Students and prospective media designers from the Fritz-Henßler-Berufskolleg vocational college in Dortmund learned about sustainable production and fair trade at Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts. The event was organized by the City of Dortmund's International Relations Office and the Fachhochschule Dortmund's Sustainability Office. The focus was on the decolonization of chocolate.
Currently, around 70 percent of the world's cocoa comes from West Africa, but less than one percent of chocolate is produced there. Raw materials are brought in from countries such as Ghana. The added value takes place elsewhere. A German-Ghanaian start-up has taken up the cause of bringing value creation to the country of origin of the raw materials. A first factory has now opened in Ghana and the "fairest chocolate in the world", in their own words, is also being sold in Germany through partnerships.
One of the partners is the "Fair Metropolis Ruhr" network, of which the City of Dortmund's Office for International Relations is a member. The network is bringing 10,000 sustainably and fairly produced bars of chocolate to the region in a special Ruhr region edition. The budding media designers at Fritz-Henßler-Berufskolleg will also design a new Dortmund-specific banderole for the chocolate bars.
On January 8, 2024, they joined teachers, employees and students from Fachhochschule Dortmund in the large auditorium on the Max-Ophüls-Platz (MOP) campus to provide information about the production conditions and the background to fair and sustainable Business Studies. The film "Decolonize Chocolate 2" (YouTube link)(Opens in a new tab) about the construction of the German-Ghanaian start-up's chocolate factory was shown. The Faculty of Design also provided information about study programs at Fachhochschule Dortmund.
"Responsible action often starts on a small scale," says Sebastian Kreimer, Sustainability Manager at Fachhochschule Dortmund. "It is important that we raise awareness of fair production conditions and sustainable Business Studies." At Fachhochschule Dortmund, which will soon be certified as the first university in North Rhine-Westphalia to be certified for the common good, sustainability issues are continuously moving further into focus - be it in terms of energy, catering or purchasing. A chocolate cooperation with the German-Ghanaian start-up is also currently under discussion.
