The players
Dr. Georg Winter – environmental activities
Dr. Georg Winter is considered the earliest pioneer of integrated, environmentally oriented management. He coined the now widely used terms “environmentally conscious management” “environmental management” and “operational ecology” and has always emphasized the shared responsibility that businesses have for the lasting protection of the biosphere.
The first “integrated system of environmentally oriented management”
In 1972, Winter made environmental protection one of the top goals of the company Ernst Winter & Sohn GmbH & Co. which he co-managed until 1995. In the years that followed, he worked with colleagues to develop and implement the first “integrated system of environmentally oriented management”.
In 1985, the Winter company finalised the construction of Germany’s first biologically constructed industrial building. In the same year, the company hired the first “environmental consultant” based on the job description that Dr. Maximilian Gege had created shortly before. Winter geared product development, training programmes and improvement schemes towards environmental protection. In 1985, the company received the first Environmental Oscar awarded by the Bundesverbandes Junger Unternehmer (BJU - Association of Young Entrepreneurs). In 1986 the German state of Schleswig-Holstein honoured the company with the distinction "Environmentally Friendly Business of the Year 1986”.
In 1996, Dr. Winter helped industrial workers and employees become co-owners of the ecologically designed Wulksfelde Estate. The property won the award for the most promising organic farm in 2005 given by the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection.
Initiator of B.A.U.M. e.V. and INEM e.V.
In 1984, Dr. Georg Winter worked with Dr. Maximilian Gege to create the Bundesdeutscher Arbeitskreis für Umweltbewusstes Management – B.A.U.M. e.V. (German Association for Environmental Management). Dr. Winter was the chairman of the board from its founding until the end of 2004. In 1991, the United Nations Environmental Programme added B.A.U.M. e.V. to the “500 Roll of Honour”.
In the same year, Dr. Winter founded the Internationale Netzwerk for Environmental Management – INEM e.V. and was chairman of the board until the end of 2004. Since then, numerous trade associations for environmentally conscious management and “cleaner production centres” in industrialised countries, Central and Eastern European countries and developing countries have joined INEM. In 2003, the Club of Budapest honoured INEM with the "Change the World – Best Practice Award“.
Creative director for the Global Eco-Social Marshall Plan and Global SMALL
In 1985, Dr. Winter called for an ecological Marshall Plan for Europe in the Handelsblatt. On October 11, 2003, about 50 celebrities signed the "Stuttgart Declaration" at the instigation of the Club of Budapest. The declaration called for the establishment of an advisory committee for the European Union to help develop an eco-social Global Marshall Plan.
In 2002, Dr. Winter created the Global SMALL (Sustainable Management for All Local Leaders) Initiative. The goals include the Declaration of Badalona from May 21, 2002. Dr. Winter is of the opinion that, with well-directed support and training, small actors in industry, service, agriculture, energy production, loan disbursement, education and management can contribute the most to the social and economic well-being of the countries of the world.
From 2003 to May 2006, Dr. Georg Winter served as the founding chairman of the advisory board of the Verband für Nachhaltiges Umweltmanagement e.V. (VNU - Association for Sustainable Management of the Environment), which provides professional representation for environmentally related jobs in Germany.
The most important publications on environmental management
In 1986/87, following an invitation from the European Union, Dr. Georg Winter published the first book ever written on environmentally conscious management. It is now available in twelve languages. “Das umweltbewusste Unternehmen“ („Blueprint for Green Management“) is now considered a standard work. The entrepreneur is also co-author and publisher of the books “Zukunftsstandort Deutschland. Das Programm der umweltbewussten Unternehmer“ (“Future-Oriented Germany. Programme for Environmentally Conscious Businesses”) and „Ökologische Unternehmensentwicklung“ (“Ecological Business Development”).
Awards
Dr. Georg Winter received the “Bundesverdienstkreuz” award in 1987. The European Union Directorate General for the Environment awarded Dr. Georg Winter the „Diploma Meritorium des Umweltjahres 1988“ and he received the „Deutschen Umweltpreis der Deutschen Bundesstiftung Umwelt” in 1995.
Contact:
HAUS DER ZUKUNFT
Osterstr. 58
20259 Hamburg
Tel. 040 - 4907-1214
Fax 040 - 4907-1208
E-mail: innovation@dr-georg-winter.de
