Projects on the Sandkasten platform should always have a connection to sustainability or, more precisely, be orientated towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
In principle, the ecological, economic and social dimensions of sustainability can be differentiated. These are considered individually below, but should be considered together.

Ecological sustainability

With regard to ecological sustainability, care should be taken to ensure that the project uses as few resources as possible and minimises the amount of waste produced.

When organising the project, you should try to buy few or no new items that you can get second-hand or borrow. On the Sandkasten platform, for example, you will find the Sharing platform with various offers. These include many items that could be helpful for a project or a successful event and add an extra fun factor. If you do have to buy new items, it is desirable if they are produced in a climate-neutral way, have a Fairtrade seal or are classified as ecologically harmless (e.g. paints and varnishes).

When organising events as part of your project, you can try to make them as sustainable as possible. For example, you can make sure that you purchase drinks and food from responsible, regional sources. Opt for reusable containers (e.g. reusable bottles) and use vegetarian or vegan alternatives to meat products. Please generally avoid using disposable cups at your event, as they generate a huge amount of waste that can easily be avoided. You can easily rent reusable cups at the Sandkasten. Also take care of rubbish bins so that visitors don’t leave their rubbish lying around. You can find a detailed handbook entry on the topic of sustainability at events here.

Social sustainability

In this context, social sustainability means taking into account the social impact of the project. This includes, for example, ensuring accessibility or promoting team spirit.

Accessibility

If you are organising an event, it is desirable that all people who are interested in your event can take part. People with disabilities in particular, such as wheelchair users, are often forgotten during the organisation. So think about how you can organise your event in an accessible way. Of course, the topic can also be extended to deaf or blind people. You can find more information on the website of Aktion Mensch.

Team spirit

Hardly any major event is organised by just one person. If you have set up a team to take care of the organisation of the event, you should make sure that everyone in the team feels comfortable. In voluntary work, there are always people who do more than others, which is not a bad thing at first, as voluntary work is defined by the motivation and time availability of the volunteers. However, make sure together that nobody feels overworked or left alone in a stressful situation. Get together before the event and talk about your time management, how you deal with stress and the distribution of tasks. It would be a shame if you