Our commitment focuses on three main areas:
Enabling Learning – Creating Better Opportunities
We are committed to projects that enable learning and, thus, promote social participation.
Social background continues to have a decisive influence on children's access to education. Together with partners such as the TalentMetropole Ruhr Foundation and the Minden-Lübbecke Technology Center, we design projects to counteract this.
We have been sponsoring the regional “Jugend forscht” competition for more than 40 years. Awakening curiosity and fostering the spirit of research will remain a priority in the future for us as a technology company.
Project examples
40 Years of Jugend forscht - Research Is Important to Us and Has a Long Tradition
Whether in biology, chemistry, or mathematics - at "Jugend forscht", school students and trainees deal with a wide variety of scientific issues. The young participants present their innovative ideas and solutions in an annual regional competition. thyssenkrupp Steel Europe has been supporting the organization and implementation of this project for over 40 years now. Our colleagues also sit on the expert jury. We firmly believe that together we can inspire the scientists of tomorrow and, as hosts, we look forward to the next round of this tinkering competition.
Level Up Your Skills - Career Orientation Training from the “Bürgerstiftung Duisburg” (Duisburg Community Foundation)
Pupils in scholastic year 7 can explore and discover their own talents with the help of the "Level Up Your Skills" project. The vocational orientation training starts at an early age to provide impetus and self-confidence for the path to working life. Throwing roof tiles, linking construction pieces, or assembling a cube are rarely part of everyday school life. That's why the girls and boys can get a taste of various professions with lots of practical exercises and under the friendly guidance of experts from the Minden-Lübbecke Technology Center. With this program, we give Duisburg schoolchildren guidance and the opportunity to discover their potential. Thus, they have the confidence to take their future into their own hands. This year, the project will be offered to all Duisburg schools together with duisport. Further support partners are being sought in order to secure the offer in the long term.
The Community Foundation’s Educational Bus – Technology Enthusiasm for the Little Ones
Encouraging curiosity, enthusiasm for technology, and interest in STEM subjects while providing opportunities to participate in society and the world of work through education. That is our declared aim. The community foundation's education bus makes this possible even for the youngest children. Equipped with research kits, e.g., about magnetism or recycling, primary school children can explore and discover. Appointments can be booked by Duisburg's elementary schools or open all-day schools, and the bus comes to the facilities.
Digitization in Schools – Empowering Teachers and Students via the Talent Metropole Ruhr Foundation
How can we make digitalization (more) tangible for young people and students – with all its opportunities and risks? The TalentMetropole Ruhr Foundation is tackling this question.
The #netzTalente Ruhr project strengthens skills so that students can actively campaign against hate speech, fake news, and cyberbullying and for democratic coexistence.
This commitment is essential so that we can impart knowledge and build skills that are crucial in a rapidly changing world.
Strengthening Social Bonds – In Local Partnerships
We support projects, social institutions and associations in the immediate vicinity of our production sites. The spectrum ranges from the local St. Martin's Day parade to the Immersatt e.V. children's and youth table. In the future, we want to work even more closely with partners, exchange information and develop joint ideas. Participation in round tables and visits to local initiatives in the city districts brings us together with stakeholders, as do our self-initiated network meetings with our partners.
Project examples
School Bag Project - For a Carefree Start to the School Career
Child poverty is particularly high in the Ruhr region. It is not uncommon for families to lack the necessary money to equip their children for the start of school. To give needy children in Duisburg a carefree start to their school years, our Hüttenhelden e.V. support association has launched the School Bag Project.
Together with the Lions Club Duisburg-Concordia and in cooperation with the City of Duisburg (Department of Education, Labor and Social Affairs), a total of 200 school satchels were ordered for families in need in Duisburg and made available for collection in 2024. The Duisburg Fire Department provided active support by providing storage space and assisting with the distribution of the satchels.
Kinder- und Jugendtisch Immersatt e.V.” - Helping Locally
We have been working with “Immersatt” for many years, whether for the pre-Christmas wish tree campaign or as part of individual projects. The long-term cooperation and trust help both of us: We are a reliable partner for “Immersatt” and we know that our support is put to good use. Incidentally, many employees now donate directly to “Immersatt”. For over five years, our trainees have been emptying their wallets at Christmas and donating all their hard cash.
Werkkiste e.V.” - Vocational Preparation and Neighborhood Meeting Place
The district of Bruckhausen is right next to our headquarters and the “Duisburger Werkkiste” is located here on the grounds of the old “Liebfrauenkirche”. The Catholic youth welfare and vocational assistance organization in the north of Duisburg has set itself the goal of discovering talent and providing prospects. We have been working with the “Werkkiste” since 2002: Young people who are unable to find an apprenticeship are given a second chance here through vocational preparation. In addition, the district kitchen “Ma(h)lzeit” has become a close partner. The social project supplies our company café “Stulle & Stahl” with a lunch offer once a week. Cooperation in large and small projects, always on an equal footing, characterizes our social commitment.
Marxloh Theater Days - Intercultural and Integrative Work with Children and Young People
Pupils perform theater for pupils – for the 30th time! The Marxloh Theatre Days are organized by the International Youth and Cultural Center “Kiebitz e.V.” and the RiZ Regional Center North in Marxloh. With its highly effective intercultural and integrative work with children and young people from the immediate vicinity of our company, “Kiebitz” starts exactly where development is possible. As part of our social commitment, we have supported this special project from the very beginning.
The concept: pupils who want to put on plays for pupils receive support from professional artists for a few days. They help with valuable tips and tricks to put the finishing touches on the plays, dances or other performances. The fun should not be neglected. Performing on stage strengthens the pupils’ self-confidence.
Protecting the Environment - In Everyone’s Interest
By promoting sustainable citizens' initiatives, we aim to support social change towards sustainability. We want to help create awareness and steadily increase public interest in the environment and sustainability. To this end, we promote sustainable consumption and innovative working and business models. During our Social Days, for example, over 160 employees took part in waste collection projects on the banks of the Rhine, and our sustainable fashion label august & alfred is implementing the next collection.
Project examples
august & alfred - A Social Business Model Gets Off to a Successful Start
Steel is versatile, modern, and outstanding when it comes to recycling. The new "august & alfred" brand combines all these characteristics: not a new grade of steel, but an extraordinary collection of men's and women's outerwear and accessories, created in cooperation with the Grubenhelden fashion label. What makes it special is that it is made from discarded smelters' coats, the special heat-resistant protective workwear for employees at the steelworks. The collection is produced in collaboration between our company's Duisburg inclusion workshops and the Grubenhelden fashion label and can be purchased by anyone. The social business model was developed by a "Social Steel Pioneers" project team: the diverse team from different areas of the company developed the collection, set up the production process and finally launched it on the market with a campaign.
How we get involved
As a company, we financially support projects related to our key topics and ensure that we work while allowing the organizations to remain independent. With a new team, we will be able to develop additional formats in the future and make them more attractive by digitizing the application process. We also want to get our employees involved. More openness and better networking of people, ideas and projects are good for our corporate culture.
Commitment of our employees
As part of our Social Days, we enable our employees to get socially involved at various institutions. In 2023, over 300 colleagues were involved in more than 40 projects, and a further 30 projects are planned for this year.
We also make the commitment that many of our employees make in their free time more visible with the “Hüttenhelden e.V.” support association and value it highly. This specifically supports projects in which our employees from the plant are privately involved.
In addition, the willingness of our employees to donate in crisis situations is enormous and we are pleased to be able to bundle this help through the Hüttenhelden e.V. support association.
Project examples
Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria
thyssenkrupp AG is supporting "Aktion Deutschland Hilft" with a group-wide donation initiative. We at Steel have also participated with a donation of €25,000.
In addition, over €64,000 was donated by our employees to the “Förderverein Hüttenhelden e.V.” and was jointly doubled by thyssenkrupp Steel Europe and the “Förderverein Hüttenhelden e.V.” to €128,000. This sum made it possible to support the aid organizations I.S.A.R. Germany, “Deutsches Medikamenten-Hilfswerk” action “medeor e.V.” and “Technisches Hilfswerk” in equal parts, and thus supporting not only the absolute emergency aid with search teams and emergency supplies but also the reconstruction in Turkey and Syria.
Outbreak of war in Ukraine
In addition to needs-based donations in kind and calls for participation in established sponsorship programs where refugees can be helped personally, thyssenkrupp Steel Europe also doubled employee donations of over €41,000. As a result, a total of over €82,000 was specifically financed for the support of medium- and long-term projects at our sites that focus on the needs of refugees, such as medical care, mental health care, participation in education and the development of new prospects. For example, “Bürgerstiftung Duisburg gAG”, “Projekt Ankommen e.V.”, “Heimstatt St. Barbara e.V”. „Machbarschaft Borsig11 e.V.”, city administration of Neuwied, and „Ehrenamtsagentur Bochum e.V.“ have received donations from Förderverein „Hüttenhelden e.V.“ for various Ukrainian aid projects.
Flood disaster
The flood disaster has left its mark in many parts of Germany. The consequences of the floods are devastating. The tk Rasselstein plant fire department was active in the region. It was actively supported with material reserves and equipment by our plant fire department from the Duisburg, Bochum, and Dortmund sites. In addition to an 18-ton swap body vehicle with IBC containers, which are used to remove water and mud, a team from the plant fire department set off for Andernach with two equipment vans full of pumps, power generators, cable drums, rubber boots and waders.
The 2021 Christmas campaign supported two severely affected schools in the flood area. The Levana School is a special school with a focus on holistic and motor development in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler. With a donation for the purchase of a complete set of support materials, including storage cases and trolleys for the promotion of sensorimotor skills (hand dexterity), language (conceptualization), visual perception (in relation to school skills), cognitive processes (memory, deductive and inductive reasoning), graphomotor skills and mathematics worth around €5,000. And the “Don Bosco” special school, which focuses on learning and language, received 190 lovingly wrapped parcels from our employees to fulfill the very personal wishes of the pupils affected by the floods.
