With a wide range of corporate citizenship initiatives and the promotion of projects in the non-profit sector, Mercedes-Benz has a positive impact on society worldwide beyond its own business activities. The Stuttgart region has always been of particular importance as the company’s main location. Building on this long-standing commitment, the company will further strengthen its engagement in the region. In addition to existing projects, #mercedesbenz will support initiatives in the areas of social welfare, the environment and culture with an additional 24 million euros until 2028.
«Mercedes-Benz and Stuttgart: They go together. Daimler invented the car in Stuttgart, and today a large part of our Mercedes-Benz team lives and works in the region – and this is where we have been committed for decades, even beyond the factory gates. We will further strengthen our commitment to social cohesion, environmental protection and cultural diversity in the coming years and work together with strong partners from the region. This shows: Even though our business is becoming increasingly global, we stand by our home region.» – Renata Jungo Brüngger, Member of the Board of Management of mercedesbenz Group AG, Integrity, Governance & Sustainability
With the promotion, Mercedes-Benz is supporting a new participation process of the “Bürgerstiftung Stuttgart” (Stuttgart Civic Foundation) with the aim of strengthening social cohesion in the region. To begin with, under the headings «Participation of children and young people», «Integration» and «Ways out of poverty», concrete fields of action for existing challenges were developed in interaction with other strong partners from civil society and from the City of Stuttgart. The call for proposals derived from the participation process currently allows organisations and associations to apply with concrete projects or project ideas. The call for proposals has already been running since August 2023. After the end of the tendering phase, the final projects for funding in 2024 will be selected by a panel of experts. In order to strengthen civic engagement in Stuttgart as a whole, Mercedes-Benz will also financially support the planned establishment of the “Haus des Ehrenamtes” (House of Volunteers).
By integrating the expertise of the civic foundation and other partners from the social and societal sectors as well as from the city, Mercedes-Benz aims to promote measures and projects that have a solid impact on urban society. The participation process is designed to ensure that funds arrive where they can make a difference. The goal is to achieve structural and, thus, lasting improvements.
