The upcoming week in Nordea Estonia will be more than just an ordinary workweek. Namely, between the 15th and 19th November 2021 we celebrate the sustainability week in Nordea group. This tradition only started last year in the Nordics, and this year it will be the very first time it is also organized in Nordea’s Estonian branch. To celebrate the upcoming sustainability week, and to get an insight into what’s going to happen, we talked with one of the organizers of the event in Estonia – our workplace project manager Sirli Saar.
Hi Sirli. Please tell us a bit about what events are planned for the sustainability week in Nordea Estonia.
First of all, let me just say that we started off thinking that it will be a modest event in Estonia, with a few events organized during the week in our branch. However, now it seems that the week is quite packed with events, and it is very exciting! We do have several discussions on the topic of sustainability going on across Nordea group’s different locations, and all Nordea’s employees in Estonia are welcome to join in, as they take place virtually. Several exciting events to come in Estonia:
- Pop-up library. We encourage all our employees to look around in their homes, and if there are books that they no longer need, we encourage them to bring them to our offices, so that we can give them a new life. We are planning to create our very own library in our offices from those books!
- Re-usage. In collaboration with the Reuse Centre in Estonia, we ask our employees to bring the clothes that they do not wear anymore to our offices so that we can give them a new life with the help of the Reuse Centre.
- Personal stories. We ask our employees to share their stories about how they practice sustainability in their everyday lives – it doesn’t have to be something enormous, the change already starts with simple steps, like using reusable bags when doing your groceries. It is more important that we acknowledge even the simple things, and hopefully move on to bigger changes from there in the near future.
- Hands-on events. There are two physical events organized as well (of course in accordance with government Covid-19 regulations). One group of people will go to clean up our beautiful Kadriorg park, and the other will be helping the Reuse Centre with their campaign to promote second-hand wedding dresses (the second one is definitely something unique and different, and I am most excited about it).
How was the process of organizing the very first sustainability week in Nordea Estonia?
This was definitely a process where collaboration was the key. We had weekly meetings with our Nordic colleagues, to brainstorm and discuss possible ideas for events during this year’s sustainability week, and I can say it was very fruitful! Definitely, everyone who wanted had the chance to have a say and share their unique and interesting ideas. Thanks to our creative colleagues, we managed to build a week full of very varied and interesting events, so hopefully, everyone finds something where they would be interested to participate.
How was the experience of organizing this awareness campaign for you personally?
I can say that it has definitely changed my perspective on the topic of sustainability, it made me more aware and think more about my daily choices, what do I do sustainably, and what not, and to make more sustainable choices in the future. I have certainly gained more knowledge on several aspects of sustainability. What is more, I had never organized events before, so this was in that sense also a unique and challenging (in a good way) experience for me. Hopefully, in the future, I can get involved more in similar events and in the organization of it.
What do you think is the importance of organizing a week wholly dedicated to sustainability topics?
It is definitely important for raising awareness. It is also a way to show that this is something that Nordea as a company considers important, and it is part of our company’s values. The value also lies in actively engaging our employees – the ability to do something different from our daily work.
Thank You to Sirli and the whole team for all their effort in organizing such an event, and we are all very excited to take part in the very first sustainability week in Nordea Estonia 😊.