Fifth-semester students on the ‘Sustainable Tourism’ Bachelor’s degree programme worked on practical issues for Germany’s largest scout organisation.
As part of the ‘Sustainable Event Management’ course, which takes place every year during the winter semester, students on the ‘Sustainable Tourism’ Bachelor’s degree programme addressed current issues facing the German Scout Association of St George (DPSG). With over 95,000 members, this organisation is one of the largest children’s and youth organisations in Germany. Last year, the Federal Ecology Working Group, led by Dr Simon Weihofen – Federal Adviser on Ecological Development and a member of the Federal Ecology Working Group of the German Scout Association of St George – developed a guide designed to encourage members to plan and organise events in a more sustainable manner.
To build on this, the Scout Association launched a project, which has now been undertaken by over 50 students. Following kick-off events, during which the students learnt about areas of action and measures relating to sustainable event management, they had the opportunity to attend a lecture by Dr Weihofen.
Following this, the project topics were allocated to the individual groups. This enabled questions to be discussed directly with the ‘client’. As a result, the students were able not only to deepen and apply their subject-specific knowledge, but also to practise project management and client relations at the same time.
Over the course of the winter semester, the students developed analyses and concepts for the guidelines and the communication strategy, as well as recommendations on whether certification would be appropriate in this context. Specifically, the focus was on whether comprehensive sustainability certificates were appropriate or whether alternatives such as the German Convention Bureau’s voluntary ‘fairpflichtet’ code might be more suitable. The differences in the significance of these certificates, as well as between internal and external auditors, were also discussed and analysed.
In addition, measurement models were developed for large-scale DPSG events, designed to assess the environmental impact of these events.
These measurement models are now to be put into practice during a follow-up course in the summer term, to be held during the Whitsun camp in Westerhohe, which is expected to attract over 4,000 participants. The questionnaires designed to gauge participants’ attitudes and knowledge regarding sustainable event management will also be used here.
Overall, various measures were developed to contribute to sustainable event management within the DPSG, and Dr Weihofen was impressed by the students’ ideas and approaches: “I have now also presented the results to the Federal Working Group. The members were both amazed and enthusiastic! We are now considering internally whether to continue the project.”
The students and lecturer Vanessa Jansen-Meinen also rated the collaboration as extremely positive and were particularly impressed by the practical approach.
