Information

The INKOM aims to act as much towards the principle of social responsibility as possible. We want to have our place in the middle of society to be able to give every INKOM participant a complete overview of what Maastricht has to offer, but also to ensure a sustainable and social future for the INKOM itself. The topic of social responsibility is naturally very broad, so that is why we have two focus points to focus our attention.

1. Increasing the connection between students and the city of Maastricht and its inhabitants.

We do this by involving the city of Maastricht more within the INKOM program. This year the following events take place to connect the students with the city Maastricht: Meet Maastricht, City Walks and Tasty Maastricht. At Meet Maastricht the students can choose from different activities in Maastricht like a boat tour across the Maas and a tour through the caves. The City Walks will be offered on two days during the INKOM. The INKOM participants can choose themselves whether to participate in this event. Lastly, there is Tasty Maastricht, a restaurant tour where students can lunch at one of the multitude of amazing restaurants present in the city. Next to this we organize Meals on Wheels combined with the Open Air Cinema, were we invite every local of the city, so that they as well can enjoy the INKOM. In these ways we show multiple sides of the city of Maastricht, its activities and its restaurants. Consequently, we foster the connection between the students and the city, because of the fact that the students connect to the city already at the beginning of their time here in Maastricht.

2. Create more awareness on numerous social topics with every INKOM participant, our partners and everyone who visits INKOM events.

We inform our partners as much as possible on our social and sustainable topics and stimulate them to become social and sustainable as well. An example of this is that most of our caterers offer a vegetarian and a biological or sustainable option. Furthermore we create more awareness with the INKOM participants through the new event Set your own Limit, on Wednesday 24th August. At this event multiple partners take part who through an interactive and game like manner create awareness on topic like sexual harassment and increasing pressure of society.

By means of this CSR statement, the INKOM introduction week Maastricht indicates that sustainability and corporate social responsibility are highly valued at its events. The INKOM would also like to make an active contribution to the sustainability ambitions of Maastricht University, Zuyd University and the municipality of Maastricht. One of the spearheads of the Working Group INKOM 2023 is therefore make an important contribution to the debate about sustainability within Maastricht (student) life. As the organisation of the INKOM we try to limit the impact of the event on the environment as much as possible and to stimulate social connection between and with students.

The thinking behind our efforts is twofold: on the one hand we try to reduce the ecological footprint of the INKOM and on the other hand, we try to create awareness among students. In order to maintain our interest in CSR and sustainability to always be able to emphasize our importance, a sustainability team will be appointed. In this way, CSR and sustainability will also continue to play an important role.

Measures we take are:

We mainly work together with companies in the immediate area in order in this way companies in the event industry of South Limburg to continue to promote.
The organisation itself, participants and cooperation partners will be informed that we are corporate social responsible and concerned with sustainability. We will do this through information on the website, newsletters, transfers and during our events ourselves.
We always strive to take the Maastricht resident into account as much as possible. Thus, we invite them to various events and do everything we can to prevent inconvenience. This includes timely distribution of letters regarding the event, but also compliance with the maximum permitted noise level. At certain events, we give small or starting organisations the opportunity to promote themselves during a tour event at a reduced rate.
We constantly consider the environment by encouraging our cooperation partners to socially responsible business practices and sustainable operations. This includes the use of the right generators, fire extinguishers with an eco-label and printed materials that are printed on responsible paper.
The physical carrying of the items listed below is not permitted on INKOM grounds:
a. Stickers and paste tattoos
b. Plastic balloons
c. Confetti and other plastic single-use party materials
Waste reduction and waste separation is taken very seriously within the INKOM. For the events we use reusable cups whenever possible. We discourage the use of disposables and facilitate separate collection of waste. We also work with a waste processing company that takes care of recycling waste.
Finally, we work together with MECC Maastricht, which since 2010 has been in possession of the 'golden Green Key' quality mark. They are fully committed to corporate entrepreneurship and sustainability.