incidents of forced or compulsory labour
HR10
Number of operations that have been subject to
human rights reviews and/or impact assessments
HR11
Number of grievances related to human rights
Social Indicators: Society
Management approach
SO1
Impacts of operations on communities
SO2
Number of business units analyzed for risks related to corruption
SO3
Trainings in anti-corruption policies and procedures
SO5
Participation in public policy development and lobbying
SO6
Contributions to political parties, politicians, and related institutions
SO7
Legal actions for anti-competitive behavior
SO8
Sanctions for non-compliance with laws and regulations
SO9
Operations with negative impacts on local communities
SO10
Prevention and mitigation measures
Social Indicators: Product Responsibility
Management approach
PR1
Effects on health along the product life-cycle
PR2
Incidents concerning health and safety impacts of products
PR3
Product and service information required
PR4
PR5
PR6
PR7
PR8
PR9
GRI-Index
Incidents concerning product and service information
Customer satisfaction
Standards related to marketing communications
Incidents concerning marketing communications
Complaints regarding breaches of customer privacy
Sanctions for non-compliance with laws and regulations
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
fully
GRI – Statement
of Confirmation
The VfL Wolfsburg CSR report was reviewed by
the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). It was confirmed
that it fulfils the requirements of Application Level B.
70 | 71
Imprint
Imprint
Publisher:
VfL Wolfsburg-Fußball GmbH
Postfach 10 10 09
38410 Wolfsburg
www.vfl-wolfsburg.de
Contact:
VfL Wolfsburg-Fußball GmbH
Nico Briskorn
Director Corporate Social Responsibility
Telephone: +49 (0) 5361-8903-450
E-mail: [email protected]
For more information about
VfL Wolfsburg CSR engagement please visit:
https://www.vfl-wolfsburg.de/info/soziales.html
The sustainability report is available in German and
English. In the event of discrepancies, the German
version takes precedence.
Consulting / content concept / editing:
Stakeholder Reporting GmbH, Hamburg
www.stakeholder-reporting.com
Layout concept / design / realisation:
Karma Kommunikationsdesign, Wolfsburg
www.karma-web.de
Print:
Sigert GmbH Druck- und Medienhaus,
Braunschweig, www.sigert.de
Picture credits:
VfL Wolfsburg-Fußball GmbH
Karma Kommunikationsdesign (cover)
Nina Stiller (5, 13, 29, 34, 49, 52)
Firo Sportphoto (7, 10, 46, 56, 59, 64, 65)
Daniela Nielsen (21,50,51,55)
Stadt Wolfsburg (4, 26)
Fritz Rust (6)
Citypress24 (8)
Imago (13)
NABU (28, 45)
Bernd Wierzbowski (32)
LSW (41)
DFB (43)
Manfred Scharrnberg (44)
Reinhard Popken (54)
www.vfl-wolfsburg.de