Wasser 3.0 curates Innovation Forum at FILTECH 2022
21. February 2022
Education space WASoMI is online
4. May 2022
Without them everything is pointless - Our Partners in Mission
On our mission for waters without microplastics and micropollutants one thing is clear: It is all about joint actions! Fortunately, we already have a number of people, companies and organizations at our side who support us in a number of ways. They are the focus of our Partners in Mission blog series. We look forward to presenting them in loos order in the near future. In this post, we describe why they are so important to us.
Our principles and values in a small g
Wasser 3.0 is a gGmbH. The small g stands in German for 'gemeinnützig' which means 'for the common good'. And it means a lot for us. It reflects our values and principles for a business model with People & Planet first. We have compiled them here.
All in all, it is about the implementation of the triple bottom line, i.e. giving equal consideration to people, planet and profit. The first two - and not the otherwise so frequent profit maximization - are crucial for how we make decisions.
We immediately and 100 percent reinvest profits in further education and research projects. We have committed ourselves to this in our articles of corporation.
A frank word: The profits are still a bit of a dream for the future, because at the moment we have to secure our basic financing. But because we don't want to wait until we're profitable with our education work, we've already got started and, thanks to donations and sponsorship, were recently able to realize our digital-real education space WASoMI - we're very happy about that!
Competition and success from our perspective as a sustainability entrepreneur
We work for waters without microplastics and micropollutants. But how do we do that? And what for? We gave this a lot of thought before founding the gGmbH, and it is still with us.
We did not find any answers in the classic business administration books. The questions turned out to be rather fundamental. That is why at first, it was more of a philosophical enquiry. Now, it is experimentation with the feasibility of our answers.
How do our mission and the market fit together? What is the purpose of our technology and research? How do we want to communicate internally and externally? How do we shape cooperation and collaboration? What does money mean to us? When are we successful?
That is why we chose the small g in our legal framework; that is why the UN Sustainable Development Goals are the guiding framework for almost everything we do; that is why our research has the addition of responsible; that is why we are committed to education; that is why joint action for waters without microplastics and micropollutants is so important to us - beyond silos and self-interests.
Silke Haubensak (left) und Dr. Katrin Schuhen (right) (Copyright Wasser 3.0)
Beyond the paradigm shift
With our business model and with our internal and external actions, we position ourselves beyond the paradigm shift. This means that we act as if the socio-ecological transformation that so many are talking and writing about is actually already a reality.
On the one hand, this often brings with it great disillusionment. Many parts of our society have not (yet) made this transformation. In business, the paradigm of shareholder value, profit maximization and cost reduction largely counts - regardless of lip service and euphonious campaigns to ESG and SDGs.
On the other hand, our being beyond the paradigm shift releases an incredible amount of creative and positive energy. We can design our activities detached from the conventional paradigm, just as we imagine it. Because there is still no "The New Standard Work for Social Innovators and Entrepreneurs" (which we would long for some days). For us as for everyone involved in this field, it is trial and error, hands-on philosophy and the belief that there really is a better way.
That's what Partners in Mission do
And fortunately there are: those who also position themselves beyond the paradigm shift, those who are serious about getting started and those who are willing to support our work for waters without microplastics and micropollutants within the scope of their possibilities.
The gGmbH is a very suitable organizational form for our mission. Because it enables many types of cooperation and collaboration. In line with SDG 17 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Transferred to real life it looks like that:
- We receive laboratory or office equipment and work materials as donations or at reduced rates.
- We start project cooperations on unresolved issues of water purification.
- People contribute their expertise (as graphic designers, translators, strategy consultants or tech nerds...) - also as a donation, on a voluntary basis or on reduced terms.
- People, organizations and companies support us financially with donations and sponsorships.
At this point we would like to thank you - our Partners in Mission!
Joint entrepreneurial action for the major goal of waters without microplastics and micropollutants has many faces and creates completely new values beyond the monetary.
All real life is encounter.
Through the diverse encounters with our Partners in Mission, wonderful spaces have opened up for us, which inspire us again and again and convince us that beyond the paradigm shift is exactly the place where we want to be. And where we can work most impactful for waters without microplastics and micropollutants.
