Audi 2015 Annual Report Download - page 185

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
AUDI IN SOCIETY
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AUDI IN SOCIETY
We are convinced that our Company’s long-term success and
therefore its future viability depend on society. Social involve-
ment is therefore an important part of our corporate responsi-
bility. For this reason, we strive for a steady improvement in
the quality of life at our locations – and lend our support to
regional initiatives in particular.
In keeping with the support guideline of the Audi Group, the
areas of education, technology, social involvement and world-
wide disaster relief are given priority.
/ACADEMIC COOPERATION AND EDUCATION
Our many university partnerships enhance our innovativeness
and prepare the way for our Company’s recruitment of qualified
young employees. We are currently cooperating with over
30 research establishments worldwide. Audi is consequently
pursuing the goal of attracting highly qualified young people
to the Company. More than 140 doctoral candidates are cur-
rently pursuing their doctorates in academic projects funded
by Audi. Since 2003, we have also supported various endowed
chairs at German universities in partnership with the “Stifter-
verband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft” (Association for the
Promotion of Science and Humanities in Germany). Audi is
currently supporting six such endowed professorships.
We support other knowledge transfer projects as well as uni-
versity research projects. For example, under the motto “Expe-
riencing Science,” we offer members of the general public the
opportunity to attend various specialist lectures as part of the
“Audi Colloquium” series of events. A total audience of more
than 2,500 attended the various events in this series in the
2015 fiscal year.
In addition, over 120 Audi employees help as lecturers at more
than 40 national and international universities.
The Ingolstadt special-profile school, which operates under
the motto of “No talent wasted,” provides children and young
people who have had a difficult start in life with the security of
an individual scholarship and support program as a pathway to
achieving a high school diploma. We also joined forces with
various partners during the year under review to launch a project
aimed at providing training for disadvantaged young people.
For example, “Café Vergissmeinnicht” on the Audi Technical
Development site in Ingolstadt employs disadvantaged young
people in the course of their training.
/SOCIAL MATTERS AND SOCIAL INVOLVEMENT
Since the “Audi Volunteers” initiative was launched in 2012, over
4,000 employees have lent their practical support to a good
cause. They have put in more than 30,400 hours of work as
volunteers in around 440 social projects. Furthermore, these
projects have attracted donations totaling around EUR 346,300.
In the past fiscal year, around 900 employees participated in
77 social projects connected to the Company during the “Audi
Volunteer Days” held at the Ingolstadt, Neckarsulm and Győr
(Hungary) locations. Many departments also support social
organizations in the form of “team campaigns” held over the
course of the year.
AUDI AG made the sum of EUR 1 million available for refugee
projects in the 2015 fiscal year. The funds are aimed at provid-
ing relief at the Ingolstadt, Neckarsulm, Brussels (Belgium)
and Győr locations. Through the Audi Volunteers initiative,
employees can suggest regional projects they would like to
implement in cooperation with charitable organizations. Since
January 2016, Audi has supported a school class for the inte-
gration, occupational orientation and cultural assimilation of
refugees in partnership with the city of Ingolstadt, the Volks-
hochschule Ingolstadt (Adult Education Center) and Ingolstadt
Vocational School I. This pilot project is about helping young
refugees aged 18 to 25 who are highly likely to remain in the
country to learn German and find an occupation.
In May 2015, around 3,800 employees took part in the 24-Hour
Run in Ingolstadt, as a result of which AUDI AG donated around
EUR 175,000 to social organizations. In addition, the Christ-
mas fundraising campaign – which has been held by the Works
Council since 1977 – attracted a participation rate of over
99 percent of employees in the past fiscal year. Regional social
and charitable organizations at the Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm
sites benefit from the money raised by the employees. After
being topped up by the Company, the donated total reached
the record sum of EUR 960,000.
Many of our employees also took part in the “Last Cents” cam-
paign. Thanks to employees donating the cents remaining after
the decimal point on their monthly payslip, around EUR 264,000
could be donated to street children projects run by “terre des
hommes” in the past fiscal year.