2022 YTI annual meeting in Cologne

The YTI annual meetings have a professional and a cultural component. In 2022, Cologne, Germany was the setting for the third annual international meeting. We spoke to two young TAUWees, Konrad Lüftner (33), who was one of the organisers of the event, and Flore Theuillon (24) who came as a participant and left with the intention of becoming a YTI ambassador.

Importance of YTI

As YTI makes up around 40% of all employees of TAUW Group, their contribution is important and this is recognised by TAUW management. At the professional day of the Cologne event, co-CEO Ralph van Roessel and consultant sustainability Sanne de Groot held an inspiring presentation on sustainability and talked about the redesign of the Sustainability Program. Flore: “TAUW colleagues,  younger or older, are very approachable, even the CEOs.” TAUW is unique in this aspect. It is truly a European company with active links across the six TAUW countries. That approachability speeds up networking and makes it easier to work together professionally and internationally.

Other professional workshops held on the first day included an Innovation and Development Portal, where YTIs were asked to contribute new ideas, a Digitalisation and influence of culture workshop where participants learned about the different cultures of TAUW. A further workshop was Soil as Natural Capital where a case study was taken as the basis for a discussion on how to use TAUW’s  fields of expertise. The following day was the cultural event and all participants of the TYI event got on their bikes to explore the beautiful city of Cologne and attend fun and interesting workshops, including a Street-art tour, an Underground/History Tour and a Serigraphy workshop.

Konrad Lüftner (33)

Konrad is a Young@TAUW International ambassador & project coordinator industrial site (re)development. He was part of the organiser team for the YTI Event in Cologne. “I am originally from Dortmund and am proud to work for TAUW Netherlands. During my studies BSc and MSc Environmental Sciences at Wageningen University I discovered the enormous potential of intercultural exchange that leads to a worldwide network of passionate professionals from different disciplines. And soon you realise that it is only a small difference to say “Hello – hallo – hola – bonjour – ciao”. As an ambassador for Young@TAUW International, he fully enjoys facilitating international cooperation between all TAUW countries, to make the most of the potential of our passionate professionals.

Flore Theuillon (24)

Flore was a participant and became ambassador of Young@TAUW & is an engineer in environmental permitting and industrial risks. She also joined the YTI event in Cologne. “I joined TAUW just after my aerospace engineering studies and I specialized in environmental permitting and industrial risks. In my work field, I don’t often have the opportunity to work at an international level. The Köln YTI event of last year was the first time when I truly realized that I was part of an international group and what a strength it was (at a human level with cultural exchanges, or at a work/technical level with exchanges about skills and methods in different countries). This experience thrilled me so much that I accepted to join the ambassadors to help developing this international network between young TAUW employees. I really enjoyed the cultural exchange and I realised I was part of an international company. It is wonderful to create a network for technical skills and tap into the potential that is there.”

International connections

For younger TAUWees, the YTI event is a great way to connect with colleagues abroad, because their own job is not always international. That is the case for Flore, who works at TAUW France in a French office with French colleagues for French clients. Konrad agrees that the international aspect is inspiring. The Young@TAUW International event brings TAUWees into contact with other colleagues, making it easier to be connected afterwards and that opens the door to professional contact and collaboration.