In 2024, the GSA will be presenting awards for pioneering contributions to the transformation towards a sustainable future for the 17th time. It shows the best examples of how ecological and social progress can be achieved more quickly. The award aims to motivate all important actors to change, to network them across borders and to encourage partnerships.
With six competitions, more than 1,000 applicants and 3,000 guests at the award's gala, the German Sustainability Award is the most comprehensive of its kind in Europe. The award is based on the goals of the 2030 Agenda and thus on the key areas of transformation such as climate, biodiversity, resources, supply chain and society. The GSA is awarded on German Sustainability Day, which has evolved into the leading
international convention on sustainability since 2008. The event, with more than 150 speakers, connects relevant stakeholders, allowing them to exchange and benefit from each other's experiences. Throughout the year, all GSA activities are comprehensively aligned with the principles of sustainability. The GSA is a climate-neutral project.
Since 2008, thousands of companies, municipalities and research institutions have applied for the award. Companies in particular use the German Sustainability Day as the most frequently visited platform with regard to topics of sustainable transformation in Germany. The award ceremonies are social events that have a major impact far beyond the sustainability scene.
Accelerating transformation
The prize aims to promote a holistic transformation to more sustainable ways of living and working. To this end, it encourages relevant stakeholders, inspires ambition and motivates. At the same time, it aims to anchor the principles of sustainable action more firmly in the public mind.
Involving Stakeholders
The GSA integrates the most diverse positions and opinions in all its activities. The foundation sees itself as an independent body, which is not bound by any particular interests and continuously seeks to be in dialogue with all stakeholder groups.
Promoting cooperation
Bringing together the relevant stakeholders to promote forward-looking partnerships is an important goal of the award. No one can achieve transformation alone. What counts is open dialogue and a shared appreciation for best practices.
Orienting consumers
GSA labels make purchasing decisions easier and more navigable for consumers. It brings sustainable alternatives the attention they deserve and the attention they need for continued success. The award honors pioneers and awards the best and brightest.
Supporting start-ups
The Next Economy Award is intended to help start-ups who want to turn their vision of a more sustainable future into reality using new business models. It focuses on sustainable innovations "made in Germany" and gives start-ups a vital boost.
Manufacturing sustainably
The GSA itself can be measured against strict sustainability standards, and all measures are constantly under scrutiny. The avoidance of environmental pollution always takes precedence over compensation; the congress and awards ceremony are climate-neutral.
Evolving formats
All platforms are continuously updated in terms of design and content, and the conference is continually enhanced through new forms of dialogue and participation. Every year the award ceremony undergoes changes that combine cutting-edge insights, aspirations and effectiveness.
Bundling expert knowledge
To keep pace with these rapid developments, the initiators have set the GSA up from the outset as a learning project, continuously reviewing its competition methodology and incorporating expert knowledge and the latest findings across all formats.
On 15 December 2023, the University of Hohenheim presented the follow-up study to its 2017 survey, from which the German Sustainability Award emerged as the best-known and most coveted award by companies. The new study on the "Changing significance of sustainability awards" - sponsored by the German Federal Environmental Foundation - also ranks the GSA as the best-known and one of the three most credible of 141 sustainability awards.
The German Sustainability Award is a multi-stakeholder project that brings together all key players from politics, business, research and civil society. The diversity of institutional partners with different perspectives is reflected in the foundation's board of trustees, but also in the methodology team, the jury and the circle of speakers at the events.