The team at BMW Group Plant Debrecen, which relies on the creation of circular processes as a pillar or its operations, has created a flower float for the Debrecen Flower Carnival in the spirit of sustainability and the premium approach that is typical of the brand. After one of Hungary’s largest cultural events, the BMW Group’s local entity, as the winner of the special prize for “Innovation and Sustainability,” will plant the more than 1,000 plants of dwarf hortensia shrubs used on the float in Debrecen’s educational and social institutions.
The Hungarian subsidiary of the BMW Group, which is building a comprehensive automotive plant in Debrecen, has become connected with the vibrant life of the county seat with countless threads, and naturally also took part in the Debrecen Flower Festival, which is an integral part of the city’s identity. The half-century-old event, which is unique in Europe, attracted around 220,000 visitors in August this year. Every year, the Debrecen Flower Carnival, with its exciting programmes throughout the city lasting several days, culminates in the parade on 20 August, with BMW Group Plant Debrecen also taking part this year with its own flower float. The plant’s team came up with a very modern and innovative creation for the carnival, which not only provides an aesthetic experience but also brings people together and inspires them. Emphasising sustainability and environmental awareness, the float was created with mostly living plants, using more than one thousand dwarf hortensia shrubs.
On 18 September, those shrubs found a new home in the yards of ten educational and social institutions across the city.
“From the moment the construction started, the BMW Group Plant Debrecen team and I have been striving to get involved in the local community and participate, as a value-creating company, in initiatives that define the city’s identity. The Flower Festival is one of Debrecen’s most beautiful celebrations, so we are delighted that our concept of a carnival-wide approach that emphasises our company’s values and sustainability in particular has been embraced by the community. As we had hoped, our flower float and the distribution of flower seeds at several stops along the parade route did have a community-building effect and the plan to plant dwarf hortensias was received enthusiastically by local institutions,” Hans-Peter Kemser, President and CEO of BMW Group Plant Debrecen said.
Diána Széles, Deputy Mayor of Debrecen, emphasized that in connection with the flower float of BMW Group Plant Debrecen, the presentation of the values of innovation, community and sustainability was very important, and that it had a real community-building power. This is also demonstrated by the fact that almost 40 employees of the Pallagi Street nursing home volunteered to help create the flower float, which is why the institution was one of the main locations for the planting. Deputy Mayor Ákos Balázs stressed the importance of planting in educational institutions to ensure the environmental awareness of future generations, in which the innovative approach of the BMW Group in Debrecen is very important.
The Debrecen-based company believes that sustainability for the future starts in the present. This is why, for example, the company joined the “Be environmentally aware, don't waste” environmental education programme for primary and secondary school students in April this year, since environmental education cannot start early enough.
The BMW Group is building a comprehensive vehicle factory in Debrecen with a press shop, body work, paint shop, vehicle assembly, as well as a unique battery module plant, which will allow the in-house assembly of the battery cells necessary for the electric drive. Located on an area of more than 400 hectares in the north-western part of Debrecen, the plant will be the first unit within the Group to be developed entirely along the iFACTORY concept from the initial design phase, in the spirit of lean, green and digital manufacturing. BMW Group Plant Debrecen will start production in 2025 with more than 1,500 employees, and that will be the year also when the first model of the all-electric NEUE KLASSE, which will debut in Debrecen, will roll off the production line.
