Relaunch of the BMW Welt Junior Campus. New focus on sustainability in automotive production.

  • Pressemitteilung der Firma BMW Group, 27.05.2011
Pressemitteilung vom: 27.05.2011 von der Firma BMW Group aus München

Kurzfassung: Munich. The reopening of the Junior Campus at BMW Welt was celebrated with a function yesterday morning. Willi Weitzel, "guest educator” and moderator of the event, joined a class of elementary school children in exploring the redesigned Campus ...

[BMW Group - 27.05.2011] Relaunch of the BMW Welt Junior Campus. New focus on sustainability in automotive production.


Munich. The reopening of the Junior Campus at BMW Welt was celebrated with a function yesterday morning. Willi Weitzel, "guest educator” and moderator of the event, joined a class of elementary school children in exploring the redesigned Campus Portal together with other guests included representatives of the press, the public and the company. Later, Weitzel and a group of seventh-grade girls built a solar vehicle in keeping with the revised Campus concept. The relaunch of the learning and experience space, located directly at BMW Welt, aims to give children aged 5 to 13 an understanding of sustainability and mobility. To this end, children have a chance to research, test and experiment in an interactive setup – for instance, to find out what sustainability means throughout a vehicle’s lifecycle.

A discovery tour of the world of mobility.

The guided three-part learning concept of the Junior Campus (Discover – Immerse – Create together) is designed to strengthen the interactive and lasting acquisition of knowledge. The three sections – Campus Portal, Campus Lab and Campus Workshop – are an inherent part of BMW Welt in Munich. Since the opening in fall 2007, thousands of children and school classes have experienced mobility with all their senses. The underlying concept was developed with pedagogy and social sciences experts, featuring topics and sequences that are aligned with the age-based development of the 5 to 13-year-old visitors. All assignments and information are available in both German and English.

"With the educational concept of the Junior Campus, we have sparked children’s interest in mobility for almost four years now. As the most sustainable automobile company worldwide, we have now revised the Portal and developed new workshops to raise more awareness for sustainability among young people,” Harald Krüger, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, explained the company’s latest initiative. "Children and teenagers will be the ones to shape our future society. This is why they are so important to us. If we want to initiate changes in society, they are the ones we will have to start with.”

Consequently, young people play a key role in the BMW Group’s CSR activities, which include educational projects on various scientific topics, technology, road safety and mobility – and increasingly on sustainability issues.

Sustainability in a vehicle’s lifecycle.

The new Junior Campus Portal visualizes a vehicle’s lifecycle with respect to sustainability. Six workstations – ranging from raw material sourcing to the production line and the recycling of parts – explain this cycle in a way that is easy to understand, hands-on and self-explanatory. All exhibits are identical as far as their structural setup is concerned: Each of them includes a brief explanation as well as age-appropriate possibilities of interaction for children.

After exploring the Portal, the young visitors can apply their acquired knowledge to researching and testing in the Campus Lab. They are supported by pedagogically trained members of staff who guide them through the various interactive workstations.

The revised offering of the Campus Workshop includes two brand-new workshops: ‘Designing Sustainability’ is geared towards 10 to 13-year-olds. The workshop’s focus is on recycling and sustainability. Based on the knowledge acquired in the lab, the young visitors build their own, solar-powered cars. The rookie engineers are grouped in teams; each team receives an assignment file with a detailed description of the characteristics of the solar vehicle to be made. If the car passes all the tests carried out at the end of the workshop, all team members receive a diploma.

‘Everything moves’ is the title of the second new workshop, which aims at introducing preschoolers to the world of sustainable mobility. Children assemble vehicles from old cars – under consideration of energy efficiency and recycling aspects – which are reused by the next group.

The BMW Junior Program: Junior Campus and Junior Museum.

The BMW Group has been offering educational programs for children and teenagers for many years. There is not only the Junior Campus at BMW Welt; the BMW Museum at the company’s headquarters in Munich also provides an offering for young people. Groups of children between 7 and 13 as well as teenagers from 14 years on can actively deal with select exhibits, which give them a good sense of technology, history and design. After touring the museum, children are invited to gain a hands-on experience in the BMW Museum’s Creative Workshop.

For registration and further information about the BMW Junior Program please refer to www.bmw-welt.com.

The BMW Group

The BMW Group is one of the most successful manufacturers of automobiles and motorcycles in the world with its BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands. As a global company, the BMW Group operates 24 production facilities in 13 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

During the financial year 2010, the BMW Group sold 1.46 million cars and more than 110,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax for 2010 was euro 4.8 billion on revenues amounting to euro 60.5 billion. At 31 December 2010, the BMW Group had a workforce of approximately 95,500 employees.

The success of the BMW Group has always been built on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain, comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy. As a result of its efforts, the BMW Group has been ranked industry leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for the last six years.


If you have any further questions please contact:

Konstanze Carreras, Corporate Statements and Sustainability
Corporate Social Responsibility
Phone: + 49-89-382-52894, Fax: + 49-89-382-28017

Cornelia Tiller, Corporate Statements and Sustainability
Corporate Social Responsibility
Phone: +49-89-382-45382, Fax: +49-89-382-10881
Internet:
www.press.bmwgroup.com
www.bmwgroup.com/socialcommitment

Über BMW Group:
Die Aktivitäten der BMW Group umfassen neben dem Automobilgeschäft die Entwicklung, Produktion und Vermarktung von Motorrädern sowie umfassende Finanzdienstleistungen für Privat- und Geschäftskunden:
Automobile.
Mit den Marken BMW, MINI und Rolls-Royce Motor Cars ist die BMW Group der einzige Automobilhersteller weltweit, der mit allen Marken und über alle relevanten Segmente hinweg eine reine Premiummarken-Strategie verfolgt, vom exklusiven Kleinwagen bis zur absoluten Top-Limousine.
Motorräder.
Auch bei den Motorrädern verfolgt die BMW Group eine Premiummarken-Strategie. Unser Anspruch: In den Bereichen Technologie, Umweltschutz und Sicherheit führende Produkte im oberen Segment der motorisierten Zweiräder zu entwickeln, zu produzieren und mit einem umfassenden Service im Markt zu betreuen.
Finanzdienstleistungen.
Wir verstehen Finanzdienstleistungen als Schlüsselfaktor in einer mobilen Welt. Hierbei setzen wie auf ein konzentriertes Produktportfolio, in dem wir jede Detailfrage mit Expertenwissen beantworten können. Unsere Tätigkeitsfelder im Einzelnen: Finanzierung und Leasing, Vermögensmanagement, Händlerfinanzierung, Flottengeschäft.
Unsere weiteren Geschäftsbereiche: IT-Beratung und Systemintegration (Softlab GmbH) und Versicherungen (Bavaria Wirtschaftsagentur GmbH).
Die Unternehmenszentrale in München steuert die Aktivitäten der BMW Group weltweit. Im „Vierzylinder“ am Olympiapark laufen die Fäden aus mehr als 150 Ländern zusammen.

Firmenkontakt:
If you have any further questions please contact:

Konstanze Carreras, Corporate Statements and Sustainability
Corporate Social Responsibility
Phone: + 49-89-382-52894, Fax: + 49-89-382-28017

Cornelia Tiller, Corporate Statements and Sustainability
Corporate Social Responsibility
Phone: +49-89-382-45382, Fax: +49-89-382-10881
Internet:
www.press.bmwgroup.com
www.bmwgroup.com/socialcommitment

Die Pressemeldung "Relaunch of the BMW Welt Junior Campus. New focus on sustainability in automotive production." unterliegt dem Urheberrecht der pressrelations GmbH. Jegliche Verwendung dieses Textes, auch auszugsweise, erfordert die vorherige schriftliche Erlaubnis des Autors. Autor der Pressemeldung "Relaunch of the BMW Welt Junior Campus. New focus on sustainability in automotive production." ist BMW Group.