.jpg "We develope real estate talents who are able to think in an interdisciplinary and holistic manner.")
Partnership and responsibility are core Union Investment values
Promoting talent, offering educational opportunities
Corporate responsibility is a key plank of our overarching group strategy. Our employees can rely on Union Investment as an employer. For the companies we invest in, we are an engaged partner who delivers a secure future. We support and help people in our society through projects and funding. In the real estate segment, we focus on training and education, especially for children, young people and adolescents in Hamburg, our headquarters site. We also support our employees in their voluntary work.
Responsibility towards society
The primary aim of our commitment is to improve the educational opportunities and job prospects of disadvantaged children and young people. Career development for graduate-level talent and women in the real estate sector is also of particular importance to us.
JOBLINGE
JOBLINGE is a training initiative which offers career prospects for young people with limited schooling or a difficult family background. In a course lasting approximately six months, participants acquire key qualifications on the job, practice their social skills and work towards gaining an apprenticeship or job. The aim at the end of the course is to find each “jobling” a training position or employment. Union Investment has supported the Joblinge initiative in Hamburg since 2015 and many Union Investment employees act as volunteer mentors to the “joblings”.
Children for Tomorrow
The Children for Tomorrow foundation was launched in 1998 by former world-class tennis player Steffi Graf. Based close to Eppendorf University Hospital, psychotherapists and educationalists work with traumatised child refugees and young people. The children and young people treated at the centre display symptoms of severe mental suffering caused by their experience of war and loss. Trained interpreters are provided during all therapies. Union Investment supports in particular the implementation of music therapy projects for young children living in refugee accommodation.
Urban Plan
How can young people be introduced to the exciting opportunities offered by the real estate sector? The approach taken by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Germany is to hold project days in schools. A special planning game allows older pupils to discover the many different aspects of urban development, based on a hypothetical city. In the course of the game, the players also encounter the various career profiles within the real estate sector.
Union Investment supports this UrbanPlan initiative as part of its social commitment.
Hamburg School of Business Administration (HSBA)
The non-profit Real Estate and Leadership Foundation established by Union Investment and other Hamburg-based real estate companies has launched a new course of study in Hamburg in association with the Hamburg School of Business Administration (HSBA). Since the 2017/18 winter semester, students from a range of subject backgrounds can take a Master’s course in Real Estate & Leadership. The course aims to give future real estate professionals an interdisciplinary, holistic outlook, while also providing participants with broad-based practical knowledge. To date, the Foundation has raised a million euros in funding.
Women Talk Real Estate
“Women Talk Real Estate” is a non-profit organisation headquartered in London which is dedicated to increasing the visibility of women in the real estate sector. It connects female professionals with speaking and media opportunities in Europe and offers women training to build their stage and media presence. The goal is to improve business and career progression opportunities for women in the real estate industry, to challenge stereotypes and to provide role models for the benefit of the whole industry. Union Investment has supported the initiative since 2017.
We also support:
Responsibility towards our employees
Taking responsibility for the people who work in our company is hugely important to us. Our employees are the foundation of our success and our corporate culture. We seek to provide them with a work environment in which they feel valued, supported and fairly treated.
Responsibility towards the real estate sector
Through our involvement in trade associations and networks, we support a range of corporate social responsibility activities along the entire real estate industry value chain. We contribute financially and also share our knowledge. In 2016, for example, Union Investment helped to draw up guidelines for the Initiative Corporate Governance (ICG), which promotes effective corporate social responsibility in the real estate industry.
