Stimulating week of exchanges.

In one week, the BMW Group hosted three innovative events for discussion and exchange – the rad°hub, the One Young World Summit 2021 and the BMW Group Dialogues. The overarching topic was the circular economy.

Exchanging views with the widest variety of stakeholders on important issues concerning the future is a crucial part of the BMW Group’s corporate strategy. This is why it played host in Munich in mid-July to three prestigious events for discussion and exchange – both in presence locally and online globally. Innovative formats were employed to provide constructive dialogue between experts, stakeholders and BMW associates: “the rad°hub“, the “One Young World Summit” and “BMW Group Dialogues”. One topic common to all three events was the circular economy.

Interactive exchanges with creative minds

This year’s rad°hub, an innovative platform from the BMW Group for creative minds, thought leaders and influencers, was held as a hybrid event in Munich, New York and Tokyo on 21st and 22nd July. 43 participants – experts on the circular economy, BMW Group associates and delegates from the One Young World (OYW) Summit – debated the challenges of the circular economy with regard to mobility in interactive workshop sessions, presentations and panel discussions.

One highlight of the rad°hub was the in-person discussion between Dr. Nicolas Peter, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Finance, and Markus Giesswein, CEO of the shoe manufacturer of the same name. The rad°influencers discussed innovative solutions such as “Care Sharing”, sustainable shuttle buses for the elderly in rural areas, resource committees or zero-waste modules for houses.

Global forum for talented young people

The One Young World Summit from 22 to 25 July welcomed over 2000 junior employees and talented young people from over 190 countries in a mix of both virtual and in-person meetings in Munich. The congress, held under the motto of “Innovation”, covered topics such as climate change, freedom, human rights and education. The VIP guests and panel members included the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, the singer and campaigner Bob Geldof and the former US women’s soccer player Hope Solo.

As this year’s co-host of the OYW Summit, the BMW Group sent over 60 young delegates to the Munich summit from its offices all over the world. The rad°hub was also represented at the OYW Summit on Saturday with a breakout session. The brainstorming sessions and a moderated workshop on the subject of the circular economy and mobility allowed the 24 attendees to work out several potential solutions, for instance that of a modular vehicle. The great diversity of team members led to fascinating insights into how mobility was being transformed in different countries.

Dialogue with stakeholders and employees

The main subject of this year’s BMW Group Dialogues on 23 July was also circular responsibility. Stakeholders from industry, politics and science debated corporate social responsibility from the aspect of circularity with Ilka Horstmeier, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Human Resources, Dr. Veronika Grimm, member of the German Council of Economic Experts, and Miki Yokoyama, Managing Partner at TechFounders, an accelerator programme for startups.

The online community and BMW Group associates were able to join in via chat in a second session during the hybrid event. One issue that was a subject of lively discussion was for instance to what extent recycled secondary materials are perceived by customers as acceptable in premium models.

^{*COVID-19 hygiene measures were observed. All participants were tested beforehand.}