Cooperation with heart: trade fair employees at the inclusion festival

Every year in May, the noris inklusion nature adventure nursery is transformed into a colorful festival area: This year, the Kräuterfest attracted around 5,000 visitors in perfect weather with creative workshops, a colorful children's program, regional street food and an abundance of herbs and plants. What many guests did not see: Behind the scenes, almost 20 NürnbergMesse employees volunteered their time and energy - organizing parking spaces, serving drinks, working at the barbecue or helping with hands-on activities for children. One of them was Tanja Rätsch. The Head of Corporate Liaison & Sustainability at NürnbergMesse lent a hand with the park cleaning: "For me, it's a matter of course to get involved in society. It's been that way all my life - whether on the parents' council, at handball festivals or now at a social project like the Kräuterfest."

This commitment is part of a concept that more and more companies are discovering for themselves: corporate volunteering. This involves employees volunteering their time and skills for charitable projects - often supported or initiated by their employer. It is a model that not only has a social impact, but also achieves a great deal within the company: it promotes team spirit, identification with the organization - and in this case, one thing above all: active inclusion. "It was a beautiful spring day and a great atmosphere. The aim was to create encounters - and that was wonderfully successful on the day," emphasized Tanja Rätsch.

The volunteer work at the Kräuterfest marked the start of a new local partnership between NürnbergMesse and noris inklusion - two municipal subsidiaries. The impetus for this came from the 2024 shift change - a nationwide project of the Federal Association of Workshops for People with Disabilities (WfbM), in which managers work for a day in a workshop for people with disabilities and then make a return visit. Trade fair CEO Peter Ottmann also took part - opening up a dialog at eye level.

"As subsidiaries, we wanted to network our resources more closely and also benefit from each other," said Wiebke Goldhammer, responsible for public relations at noris inklusion.

The campaign was organized jointly: An internal registration form at NürnbergMesse enabled employees to indicate their times and interests. On site, they were briefed on their tasks and worked hand in hand with colleagues from noris inklusion. "It was important to us that the trade fair employees came into contact with our people with disabilities and worked together - this is the only way to experience true inclusion," explains Wiebke Goldhammer from noris inklusion. "Our employees were the experts here - they gave the instructions and demonstrated their knowledge. This is an important experience for everyone involved."

And the cooperation at the Kräuterfest was just the starting signal - further joint projects will follow. There are already concrete plans: NürnbergMesse, for example, could award printing contracts to noris Inklusion's southern workshop and order customer gifts from noris inklusion's ceramics workshop. NürnbergMesse is also planning to place beehives on the exhibition grounds. With its apiary, noris inklusion has the necessary knowledge. Another interesting area for NürnbergMesse is the accessibility of the extensive grounds. People with disabilities from noris inklusion could advise the exhibition company on this.

The example of NürnbergMesse shows how corporate volunteering can be much more than an occasional commitment. It can be a door opener - for sustainable cooperation, for personal encounters and for a corporate culture that lives responsibility.