CSR at SEKISUI Alveo in Roermond: Girlsday

During Girlsday, organized annually in the Netherlands by VHTO, the Dutch National Expert Organisation on Girls/ Women and Science/Technology, since 2010, more than 300 large and smaller companies organized hands-on activities, tours, workshops, quizzes, contests, pitches and speed dates with female professionals for girls in primary and secondary education. All with one goal: to awaken their interest in science and technology.

Girlsday is one of the various CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities of SEKISUI Alveo. The event offered the great opportunity to invest in the next generation by awaking young women’s interest for the manufacturing of foam. On 14^th of April, 8 girls visited the company in Roermond. After a short introduction and an open exchange with the girls about foam, where it is applied and what kind of material it is, they visited the factory. In the laboratories the girls were allowed to observe a flame test of flame-retardant foam products. During this test, a flame-retardant sample is put on fire and thus can be compared to a non-flame-retardant sample to ensure it behaves the way it is designed. It was very impressive for the girls. Later on, they got the chance to talk to some female employees about their experience and motivation for a technical job. The variety of foam, especially how different it can look like, was certainly a surprise to all of them. As a highlight of the day, the young women could carry out an experiment to test the strengths of certain types of foam with weights.

The event for young girls has its origin in America. In 1993, the “Take-Our-Daughters-To-Work-Day” has been introduced in order to encourage adolescents across the country to dream without gender limitations and to think imaginatively about their family, work and community lives. The first Girlsday in Europe took place in 2001 in Germany. Other events soon followed in different countries such as Luxemburg, Austria, Switzerland or Spain. Since 2010, VHTO organizes the Girlsday in the Netherlands.

Impressions of Girlsday