About GfaW
Vision and mission
Our vision is a world in which every company sees itself as part of the whole and evaluates its success based on the added value for the entire planet – in short:
Sustainability is a matter of course!
This vision is the basis of our mission: not only to define sustainable business practices, but also to make them visible to the outside world. Because only then can these sustainability achievements be perceived and rewarded as such by consumers.
This appreciation is the prerequisite for changing the current paradigm towards an economy that is fit for grandchildren and sustainable for the planet and for people. We offer you solutions based on the principle that “the economy is there for people, not the other way around”.
In line with our mission, we have been operating at various levels since 2011. In doing so, we manage the balancing act between a strong understanding of sustainability and the mechanism of a free market economy.
With the CSE standard, we offer you a unique, uniform criterion for corporate sustainability. The CSE standard documents that it is possible to operate sustainably in today’s world and to make this verifiable and transparent. We support both companies and private individuals in making sustainable alternatives visible or finding them.
In various working groups and expert panels, we discuss current developments and findings and develop ways to exploit further sustainability potential. We help to make the congruence or discrepancy between theory and practice measurable and comprehensible.
With our product and company certifications, we contribute to transparency in the area of quality seals and counteract the principle of greenwashing. We are also actively involved in political discourse on sustainability and thus contribute our expertise at various levels.
Our team
GfaW’s core team is strengthened by the advisory board, the office assistant and freelancers in the areas of marketing and IT.
Sophie von Lilienfeld-Toal
Agricultural Sciences (Dipl. Ing.) Founder & Managing Director
Nina Bailer
Nutritional Sciences (Dipl. Ing.) Partner
Isabell Rzepecki
Organic farming (M.Sc.), business administration (B.A.) Public relations and shareholder
Prof. Dr. Hermann von Lilienfeld-Toal
Physician, partner
The GfaW Advisory Board
The Advisory Board supports GfaW in content-related and strategic issues.
Prof. Thomas Köbberling
Department of Oecotrophology, Fulda University of Applied Sciences
Dr. Annett Baumast
Lecturer in Cultural and Media Management, Hamburg University of Music and Drama
Prof. Dr. Jens Pape
Head of the Department of Sustainable Management, Eberswalde University of Applied Sciences
How the GfaW works
GfaW is the owner of the CSE, NCP, NCS and NATURE THANX standards. With our company and product certifications, manufacturers of sustainable and ecological products can make their consistently sustainable actions and production visible and communicate them to the outside world.
Our central concern is to support consumers in making consciously sustainable purchasing decisions.
Consumers can use the certifications as a guide, trust the quality of the certificate and thus easily distinguish between organic and non-organic products as well as sustainable and non-sustainable products.
The GfaW develops the criteria for the standards, the procedure and the design of the labels. The intention and basis for decision-making is consensus between the standard users and the experts. Consensus building is reflected in the practical implementation of day-to-day business and the regular working group meetings.
Partners and cooperations
Together we can achieve more than alone. In order to offer you the best possible support for more sustainability in your company, we work together with the following partners:
Network and working groups
The working groups regularly deal with the criteria of the GfaW standards, the background to ethical action and the tension between the desire for a sustainable economy and the reality of action. Participants are CSE-certified companies, companies that have their products certified according to our standards, invited experts, certification bodies and interested parties.
Our panel of experts is made up of the GfaW, certification bodies, advisory board, scientists and label users. Regular exchange of ideas and knowledge is the basis of our cooperation. Together, we develop sustainable, i.e. social, ecological and economic requirements for companies and organizations.
In the area of raw materials, we are aiming for de-fossilization. Food and unprocessed agricultural products can be labeled as “organic” products. The basis for this is the EU Organic Regulation. There is no comparable regulation on “organic” quality for natural products that are produced and processed in agriculture or forestry but are not foodstuffs.
Consumers expect and demand that natural products should, of course, also be produced using natural processes as far as possible. Accordingly, there is a great desire for more transparency and organic quality.
The aim of the working group is to pave the way for greater transparency and to document, safeguard and make quality visible.
The replacement of petrochemical raw materials with plant-based, sometimes also animal-based or fungus-derived substances is currently a key focus. Considerable pioneering work is being done in the production of natural cosmetics, ecological detergents and cleaning agents and household items in particular. The main aim is to guarantee or even improve the functionality of the products.
If the raw materials of plant or animal origin also come from organic farming, the result is a truly “organic” non-food product!
If you are interested in participating in a working group meeting, you can find more information here:
Memberships
We support the following institutions through our membership
Cooperations
Consulting
sustaineration
The sustainability consultancy Sustaineration expands our range of consultancy services for companies that operate sustainably, in particular for the introduction of ISO 14001.
ClimatePartner
ClimatePartner cooperates with us on the CSE sustainability seal. Certified companies receive attractive conditions for CO2 calculation and offsetting.
This rounds off our range of services for measuring, evaluating and communicating sustainability performance in a customer-friendly way.
inci-experts
The inci-experts offer expertise in chemistry from the laboratory to the shelf.
Certification bodies
EcoControl GmbH
Certification body with a focus on the organic non-food sector
Prüfgesellschaft ökologischer Landbau mbH
Certification and inspection body for organic food, cosmetics and natural products
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