EFDN welcomes LASK to the network!

EFDN welcomes LASK to the network!

EFDN is happy to announce that LASK has joined the Network. Sustainability at LASK (Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub) is based on three pillars: social sustainability, environmental sustainability and economic sustainability. On the social sustainability side, the Austrian Bundesliga club wants to be an organisation that has a positive impact on the community they are living in. They aim to improve the lives of people in their community through sports and awareness on other topics that sports can create. LASK wants to motivate people to participate in sports in order to promote healthy living and team spirit.

Regarding the environmental sustainability pillar, LASK aims to leave a planet for the next generation that is as liveable as it is right now. Therefore they want to reduce their negative impact on the environment as much as possible.

The economic sustainability pillar is based on the club’s desire to promote and support the economic development and prosperity of not only our own organisation, but also their partners and the local (Upper Austrian) economy as a whole.

LASK aims to gain valuable input and maybe cues and inspiration for other initiatives and projects that could fit with our mission statement.

Discover below some of LASK’s CSR Activities:

Herzkinder

The foundation ‘Herzkinder’ provides support to parents and other relatives of children with congenital heart diseases. The name of the foundation translates to ‘heart children’. LASK is a partner of the foundation since 2015 and provides support through regular donations and visibility among other forms of support. These two areas are often combined by hosting or supporting events.

In the past, the club has for example donated part of the ticketing revenue of a match to the foundation. They also participate in an annual charity run hosted by the foundation. All of this while accompanying these events through their own channels to provide information and visibility. During the annual Christmas period, the club’s players visit the children in the hospital, which makes it an unforgettable day for the children.

Trees and Bees

In order to make up for the clearing of the woods that had to make way for their new training campus they planted up to 1200 trees in and around the training complex. All of these trees are local types of woods to give back to the local flora. These newly planted trees are regularly attended to and reforested whenever necessary. In addition, the club has placed 15 bee colonies and their hives in their own training complex behind the stadium. To support these colonies they set up a biotope and planted ‘bee-friendly’ (with blossoms) shrubs. A local beekeeper is in charge of the cultivation and care of these hives. We sell the harvested honey through our fan shop and the proceeds are given back to the beekeeper in order to reinvest in other local bee colonies.

Hubert Rovers, CEO of EFDN: “It is a pleasure to welcome LASK to the network. It is exciting to see a second Austrian club joining the network. This will help to establish more CSR related activities in Austria. We are proud to have a member that takes part in such innovative projects such as “Trees and Bees”. Furthermore, I am sure other members will benefit greatly from their practice sharing as well as themselves from other members.