BMW Welt hosts One Young World Summit

Munich, 27 July 2021 – More than 2,000 young professionals from over 190 countries came together over the weekend both physically and virtually at the One Young World (OYW) Summit to discuss global social challenges and opportunities for sustainable business, with the goal of working together to find solutions.

The theme of this year’s summit was “Innovation”, as applied to topics such as the climate crisis, freedom and civil rights, and education. A number of high-profile guests from the worlds of business, politics, society, sport and culture provided the young people with advice and inspiration, among them Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Muhammad Yunus, singer and activist Bob Geldof, and former footballer Hope Solo. More than 60 BMW Group delegates from locations around the world were selected to attend the OYW Summit in Munich.

“Working at the BMW Group means taking responsibility”

As a longstanding supporter of OYW, the BMW Group took advantage of its role as this year’s co-host to encourage participants to seek solutions and push for needed changes with their own ideas and projects. “Each and every one of us can play a part in making the economy more sustainable. And I have a good reason for being confident that we can achieve this enormous transformation: namely, our employees,” noted Ilka Horstmeier, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Human Resources and an OYW Counsellor, at the big closing ceremony on Sunday at BMW Welt. “The reason for my optimism is employees like Evelin Hartmann and Florian Kantop,” Horstmeier added. The two talented young people from the MINI design team and the seat development department set themselves the goal of finding a sustainable and recyclable alternative to leather seat covers. With the help of their colleagues, they developed a design concept for a 100 percent recyclable seat cover that produces over 99 percent less CO2 emissions than conventional leather covers. “Along with seats, our teams are also taking a closer look at vehicle components such as the floor trim, trunk and headliner. There is plenty of potential there!” promised the two when presenting their project on the OYW stage at BMW Welt.

The BMW Group’s other OYW delegates have likewise recognised this potential – and, in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, are also helping to make the world a little better through their projects. They collect and recycle PVC scraps from manufacturing, make backpacks and toilet bags from old factory uniforms, and support schools in South Africa with solar energy storage units made from used high-voltage batteries.

“It’s up to us to take responsibility”

“It’s up to us to take responsibility,” says Ilka Horstmeier. Thinking hard about the future and actively shaping it today is thus not only the guiding principle of the OYW organisation but is also strongly anchored in the consciousness of the BMW Group. Far-sightedness and social responsibility can even be called hallmarks of the BMW Group. This also includes offering committed young professionals a platform for complex and constructive discussions about solutions for the future. “We must strive to develop a common image of our society – as a people-centred society that balances solutions to environmental and social problems with economic progress,” according to Horstmeier.

The four-day One Young World Summit is held in a different city each year. The host city in 2022 will be Tokyo.

Please contact us if you have any queries:

Corporate Communications

Angela Konert, BMW Group, Spokesperson Human Resources

Phone: +49-89-382-50591, angela.konert@bmw.de

Markus Sagemann, BMW Group, Head of Communications Human Resources, Corporate Citizenship

Phone: +49-89-382-68796, markus.sagemann@bmw.de

The BMW Group

With its four brands BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, the BMW Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium financial and mobility services. The BMW Group production network comprises 31 production and assembly facilities in 15 countries; the company has a global sales network in more than 140 countries. In 2020, the BMW Group sold over 2.3 million passenger vehicles and more than 169,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax in the financial year 2020 was € 5.222 billion on revenues amounting to € 98.990 billion. As of 31 December 2020, the BMW Group had a workforce of 120,726 employees.

The success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company set its course for the future early on and is making sustainability and resource efficiency the focus of the company’s strategic direction – from the supply chain, through production, to the end of the use phase, for all its products.

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