ENVIRONMENT

BUSINESS: 327 PRACTICES


TOPIC:

Initiative

Growing environmental awareness & responsibility

Growing environmental awareness & responsibility
SUBMITTED FROM:

ΟΜΙΛΟΣ ΕΛΛΑΚΤΩΡ

ELLAKTOR Group is active in the segment of Concessions, Environment and Real Estate Development - Management. With a presence in 4 countries and 2,300 employees, the Group operates with environmental and social responsibility, providing high-quality infrastructure projects, which aim to promote sustainability and the continuous creation of added value for the entire Greek economy and society.


Contact

Objective Action

At ELLAKTOR Group, active contribution and significant promotion of sustainable development are central to its business planning and sector activities. Ensuring a safe and fair working environment, significant economic contribution, support of local communities, and reduction of environmental impacts from its activities are fundamental principles of its business strategy and philosophy. These commitments, fundamental to achieving its mission, are reflected in modern infrastructure projects that have been improving the quality of life and developing local communities for decades, as well as environmental projects that promote the circular economy and energy production from alternative and renewable sources, creating added value for all stakeholders.

The Group, through its adopted and implemented Environmental & Energy Policy, is committed to providing the necessary resources for all employees to participate in educational activities on environmental and energy issues and to develop an environmentally and energy-responsible corporate culture. It is believed that every employee can have either a positive or negative impact on the environment and can contribute, to a greater or lesser extent, to improving environmental management. Education is perhaps the most crucial factor in promoting sustainable development and enhancing employees' ability to understand and significantly contribute to environmental protection.

In this context, the ESG Strategy & Sustainable Development Division designed a program to develop environmental awareness and responsibility among the Group's employees on environmental and energy issues, titled "Protecting the environment is everyone's responsibility", for the implementation of relevant policies and procedures and the gradual cultivation of an environmentally and energy-responsible corporate culture.

The purpose of this initiative is to shape sensitive, environmentally informed, and active citizens by changing behaviors related to environmental management, participating individually or collectively in actions for its protection, and properly resolving environmental crises, ultimately aiming to create a sustainable future with environmental equity, economic sustainability, and a fair society for present and future generations.

More specifically, the program aims to support employees to:

  • Acquire knowledge about the environment, its functions, and its problems.
  • Become aware of environmental issues.
  • Realize the need for changes in environmental management and reflect on the impacts of an activity, individual or collective, on the environment. Understand that most natural resources are non-renewable, and their reckless use has life consequences and that environmental degradation reflects our economic and social choices.
  • Develop environmental ethics through behavior, attitude, and habit changes.
  • Develop a willingness for active participation, involvement, and intervention in protecting and improving the environment, not only within the Group's activities but also in the local community where they live.

To achieve the above goals, the Group set specific targets in its environmental strategy:

  • Train 100% of employees in "Environment & Energy Induction".
  • Provide an average of 5 hours of training per employee per year on environmental and energy management by 2025.
  • Provide an average of 10 hours of training per employee per year on environmental and energy management by 2028.
  • Ensure 100% participation of the Group's employees in Greece in environmental and energy management training programs annually by 2028.
 

Target Audience

All employees of the Group, employees of its Business Partners, and the local and broader community.

 

Duration

2021-2028


Description

Recognizing its environmental impacts, ELLAKTOR Group has set effective environmental management and minimization of the potential burden from its business activities as a priority, implementing the best available practices and techniques, and developing strategies for continuous improvement of its environmental performance. Protecting the environment, preventing pollution, promoting the circular economy, achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions, addressing climate change risks, conserving biodiversity, and protecting ecosystems are the Group's main priorities in all its activities, not only to mitigate environmental impacts but also to enhance its positive environmental impact.

The program to develop awareness and responsibility among the Group's employees on environmental and energy issues, titled "Protecting the environment is everyone's responsibility", has been gradually implemented since 2021 with a series of actions:

  • Initially, the "18 Basic Environmental & Energy Rules" were designed, communicated, and implemented across the Group's activities, setting the framework for protecting the environment, local biodiversity, and the communities where it operates. Continuous and uninterrupted adherence to these rules in every Group’s activity can only be achieved through each employee's contribution from their work position and responsibility. Training on these rules began in 2021 and continues until today.
  • Subsequently, the "Environment & Energy Induction Training" for the Group's projects and separately for the headquarters was redesigned, presented, and promoted to all subsidiaries to train all employees. This training forms the basis of concepts and issues for understanding environmental and energy management, which all employees must receive. To achieve this, initial training of the Environmental & Energy Managers of each subsidiary was conducted, who in turn train the Environmental & Energy Managers of each project to train all project employees.
  • An essential part of the program was the communication and training on the Group's new "Environmental & Energy Policy". The Group has adopted a new Environmental & Energy Policy and committed to continuous compliance with current legislation and other requirements for environmental protection, including pollution prevention, ensuring the provision of necessary information and resources, achieving the goals of the implemented Environmental & Energy Management Systems, consulting and engaging in open dialogue with stakeholders on environmental and energy issues, and continuously improving environmental and energy performance.
  • A significant and innovative tool implemented in the Group was the transmission of "Monthly Environmental and Energy Flashes", where single-page messages with different topics each time and special messages related to global days are sent to employees to inform them quickly and effectively and raise awareness on environmental and energy issues. This material is used by the Environmental & Energy Managers of the projects, who schedule related training sessions. So far, 33 messages have been sent on topics such as climate change, circular economy, hazardous waste management, nuisance management, biodiversity, energy and fuel conservation, water management, and air emissions management. These flashes are also transmitted to subcontractor employees in certain projects.
  • For further training of the subsidiaries' Environmental & Energy Managers, training on environmental management in projects and the basic concepts of ISO 14001 - Environmental Management System was conducted in collaboration with the external body TUV Hellas.
  • On World Environment Day 2022, a special action was organized at the Group's headquarters, providing all employees with informative material on the importance of reuse and recycling and distributing glass water containers to avoid using single-use plastics and reusable fabric bags.
  • In collaboration with the global non-profit environmental and humanitarian organization We4all, training on general topics and issues related to environmental problems from climate change, fast fashion consequences, and food waste was conducted in 2023 to motivate employees further and become ambassadors of their knowledge within their broader family and personal environment.
  • On World Biodiversity Day (May 22) and World Bee Day (May 20) in 2023, ELLAKTOR Group organized a unique action in collaboration with the Smart Park Shopping Center to protect bees and their contribution to humanity and biodiversity, raising awareness among employees, their families, and the local community.
  • For the United Nations World Day celebration, ELLAKTOR Group, in collaboration with Smart Park, organized an information event and a series of experiential educational activities for the employees' and park visitors' children titled "Keep our planet blue" with the help of the official ambassadors of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Smurfs. Children participated in a gardening workshop, played recycling games for proper separation of recyclable materials, and various educational memory and visualization games on green energy forms in a fun way.
  • Combining technology, the Group procured a special e-learning material creation tool, "CReD Authoring tool," resulting in the ability to create online courses and aiming for the high participation offered by distance learning. Two online courses on induction environmental and energy topics with evaluation questionnaires were created, which employees complete and receive a participation certificate upon successful completion.

more...

Impact on Society

From the first two years of the program's implementation, the following results have been achieved:

  • 11,677 hours of training on environmental & energy management topics were provided to Group employees in 2021 and 2022.
  • A 53% increase in training hours on environmental & energy topics was recorded in 2022 compared to 2021.
  • 2,057 employees received at least one training on environmental and energy topics in 2022, 19% more employees compared to 2021.
  • The average training on environmental & energy topics per employee per year in 2022 doubled compared to 2021 (1.25 from 0.63).
  • In 2022, 1,233 hours of training on similar topics were provided to subcontractor employees.


Initiative Location

Throughout all activities of ELLAKTOR Group


Working with Organization

Non-profit, environmental, and humanitarian organization We4all, TUV HELLAS (TUV NORD) Inspection, Certification, and Training Organization, member of the German TUV NORD Group, Compact 360° e-Learning Solutions


More...…

Workers Participation

  • Employees participating in the program's educational activities
  • The ESG Strategy & Sustainable Development Division team
  • A team of 23 internal trainers on environmental & energy issues
  • The Training & Development Department of the Human Resources Division

More...…
Photos

Benefits for Οrganization

By training and raising awareness among employees on environmental and energy management issues, and by fostering an environmentally and energy-responsible corporate culture, the primary benefits achieved include reducing the Group's environmental footprint, changing employee mentality and culture, and increasing their awareness regarding the environment and climate change. More specifically, the benefits for the Group include:

  • Enhancing Employee Awareness: Improving employees' understanding of the concept of the environment, its functions, and its problems, and increasing their desire to actively participate in its improvement and protection.
  • Minimizing Waste: Reducing hazardous and non-hazardous waste through limiting waste generation, maximizing reuse, recycling, and adopting waste sorting practices at the source, contributing to the promotion of a circular economy and industrial symbiosis.
  • Improving Energy Behavior: Enhancing employees' energy behavior and saving energy, resulting in reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Rational Water Management: Implementing water-saving and reuse practices.
  • Biodiversity and Ecosystem Protection: Preserving and protecting biodiversity and ecosystems.
  • Timely Response to Environmental Incidents: Ensuring employees can respond promptly and correctly to any environmental incidents during their work.



Connection with Global Goals







More Initiatives from Organization



Send us your feedback Print
The Sustainable Greece Ιnitiative launched by QualityNet Foundation