for sustainable development
WE TAKE THE UN'S GLOBAL GOALS
very serious
For several years, the two hotels in the Munkebjerg Group have worked intensively with a selection of the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Sales manager Lotte Michaelis-Kjær is at the forefront of the effort, where the focus is on world goals 6, 7 and 12, which are areas where the hotel chain can help make a difference.
- The UN's Global Goals are many things. Basically, you can safely say that it is also "just" about behaving properly.
Over several years, our entire administration has worked intensively with the world goals, and at our hotels we have started by focusing on world goals 6, 7 and 12, which are areas where we can make proportionate progress, says Lotte Michaelis-Kjær, who is sales manager at Munkebjerg Hotel.
She is at the head of the phasing in of the world goals at Munkebjerg Hotel, but is also in charge at group level in Munkebjerg Gruppen, which also covers the Vejle Center Hotel in the middle of the fjord city.
- "It is a serious matter, and the focus is on looking at what it is that we as a hotel chain want, at the same time that we have of course taken the temperature of how far we really are. And so it has been important for us to establish what kind of world goals we really want to be able to make progress on, at the same time that there are some world goals that we have to deal with over a somewhat longer time horizon", explains the sales manager .
WE HAVE WORKED WITH SUSTAINABILITY
In many years
Even though Munkebjerg Hotel was founded back in the "happy sixties", the hotel can easily look at itself in the mirror when it comes to considerations for the environment, sustainability and energy-saving measures.
For years, the beautifully situated hotel has focused on doing things properly - and this is a development that is constantly ongoing.
- After all, these are some large and difficult areas that the UN's Global Goals are about, and the specific goals that we have committed ourselves to, it is something that we have worked with for many years.
But it is clear that there has been a completely different focus on it over recent years. And it is gratifying, says Lotte Michaelis-Kjær, who is sales manager at Munkebjerg Hotel and holds the reins in relation to the world goals.
According to her, a lot of measures have been taken continuously, especially through the 2010s – a development which has only been further intensified in the 2020s.
- It can be about water-saving toilets, taps with saving functions and the like. New lighting with energy saving bulbs and then LED lighting. It has been – and continues to be – an ongoing process at Munkebjerg Hotel to find areas where a difference can be made. But it is not a process that is necessarily without bumps in the road. Because at the same time that we as a hotel want to do as much as possible for, for example, the environment, hotel guests naturally also have certain expectations that they should ideally be met with, points out Lotte Michaelis-Kjær.
GLOBAL GOAL 7
Global Goal 7 is about sustainable energy, with all that it entails of a focus on alternative energy sources and a lower consumption of energy.
Virtually all lighting has been replaced, so today it is LED light sources that set the tone at Munkebjerg Hotel.
At the same time, there is a focus on installing machines and white goods whose energy consumption is as low as possible. Groundwater coolers have been installed in most places as a replacement for the very energy-consuming air conditioning systems.
In some places it has not yet been completed, and here frequency control of the air conditioning has been installed, which saves energy.
In addition, a heat pump was installed in January 2023, which has reduced our natural gas consumption by more than 95%.
READ MORE ABOUT GLOBAL GOAL 7
GLOBAL GOAL 6
Global Goal 6 focuses on clean water and sanitation, and the ways in which, for example, water consumption can be reduced.
We work intensively to reduce water consumption and only get water from our own waterworks. Water-saving toilets with double flushes as well as taps and showers with saving functions have been installed.
As something completely unique, Munkebjerg Hotel has its own private waterworks, which supplies water for production, guests and other functions. It provides a very special opportunity to monitor and possibly adjust water consumption.
READ MORE ABOUT GLOBAL GOAL 6
GARBAGE SORTING
Global Goal 12 is responsible consumption for production – and here the code word is sustainability in all processes.
All waste is sorted to the highest standards. We have also introduced several concepts to reduce food waste.
The buffets are not "overloaded", smaller plates are used and a higher degree of "justice" is maintained, so that the food is wasted as little as possible, without affecting the hotel guests' experience.
"The hotel's food waste and used frying oil are sorted into special containers and collected Dhaka ReFood which recycles new energy such as biogas, biodiesel and fertiliser. We keep a close eye on the development of food waste and food waste. That is why all our waste is weighed”.
It is our clear ambition that our food waste must be reduced by 15 percent by 2025.
We work with our suppliers, who have agreed to take packaging back, just as we focus on reducing the consumption of plastic and paper.
READ MORE ABOUT GLOBAL GOAL 12
It is our ambition that total food waste is reduced by 15 percent by 2025. And we also make high demands on our many suppliers, who are a completely natural part of the processes around the world goals, points out Lotte Michaelis-Kjær.
One of the code words in the process is orderliness and consideration.
- We have to think about it, and it has to permeate the entire group. We must not use resources unnecessarily, regardless of which resource it is. We save on light, water and energy, and we work hard to minimize food waste.
Lotte Michaelis-Kjær
Sales Manager
+45 5362 7256
Email: business@munkebjerg.dk
AMBITIOUS
development
The UN's Global Goals entered into force in January 2016 and consist of 17 goals and 169 sub-goals. It is the most ambitious global development agenda the world has seen, and until 2030 it must chart a course towards a more sustainable development for both people and the planet we live on.
The agreement commits all the UN's 193 member states to completely abolish poverty and hunger in the world, reduce inequalities, ensure good education and better health for all, decent jobs and more sustainable economic growth. The UN's Global Goals also focus on promoting peace and security and strong institutions, and on strengthening international partnerships.
At Munkebjerg Hotel, the focus is on world goals 6, 7 and 12, which respectively deal with clean water and sanitation, sustainable energy and responsible consumption and production.
In reality, these are areas that we have worked with for several years, but luckily the efforts have only been further increased with the UN's Global Goals.
