ESG in Motion at Hamburg HafenCity

At EDGE Workspaces we run coworking spaces, private offices, meeting rooms, and flexible memberships for teams who want great hospitality and a real sense of community. Our role is to make work easier, but also to make workspaces more responsible. That is where ESG comes in. Environmental Social and Governance goals offer a practical way to think about impact: how we use energy and water, how we support people’s wellbeing, how we create inclusive communities, and how we stay transparent about standards and progress.

In Hamburg, our coworking location EDGE HafenCity sits in a district shaped by the water, modern urban planning, and a strong public commitment to sustainable development. The building itself is designed to support productivity and social connection, with shared areas that encourage networking and with a workspace atmosphere that keeps nature and wellbeing in view.

Below, we share the actions and partnerships that bring ESG to life in our coworking spaces and private offices at HafenCity, after our previous article about Berlin. The point is the habits, the systems, and the relationships that help a workplace do better every day.

Proof Over Promises with HafenCity Ecolabel

We believe sustainability should be measurable, not just stated. That is why we highlight building standards like the HafenCity Ecolabel, a certification framework developed for Hamburg’s urban development areas together with the German Sustainable Building Council. It is designed to evaluate sustainability against defined criteria so performance can be assessed and compared.

For our members and tenants, this kind of transparency matters. It gives context to what they experience inside our coworking spaces, from indoor comfort to resource efficiency, and it helps teams understand how the building they work in fits into the wider HafenCity vision. The Ecolabel also reflects broader expectations around topics like renewable energy supply, circular construction, and responsible mobility, which aligns with how we encourage low impact commuting and day to day sustainable choices.

People-First Spaces with WELL Core Platinum

ESG is not only environmental. It is also about people. The WELL framework from the International WELL Building Institute focuses on health and wellbeing in the built environment, using evidence based strategies across areas like air, water, light, comfort, movement, and community.

In HafenCity, this mindset shows up in how we design and operate the workplace experience for everyone using our memberships, coworking spaces, and private offices. We also translate wellbeing into community action. We run weeks that concentrate on vitality and balance, with sessions led by experienced professionals, combining strength focused formats with calmer practices like meditation. We do this because healthy routines are easier to start when the workplace makes them accessible, social, and normal, not something people have to squeeze in after a long day.

Smart Sustainability Powered by Elektro Hartmann GmbH

A smart building only creates impact when its systems are designed, connected, and maintained by specialists. We work in a technical ecosystem that includes partners like Elektro Hartmann GmbH, an electrical engineering and building technology company that supports complex projects and focuses on modern building systems including automation and energy efficiency.

In practice, this kind of expertise helps us operate a workplace where energy and water consumption can be managed intelligently and where resources are treated as limited, valuable inputs. We use systems that help reduce water demand through approaches like greywater recycling and rainwater harvesting, and we treat waste management as a daily operational priority with structured recycling. In coworking spaces, where many people share kitchens, meeting rooms, and common areas, smart resource management scales quickly. It supports sustainability while protecting the comfort and reliability our members expect.

Circular Workspaces with NORNORM

Circularity becomes real when we change how we buy and use things, including furniture. We work with NORNORM, a circular office furniture subscription service that refurbishes and recirculates furniture to extend product life and reduce resource waste.

That matters in flexible workspaces, because the needs of private offices and coworking areas change constantly. Teams scale up, downsize, reconfigure, and experiment with how they work. A circular furniture model helps us adapt without defaulting to the linear buy, use, discard pattern. Alongside this, we bring nature into the workplace through indoor green areas that support air quality and wellbeing, and we choose materials and layouts that help reduce energy demand through smarter use of resources and insulation. The result is a workspace that feels good to use while quietly lowering impact.

From Awareness to Action with Greenpeace

A coworking community becomes stronger when people learn together. We partnered with Greenpeace, the independent environmental organization headquartered in Hamburg, by making space for workshops and sessions that help people engage with climate and nature topics in a practical way.

When Greenpeace uses our meeting rooms and coworking spaces, it turns the workplace into a learning environment, not only a place to complete tasks. That fits our belief that networking should include exchanging ideas that matter, not only exchanging business cards. These workshops also connect our members with the wider city conversation around environmental protection. In HafenCity, where water and urban development are part of everyday life, this kind of community based education helps translate big issues into personal choices and workplace habits.

Community That Cares with Hanseatic Help

The social dimension of ESG is about dignity, inclusion, and practical support when people need it. We collaborated with Hanseatic Help, a Hamburg based nonprofit that collects, sorts, and distributes clothing and essentials to people in need through a large network of partner organizations.

In our coworking spaces, we run donation drives that make participation easy for tenants and members. Winter clothing collections work well in a shared workplace because people can contribute during their normal routines, without special logistics. It also creates a quiet sense of collective action: many small contributions add up to real help. For us, that is what a workplace community can be, a network that supports each other and also supports the city around it.

Wellbeing in Motion with Jimme

Wellbeing is part of ESG and also part of how people actually experience work. We collaborated with Jimme, a platform that connects individuals and companies with trainers and group sport sessions, making workplace wellbeing easier to organize and join.

In HafenCity, we use this collaboration to bring quality fitness and movement into the flow of a workweek. Instead of treating exercise as separate from work, we create opportunities that sit alongside our coworking memberships and private offices: sessions that people can join before work, after meetings, or as a shared team moment. This is not only about physical health. Group activities also strengthen community bonds and reduce isolation, because they give people a different way to connect beyond job titles. In a coworking environment, that kind of informal networking can be just as valuable as formal events.

Against Loneliness with Post mit Herz

Loneliness is a real social challenge, and workplaces can help address it in small but meaningful ways. We partner with Post mit Herz, a nonprofit initiative that connects volunteer card writers with social institutions so that people who feel alone receive personal messages and feel remembered.

In our coworking spaces, we make it simple for members and tenants to join these actions during the workday. Writing a card does not require special skills or long time blocks, but it can have a disproportionate emotional impact on the recipient. We also run light mental health moments inside the building, such as inviting people to write uplifting messages that others can take with them. These practices help shape a culture where community is not only about productivity, but also about care and belonging.

Circular Thinking in Practice with Veolia

Our ESG story is also influenced by the companies we host. We work alongside organizations like Veolia, a group focused on solutions for water, waste, and energy resource management.

Having sustainability minded companies inside our ecosystem changes the texture of the workplace. It means conversations in shared areas and community events often touch on real operational questions: how to reduce waste, how to optimize resource use, how to measure impact. In a coworking space, that kind of proximity creates a learning loop. It strengthens networking because people can exchange practical insights across industries, not only contacts. It also reinforces a simple point: ESG is not a separate department. For many businesses, it is the business.

Designing Better Cities with CDM Smith

We also share space with organizations whose work shapes the infrastructure behind sustainable cities. CDM Smith is an engineering and construction firm working across areas like water, environment, infrastructure, energy, and facilities.

In HafenCity, where urban development and climate adaptation are everyday topics, this presence adds depth to our community. It turns our coworking spaces into places where the city is not only discussed, but understood through real expertise. For members, it creates opportunities for unexpected networking, where a conversation in a lounge area can connect a startup founder with an infrastructure perspective, or a legal expert with an engineering view. We see that cross pollination as one of the hidden strengths of coworking spaces, especially when the building is home to mission aligned organizations.

Investing in Talent with Breda University

Social sustainability includes how we support the next generation entering the workforce. We collaborate with Breda University of Applied Sciences, an international university of applied sciences, by offering internship opportunities connected to our HafenCity operations.

Internships are more than a CV step. They are a bridge between education and practice, and they help young talent develop confidence and skills. In a coworking environment, interns also benefit from the unique learning context of shared space. They see many industries at once, observe different working styles, and learn how community and networking function in real life. For our team, interns bring new perspectives that help us keep improving how we run memberships, events, hospitality, and sustainability routines. That exchange strengthens both workforce development and our wider community culture.

Nutrition & Energy with Steffi Rohwedder

Food is often the missing piece in workplace wellbeing. We partner with Steffi Rohwedder, a holistic nutrition consultant with a focus on Traditional Chinese Medicine, to run nutrition workshops that help people build sustainable habits for energy, sleep, and long term balance.

These sessions fit naturally into a coworking context because members have different schedules and different needs. The goal is not a strict plan, but practical guidance people can actually apply between meetings and work blocks. For some, that means learning how to support steadier energy. For others, it means understanding how food choices influence rest and recovery. By bringing nutrition into our community programming, we treat wellbeing as a full picture, connected to productivity, resilience, and the ability to show up for work and for life with more stability.

Cleaning the City with Hamburg räumt auf

HafenCity is shaped by water and public space, and that makes environmental stewardship visible. We take part in Hamburg räumt auf, the large city cleanup initiative supported by Stadtreinigung Hamburg, by organizing group cleanups and inviting our community to join.

This is a simple activity with clear impact: we pick up litter in the neighborhood, we dispose of it correctly, and we leave shared spaces better than we found them. It also builds community in a different way. People connect through shared action, not only through networking drinks. In coworking spaces, these moments help create a culture where responsibility is not an individual burden but a collective habit. That is how nature, city life, and work can fit together more naturally.

Saving Lives with Deutsches Rotes Kreuz

Some ESG actions are immediate and human. We collaborate with the Deutsches Rotes Kreuz to enable blood donation opportunities that fit into working hours, making it easier for members and tenants to participate.

Blood donation is one of the clearest examples of social impact. It supports hospitals and patients, and it depends entirely on people choosing to show up regularly. As a workplace operator, our contribution is to reduce friction: we communicate clearly, provide the right space and flow, and help make participation feel as straightforward as any other workday activity. In a community of private offices and coworking memberships, this kind of accessible participation turns a normal day at work into a chance to support the wider city in a very concrete way.

Let’s build the next chapter together

Everything we do at HafenCity is shaped by one simple belief: coworking spaces can be active contributors to a better city, not just places where work happens. ESG is never finished, and it should never be owned by one team or one company alone. That is why we see our coworking spaces, private offices, and memberships as open platforms for collaboration.

If you are a member, a tenant, a partner, or simply someone with an idea, we want to hear from you. Whether it is a new sustainability initiative, a social project, a wellbeing concept, or a way to bring nature and community closer together, we are open to proposals, experiments, and shared action.

The future of work is something we build together, and we invite everyone in our community and beyond to help shape what comes next.