Being green is not easy! And it is not necessarily cheap either… But if one – or in this case an entire community – is prepared to make a reasonable and conscious effort, thinking of the long term, it pays off. April’s “FutureWorkshop” was organised to coincide with Sustainability Week.
The common point, the Sustainable Debrecen Award, was the focus of the panel discussion for this very reason. And in style, true to the title of the programme, the workshop was not only about the present, but also about the future.
Sharing the stage at Csokonai Forum with the moderator, István Gulyás, were Gréta Rácz, managing director of Green Drops Farm Kft., Réka Makray, HR director of Vitesco Technologies Hungary Kft. Sándor Szabó, deputy CEO of Szinorg Universal Zrt., and Péter Szabó, managing director of Schaeffler Debrecen Kft.
Thinking and acting greener is not that simple. As the guests shared, green thinking has challenged their respective companies in many different ways.
In most places, a key objective is motivating the community, i.e. getting employees to take action for a “greener world”. At Vitesco Technologies Hungary Kft., for example, a points system has been introduced to achieve this.
Associates get points if they bicycle to work or shop at a packaging-free store.
And, of course, you can win all sorts of things that start with the letter “e” (for example, an e-scooter), as Réka Makray put it. But the company also organises a number of thematic events to raise awareness.
They aim to be carbon-neutral by 2026, and they are doing their utmost to achieve this objective, such as smart buildings and a solar park planned for next year. Their mission is clean mobility.
At Schaeffler Magyarország Kft, on the other hand, it has been the technical transition that is constantly being thought through.
The company has also come up with smart solutions such as using the heat generated by the machines to heat the offices and the water in the showers.
As managing director Péter Szabó said, when it comes to technological change, the main consideration is how long the return on the investment is that can be generated by such technical transitions. The limit for them is 2 years.
This naturally also raises the issue that everything has a price, and what is really worth it? Sándor Szabó, deputy CEO of Szinorg Universal Zrt., pointed out that “greening” efforts have intensified as a result of the difficulties in recent years. The energy crisis has been a green wake-up call. In the post-Covid period, during the crisis, those who had previously invested in energy efficiency were not worried. Making green investment more accessible to smaller businesses can be an important economic development challenge.
Even if green thinking cannot be converted into cash, but it can save a lot of money with a good idea and implementation.
It is true that in the long run the market will decide what is needed, but it is important to remember that while in the past a trend could work for up to 20 years, nowadays life is changing much more rapidly. The world is not simply turning, it is spinning, and we have to keep up with the pace.
Debrecen has set an ambitious goal, as it intends to become the European Green Capital. Participants at the “FutureWorkshop” also discussed the important steps the business sector can take to achieve this. Gréta Rácz feels that it is currently very difficult to find people for basic tasks such as seed sowing. She believes that if more community gardens were created, the growing process could be shared, and there is also educational potential in that. The cherry on the cake is that gardening, especially together with others, is also good for mental health.
Vitesco Hungary Kft will soon open a marketplace where shopping days would be organised and people living nearby could sell their produce there. They believe in holding “idea fairs” because young people can bring a different approach to environmental protection.
Sándor Szabó thinks it would also be worthwhile for energy specialists from small, medium and large companies to put their heads together. There is no issue that they cannot find a creative solution to. Péter Szabó echoed this point, when discussing the problem they have encountered in connection with their solar park: even though their production runs from Monday to Friday, the solar park also operates at weekends. They would also like to use this energy: even by giving it to their neighbours, as he put it.
There is already an idea for the leftover water: the company’s employees have come up with the idea of creating a free car wash on the site.
These solutions may sound like a novelty at the moment, but it is an important goal to ensure that even the youngest children in Debrecen grow up with environmental protection as a fundamental part of their lives.
Conversation partners:
Sándor Szabó, deputy CEO, Szinorg Universal Zrt.
Gréta Rácz, managing director, Green Drops Farm Kft.
Péter Szabó, managing director, Schaeffler Debrecen Kft.
Réka Makray HR director, Vitesco Technologies Hungary Kft.
The discussion was moderated by István Gulyás, reporter and editor.