Under the banner ‘We empower people’, the electric sports car from Porsche has travelled to South Africa, China and Brazil in recent months. In all three places projects were carried out with local partners driven by the desire to provide solutions for current societal challenges. The Join the Porsche Ride initiative aims to encourage international social commitment and the ethos of helping people help themselves. Its objective is to develop long-term projects and partnerships that will stand the test of time and deliver measurable results.
Porsche employees get involved to help young people in Brazil
The last port of call for the travelling Taycan in 2023 was São Paulo. At the end of November, a new initiative was launched there by Porsche Brazil, Audi Brazil and the Projecto Pescar Foundation. This new alliance supports young people who have little or no access to schooling. Since education is the key to a self-determined life, the goal of the project is to help introduce young people to apprenticeships.
The selected beneficiaries mostly come from poor backgrounds. Over the course of the project, they are taught skills that should help them to stand on their own two feet in the future. The objective is to get them out of poverty and to help them advance in society. This, in turn, should enable the young people to take responsibility for themselves and their communities. Over a period of 12 months, they are given the opportunity to develop the personal and technical skills to prepare them for subsequent further training.
The curriculum includes subjects such as Portuguese, maths and English, as well as technical content such as mechanics, business communication and customer service. Environmental protection and health are also covered. Some content is even taught by Porsche and Audi employees who volunteer to support the programme. The first class is scheduled to start in February 2024.
Different countries, different issues: training in South Africa and China
In South Africa, a programme was also launched to prepare young people for training and working life with the help of Join the Porsche Ride. One component is intensive professional and socio-educational support. The goal is to ensure that the young people who participate are ready for training after the programme. The aim is to give them the opportunity to break the cycle of poverty on their own – all in the spirit of helping people help themselves.
In September 2023, a German-Chinese competence and knowledge-transfer centre was launched in Chengdu, China. In the future, teachers from kindergarten- to university-level will be qualified in occupational safety, health and environmental protection. As multipliers, they will then pass on knowledge and skills to teachers throughout the country in order to benefit Chinese society over the long term.
The Taycan will continue its around-the-world trip in 2024. With new stops, but always the same goal in mind: ‘We empower people’.
