Focus of the Hilti Foundation
With its global projects addressing some of the world’s greatest challenges, the Hilti Foundation supports people regardless of the conditions they were born into. This offers them opportunities to develop their skills and talents, enabling them to lead independent and self-determined lives.
Since its beginning, the Hilti Foundation has continuously evolved. Supporting individual projects has been replaced by a strategic approach aimed at achieving systemic change. Together with its highly competent partners, the Hilti Foundation develops projects and networks while focusing on three main strategic areas.
MUSIC FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
Every young person is entitled to a quality education, a conviction on which the focus area “Music for Social Change” is based. By making music together, students build skills and mindsets that empower them on their path to adulthood. Strong self-confidence enables them to develop and use their full potential while taking responsibility for themselves and the community.
That is why the Hilti Foundation supports social music programs that provide children and young people with access to music, regardless of their socioeconomic background. They can thereby discover their hidden talents, strengthen their personal development and promote their social skills. This requires not only music as such, but also well-trained teachers who focus on the personal development of their young students. AIM, the Academy for Impact through Music, provides a platform for these teachers to develop and test innovative and impact-oriented teaching methods. In 2023, AIM began developing “Fire up,” a less time-consuming course that recognizes the limited time availability of many teachers and therefore condenses the core elements of AIM’s 15-month teacher training program. This allows AIM to also extend the reach of the program.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING & TECHNOLOGY
By 2030, an estimated three billion people worldwide are expected to live in substandard housing. This has a significant impact not only on their safety and health but also on their economic and social opportunities. “Affordable Housing & Technology” contributes to creating safer and affordable living spaces for people in need by developing innovative technologies and sustainable building concepts.
In 2014, the Hilti Foundation launched the BASE Bahay Foundation to establish bamboo as a standard building material for the Global South. Focusing on housing for low-income families, more than 1,500 homes have been built in the Philippines and Nepal using innovative bamboo technology such as Hilti’s Cement Bamboo Frame Technology (CBFT).
Although bamboo is considered resilient, green and affordable, it is still a niche product in the construction industry. To reach the next level in building with bamboo, BASE is now enabling the construction of special structures, such as schools, community centers and market halls, based on the high-level research of its innovation center. Thus, BASE is also helping to create a local bamboo industry with exciting business opportunities along the entire value chain. These include treatment centers and specialized contractors who oversee building projects like the recently inaugurated weaving center in Batangas, Philippines.
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
Enabling people in need to become economically independent is what economic empowerment is all about. Special programs provide both the rural population and the young generation in the cities of East African countries with the ability to escape poverty and become part of an emerging middle class.
The enterprise development program helps families in rural East Africa with professional training, coaching and microfinance to create thriving farming enterprises. This enables them to earn a sustainable and growing income, so they can afford a better living standard through their own efforts. Since 2022, the PropelA vocational training project has provided Kenya’s young generation with an excellent practical education, enabling them to find sustainable jobs and create good prospects for their lives. The successful implementation of the program not only required commitment from the government but also from the private sector: 40 leading Kenyan plumbing and electrical companies employed the first 250 apprentices, who will graduate with a national diploma after two years. The PropelA initiative aims to completely transform professional vocational education in the construction sector in Kenya.
Climate change, conflicts and natural disasters are among the world’s greatest challenges, leaving more and more people behind. We strongly believe that overcoming this situation requires sustainable and long-term engagement. Through our projects, we aim to bring about systemic change that offers people encouraging prospects for a self-determined future.
Werner Wallner, Managing Director of the Hilti Foundation
Hilti Foundation
With around 90 projects, we support people all around the globe.
Update on Our Projects
The Academy for Impact through Music provides pioneering training for teachers from social music programs around the world, recognizing their vital role in the empowerment of young people. “Fire Up!”, a less time-consuming teacher training program, is the next step to extend the reach of the program.
Read more
As a world-leading competence center for bamboo construction, the BASE Bahay Foundation aims to make bamboo a standard building material, focused on the needs of low-income families. Creating local bamboo industries as a next step helps us scale our efforts.
Read more
Together with the leading enterprises of the industry and the national government of Kenya, the vocational training initiative PropelA aims to transform professional education in the construction sector.
Read more