SEKEM‘s Journal for Economy, Culture, and Society in Egypt
SEKEM Insight Nr. 85 - September 2009
Dear Readers, a German proverb states that time needs to be granted to some developments to eventually succeed. For the Heliopolis University this statement has certainly proven its point.
Science
Social
Economy
Heliopolis University to Open in 2010
New Faust on SEKEM‘s Stages
Lebensbaum Celebrates 30th Anniversary
Heliopolis University Takes Final Administrative Hurdle
The first ideas for a „SEKEM University“ had been formulated already in 2002. It had always been the primary objective “round off” SEKEM’s manifold educational initiatives with a tertiary education institution enabling students to pursue professional and academic careers alike. While the SEKEM Vocational Training Centre and the Mahad Institute for Adult Education had laid the groundwork for a true professional education scheme a “SEKEM University” would have to be the logical and conclusive step. The first practical steps were made in summer 2003 by bringing together key stakeholders in the field. The following 2 years brought the first concrete concepts for the learning content and the infrastructures on the SEKEM headquarter premises. This summer what has become the new “Heliopolis University” has cleared the last obstacle after years of intensive work and will finally open its doors in late 2010.
Your Team of Editors
The buildings of the Heliopolis University on the premises of the SEKEM headquarter in Cairo
After having received the final and decisive official permission to proceed with the opening of the Heliopolis University from the Egyptian government only days ago Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish, founder of SEKEM, was brimming with enthusiasm: „I am extremely happy that we have finally received the permission to open our university from the President of Egypt, Hosny Mubarak, in the form of the presidential decree No. 298 dated 31. August 2009. I would like to thank all friends who have supported us
over the past 7 years to develop the idea of the university and bring it to life. During these years that we had to wait for the university project to take the final administrative hurdles the vision and the concept of the university could be developed. Tremendous experience could be gathered specifically through the practical cooperation in higher education projects with institutions in the entire world. We were able to successfully feed them back into our project concept and improve our
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SEKEM Releases Annual Sustainable Report 2008 In September the team around Svenja Bromberg, Sustainability Strategy Development at SEKEM, finalized the SEKEM report on Sustainable Development 2008. It was the second time for SEKEM to report according to standards of the GRI (Global reporting Initiative) on all factors, which influence SEKEM’s impact on Sustainable Development. When reading through the 60-page document, one can get a sense of the tremendous work which has been conducted by many co-workers of SEKEM in collecting, comparing and interpreting the data of the seven companies in regard to energy consumption, waste, water consumption, employee and community development or economic growth. The question arises, why SEKEM as an organization undertakes all this effort. “Our main goal is to achieve a higher level of information and transparency for all the different stakeholder needs” explains Svenja. “And our experience shows, that the reporting helped a lot to integrate the idea of sustainable development even deeper into the thinking and rationality of all kind of cultural, social and economic activities in Sekem.” For the first time this year the whole report is based on a new performance measurement and communication scheme: the Sustainability Flower. It reports about the three dimensions of society (Economic, Social, Cultural) all based on the natural resources Energy, Air, Water, Animals, Plants, Soil, Minerals. The Sustainability Flower was developed by the IAP partners Aarstiderne,
See SEKEM yourself: www.SEKEM-reisen.de www.demeter-reisen.de
Alnatura, Ambootia, Dr. Schaette AG, EOSTA, Lebensbaum, Sekem and Soil & More. Due to its comprehensive approach, beyond single-issue quality claims, the “Sustainability Flower” provides the stakeholders of the organic movement with an opportunity to communicate their uniqueness, their sustainable competitiveness and to differentiate in the marketplace from main-stream sustainability claims, which are presented in the communication of all large companies nowadays. The new scheme helped SEKEM to define and compare the status of the years 2007 and 2008 and the goals for the year 2010 for each indicator in every dimension. It also helped to define Key Performance Indicators for each dimension of the Flower. In the economic dimension this means, that the turnover for 2007 and 2008 was measured and reported, and the target for 2010 was set. But it also includes for example the parameter of ecofriendlyness of SEKEM’s products. The status of 2007 and 2008 shows, that single parameters of each product are measured and reported like the Demeter processing. But the goal for 2010 is a full impact assessment of all products, to offer carbon-neutral products and improved material and packaging usage. In the dimension of society this means, that in 2007 and 2008 a Corporate Governance Codex was in place, but the goal for 2010 is, to make this a “living” Code of Conduct, understood and appreciated by all SEKEMers. Another example in this dimension (measurable in numbers) would be the diversity of workforce and the equal treatment: in 2007
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understanding of the work that still lies ahead of us. The Heliopolis University has the vision to offer a unique and innovative approach to tackle humanity’s largest and most pressing problems and contribute to the sustainable development of our modern societies. The concept rests on 3 pillars: innovative and interactive teaching; interdisciplinary research in the national and international context; practical learning through “handson training”. An dedicated study programme aims at individual personality development - a “studium fundamentale” combining the social sciences, art, languages and philosophy. The development of a sustainable society on the university campus surrounded by bio-dynamic agriculture and with a centre for industries and private businesses from various sectors. The Heliopolis University will open its doors in autumn 2010 with an initial portfolio of bachelor courses in the following areas: 1.
Organic agriculture,
2. Sustainable engineering (renewable energies, water management, mechatronics), 3. Pharmacy, 4. Sustainable economics, 5. Physiotherapy, 6. Nursing, 7. Applied arts, 8. Communication sciences, 9. Social sciences. Christina Boecker
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the percentage of women employed was 17% and no data available on women in managerial positions. In 2008, however, the percentage already rose to 21% and 15 women as managers. The goal for 2010 is to employ a minimum of 30% of women among them 20 in management posts of various kinds. In the cultural dimension the training of employees took place on single issues only in 2007. However, in 2008 the implementation of a professional long-term training plan was started and the goal for 2010 is to have a fully implemented 1 year training plan for every co-worker in all of SEKEM’s major firms and subsidiaries.
achieve these goals. It was an intensive reflection and evaluation of the SEKEM Holding’s sustainability performance which led to a great number of initiatives and practical projects. S4 EKEM also developed a comprehensive Code of Conduct for the companies. Plus, sustainability indicators will be integrated into the general reporting protocols of the entire holding. In the future the team will furthermore assess each single company according to each key performance indicator to improve the availability of data and to define crucial areas for future improvements and sustainability projects (e.g. in the areas of packaging, transportation, social initiatives, energy, and water usage and others).
A New Faust on SEKEM‘s Stages 5 years ago Goethe’s drama “Faust” had been brought to SEKEM’s stages for the first time in Arabic and as a combination of eurythmy and theatre play. The wish to stage a new series of performances was heeded for a long time. After 4 months of work the new programme opened in July 2009 under the artistic management of Christoph Graf.
t n e m p lo e v e D able in a t s u S n o t r o 2008 Rep
So SEKEM’s staff now has clear commitments not only to the vision for sustainable development but also to SEKEM’s future action plan to
Christina Boecker
Energy
Air
CU L
Y
TU
T IE
RE
C SO
Animals
The combination of theatre play and eurythmy again posed many artistic challenges specifically with the angel’s choirs, the earth spirit, the monkeys in the witch’s kitchen, and the scene involving witches. 5 years ago three of the eurythmy students of SEKEM that had only just begun their training 4 weeks before the performance climbed the stage. This time they all had leading roles and it was possible to realise a much more complex and more comprehensive choreography than before. However, again there were 5 new eurythmy students that had just taken up their studies and performed publicly for the first time. The professional Egyptian actors to a large part were the same as 5 years ago while a few new performers had joined the team. The musical programme that elegantly supported the scenes and superbly served to establish an ideal atmosphere had been formidably selected and arranged by SEKEM’s musical director Bernhard Sieberer.
Plants
Water ECONOMY
Soil
Mineral Resources
Thus every part of the programme came together in a successful and atmospheric performance that made the audience tremble and enthusiastically follow it for more than 2 hours. Martina Dinkel
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Helmy Abouleish: Private Sectors’ Significant Contribution to Fighting Climate Change In the name of the SEKEM Initiative Helmy Abouleish, CEO of the SEKEM Group, took part in a preparation conference at the United Nations headquarters on 22 September 2009. The conference under the stewardship of General Secretary Ban Ki-moon was meant to serve as a preparatory event to the convention of chiefs of state and governments in Copenhagen in coming December at the occasion of which a follow-up scheme to the Kyoto Protocol is to be concluded. Before the summit Helmy Abouleish answered several questions on how SEKEM aims to fight climate change. Why is it valuable to your business for a global agreement to be found and acted upon? “As the CEO of a large Social Agricultural Business in Egypt I am painfully aware of the devastating potential effects of global climate change on the Egyptian society and economy as a whole as well as on the specific business case of the SEKEM Initiative. But because climate change represents a challenge not only to our business or our nation, but to all of humanity, I am convinced that only a global agreement based on cooperation, shared responsibility and a realistic concept for sharing costs as well as mitigation and adaption technologies will be able to provide the necessary framework to overcome the challenges that climate change poses. Because CO2 emissions are not contained by national borders nothing less than an inclusive global agreement will do. Such an agreement would hopefully ensure that the currently articulated worst-case scenarios for Egypt will never become reality. And for our business such a global agreement would hopefully increase the predictability and secu-
rity of future harvests and water levels.” What type of actions is your company already undertaking in anticipation of a new climate regime? “At SEKEM we believe in a holistic understanding of sustainable development. We therefore proactively engage in sustainable business on several different levels. On our farms we are experimenting with different kinds of renewable energy such as solar water heaters and hybrid solar dryers for herbs. Furthermore we have built and installed a heating system for one of the greenhouses using a 750 liters tank and a closed underground system directly warming the roots of the plants and the surrounding soils. We are also in the planning stage of installing a wind turbine on one of our farms. Our composting site is certified as an official CDM projects and we are making progress in the implementation of sub-surface irrigation methods. Last but not least we conduct extensive research on the climate change related effects of biodynamic farming. So far we have learned that the
carbon sequestration potential, the avoidance of chemical fertilizers and the high water holding capacity of biodynamical farmed soils hold great promise in decreasing the high impact that conventional agriculture has on climate change. We at SEKEM benefit immensely from our above mentioned efforts. Renewable energies and sound water management systems help us reduce costs - for ourselves and the environment. Furthermore by implementing cutting-edge biodynamic farming and irrigation methods we are able to actively prepare ourselves for a hotter and drier climate. Water scarcity in Egypt already is a big issue today. By being forced to take this issue serious today we will be able to share our learning’s with others tomorrow.” What new investments, products, services, and/or operations would you anticipate emerging from your company? “After a global agreement on climate change SEKEM would strengthen and advance the already mani-
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SEKEM gratuliert: Partner Lebensbaum feiert 30-jähriges Jubiläum Continued from page 4
fold activities and investments of our company in the realm of sustainable business. Since we already today aim to produce our products with the smallest ecological footprint possible such an agreement would strengthen our business case. But we are aware that the smallest ecological footprint today, will not be small enough for the world of tomorrow. Therefore we would increase our research activities and sustainability related product development initiatives.”
Helmy Abouleish congratulates Lebensbaum‘s Ulrich Walter (Picture: Harry Köster)
On 29 August the 30th anniversary of the SEKEM partner Ulrich Walter GmbH and its brand “Lebensbaum” was celebrated on the occasion of a festive event in the presence of many of its long-time friends and partners. At the same time the anniversary also served as an appropriate opportunity to celebrate the firm’s founder, Mr. Ulrich Walter’s 60th birthday. More than 8.000 people used the concurrent occasion of a “day of open doors” to visit the production facilities of the firm and the brandnew logistical distribution centre BioLogX. At an evening event following the day Helmy Abouleish, CEO of the SEKEM Group, congratulated its long-standing partner in the name of the IAP (International Association for Partnership), an association of organic food producers and processors co-founded by SEKEM: „Since almost 25 years SEKEM has been connected to the Ulrich Walter GmbH not only by a close business partnership in the production
of herbs for the Lebensbaum teas and spices but also through a cordial friendship. It is based on the shared understanding of the need to further sustainable development through bio-dynamic agriculture and associative forms of economic cooperation. For the future I wish both Lebensbaum and Ulrich Walter personally continued success and the necessary power as well as many additional friends and the perseverance to pursue their visionary goals.“ Helmy Abouleish presented Ulrich Walter with a unique and innovative personal gift by the IAP group: a certificate certifying the mitigation of 400 tons of CO2 emissions through the production of compost on the SEKEM farm grounds. The Ulrich Walter GmbH can use this certificate to offset CO2 emissions that can never be fully avoided even in an advanced sustainable production process as that of Lebensbaum. Christina Boecker
After the event Helmy Abouleish drew his personal conclusions: „I am very happy that more and more people are realising that organic agriculture can be a powerful weapon in fighting climate change. Even Al Gore, with whom I participated in a press conference, picked up the issue. It is important that the private sector has released a declaration in which it demands courageous new steps from chiefs of states and governments in Copenhagen.“ The full text of the declaration can be downloaded from the following web address: http://bit.ly/STKOE Svenja Bromberg
Imprint: Publisher: SEKEM, Egypt The editorial team of SEKEM Insight would like to thank all correspondents who have contributed to this edition. Editors: Christina Boecker Bijan Kafi Contact: SEKEM-Insight c/o Sekem Holding P.O.Box 2834 El Horreya, Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt
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