Klasmann-Deilmann equips trainees to help save the climate

Klasmann-Deilmann supports its junior staff in their climate protection efforts and enables trainees Anna Borgmann and Elwin Janzen to take part in the ‘Training trainees to be climate pilots’ seminar.

This training event is the product of a cooperative arrangement between the Historical and Ecological Education Centre (HÖB) in Papenburg, the Energy Efficiency Agency of the Emsland district and the Climate Centre at Werlte. It is supported by the Lower Saxony Climate and Energy Agency (KEAN). The chief aim of the ‘Training trainees to be climate pilots’ seminar is to introduce young employees to climate change and its mitigation – to sharpen their minds regarding this issue so they can, in turn, acquaint their colleagues and other people with the topic.

“I think it’s important to be as well-informed about climate change as possible – and to learn what we can do to stop it, both at home and at work. We need to keep the impact as low as possible,” says prospective Industrial Business Administrator Anna Borgmann, explaining what motivated her to attend the seminar. Raising awareness, especially among young people, of the consequences of climate change is, for her, an effective way of countering these effects on a sustained basis and developing measures aimed at preventing unnecessary environmental damage.

In the seminar (which lasted four days overall), speakers from the HÖB and the Climate Centre provided the participants – who came from a variety of sectors and are training for different careers – with foundational knowledge of climate change. This understanding was deepened as the training event continued. Employees of various companies reported on their own experience and the trainees went on a tour of the Climate Centre, at which different forms of heating and building insulation were demonstrated. “The effect of good and bad insulation on energy consumption was striking,” says Elwin Janzen, who is training to be an industrial mechanic at Klasmann-Deilmann.

The budding climate pilots also explored another important aspect – costs. They received a demonstration from an entrepreneur which showed that measures to protect the climate can also save costs. For organisations, including Klasmann-Deilmann, the progressive changeover to a sustainable energy supply is not only climate-friendly – with corporate-owned short-rotation forestry plantations and woodchip heating facilities in the case of Klasmann-Deilmann– but also makes good business sense.

Summing up, Anna Borgmann and Elwin Janzen reported that they had enriched their existing knowledge and learned new things as well. Climate protection is an issue they are already bringing up with family, friends and colleagues. “There are so many ways to make a difference,” says Anna Borgmann. “Exactly,” adds Elwin Janzen, “you can turn off standby mode on your TV, separate rubbish, and the company can retrofit old machinery – there’s a lot you can do.”