Connection is the way to respect.
Knowing their own challenges well, the company started working on a project centered around norms and values. For one year, everybody was invited to share their thoughts. We were asked to conclude this project during the New Year's party, a company tradition.
We came up with the idea to make a 'different' kind of event. Not just a formal gathering, but a moment of exuberance and shared emotions. A moment to connect and unwind. A moment to show and share respect for everyone in the company, from CEO to waste collector.
We believe you can only truly solve a problem if you know its roots. We joined the waste collection team on their route with the garbage truck, we participated in board meetings, and got to know Ecowerf on all levels.
Together with psychologist and editor Kris Kuppens we recorded in-depth interviews. These amounted up to fifteen hours of open, honest, and sometimes difficult conversation.
From these interviews we distilled four short films about respect, openness, pride and (the lack of) positivity. With these films as a basis we turned the New Year's party into a true New Year's Show.
The show was moderated with a lot of humor and empathy by Slongs Dievanongs, a famous Belgian hip hop artist. She also wrote a song for EcoWerf and deejayed music chosen by the employees during the party. The song serves is a lasting memory, a memory that connects.
