German stakeholder meeting

On 1 February 2011 Fair Wear Foundation, its German stakeholders and its member companies gathered in Frankfurt for the annual German stakeholder Platform meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to exchange information, to inspire and be inspired and to learn from each other. This year, the NGOs Ostwind Institut, CIR, Verdi and the German Clean Clothes Campaign attended, as well as representatives from all German member companies: Bierbaum Proenen, HempAge, hessnatur, Jack Wolfskin and Vaude.

FWF, some of the stakeholders and all members presented their plans for the coming year and evaluated 2010. All attendants where very open en willing to share their learning points and highlights of their social compliance activities. It was great to see that two member companies are gathering information on the levels of the wages that are paid in their factories and how they relates to wage benchmarks.

The presence of both stakeholders and member companies enabled attendants to discuss a broad range of social compliance practices and share and exchange mutual expectations. Due to the different sizes and structures of the companies attending, all could provide unique and helpful input, useful for both other members and stakeholders. Companies exchanged different ways for more responsible sourcing, for instance through organising multi-disciplinary meetings (CSR, production, quality, design) in preparation of every new collection.

All participants left the meeting with the a positive feeling and practical guidelines to further strengthen their social strategy and practice. The next meeting will be hosted in Duesseldorf in February 2012.

FWF can hardly wait for the next German inspirational energiser!