Lidl Hellas

Our collaboration with the Greek National Opera began in 2018 with Lidl Hellas as a sponsor of the educational music, musical theater and artistic creation workshops. As a next step, we proceeded to creatively connect issues related to sustainable development in general with culture-society. A global challenge that is at the same time an invitation to raise awareness and mobilize the new generation and beyond, for the future of our planet.

The common goals of Lidl Hellas  and the Greek National Opera formed the basis for the performance of the Four Seasons based on Vivaldi's work of the same name – perhaps the most emblematic piece of classical music that praises nature, the changing of the seasons and the circularity of time – deals with the sustainable development goals of Lidl Hellas in an intelligent and imaginative way. Topics such as plastic reduction, recycling and the circular economy are brought to life in a unique, playful and entertaining way, while educating the public to develop ecological awareness and artistic literacy, with the ultimate goal of ecological balance and social progress.

Ecological balance and social progress are at the core of the dramaturgy of the show, which is aimed at children and young people from 6 years old, but also at adults up to 96 years old. The main purpose of the show is to cultivate the citizenship of the public and engage them with issues related to the formation of attitudes and the adoption of a "correct" lifestyle in relation to the environment as well as awareness and taking actions to protect it and by extension of the society in which they live.

The performances took place during the period November 2019 - January 2020 and continue from March 2021 - December 2021 on the Greek National Opera online television channel, GNO TV.

One of the strategic pillars of Lidl Hellas' Corporate Social Responsibility program is Society and education - raising awareness of the Young Generation, as well as the general public on environmental issues, through various programs and actions of the company. In this context, Lidl Hellas proceeded to sponsor and co-produce the show "Four Seasons" with the Greek National Opera.

Antonio Vivaldi's Four Seasons, a timeless masterpiece that celebrates the changes of nature and the cycle of time, is an original performance with a "green" character.

As one of the most popular works of Baroque music, The Four Seasons is brought to life on stage in a unique way in a musical theater performance, which addresses important issues related to our attitude towards the environment and the dangers faced by the society in which we live.

Disposable items, from plastic bags and bottles to plastic straws and gloves, are transformed into impressive costumes.

Vivaldi's original material was for the show's composer an object of processing, in a new orchestration, which coexists with original instrumental and vocal interventions.

The show does not moralize about the environment, but gives an experiential sense of the ecological destruction that has already occurred as a result of the reckless use of natural resources and the selfish and hypocritical attitude towards nature. This is a call to action, as the society we live in, and by extension the future of the planet, is the responsibility of all of us.

https://corporate.lidl-hellas.gr/media-center/pressreleases/tesseris-epoxes-premiera

The premiere of the show was also accompanied by a workshop on balanced nutrition for parents with interactive content implemented by a collaborating psychologist-psychotherapist and a parallel workshop on scenography from recyclable materials for children.

It is worth noting that our collaboration with the Greek National Opera has a time horizon of at least 2 years, with the performance taking place within the Greek National Opera at the SNFCC and specifically in the Alternative Stage where 37 performances were held in the theater period November 2019 - July 2020, while for the period March 2021 – December 2021, the performance will be available due to the pandemic through GNO TV, the online television channel of the Greek National Opera.

Also in the context of our sponsorship with the Hellenic Republic of Greece, we proposed to make available to the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs free of charge, as part of our company's Corporate Responsibility, promotion codes for schools so that this particular show could reach as many elementary school students as possible throughout the country , so that we can, through a show of high artistic but also educational content, further cultivate the ecological consciousness of young people in our country and promote artistic education. We underline that this performance is more relevant than ever since it comes at a time when the legislation has been passed to abolish and reduce single-use plastics and reduce their impact on the environment (2019/904) and will be in force from July of 2021.

The show Four Seasons is a creative synergy of the Greek National Opera and Lidl Hellas. The performance is realized with the support of the donation of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) to the Alternative Stage.

https://www.nationalopera.gr/enalaktiki-skini/parastaseis-gia-paidia/item/2721-tesseris-epoxes

30 employees of Lidl Hellas had the opportunity to attend the premiere of the show with their families, after participating in a competition held on the company's internal communication page, Intranet.

This year that the show is available online through the online television channel, GNO TV, 250 codes were given to our company employees from all our facilities (Support Services, Regional Offices, Warehouses and Stores) to watch the show for free with their families. The selection of partners was made after a declaration of participation in a corresponding infotainment communication that was posted on the company's intranet and included a competition.

The performance was staged on the Alternative Stage of the Greek National Opera at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center and continues on Greek National Opera's online television channel, GNO TV.

A total of 37 performances were held, which were attended by many children and young people, as part of school visits, but also with their families.

All viewers of the show receive a bamboo straw as a give away, in order to start putting the environmental messages of the show into practice.

As part of its responsible policy for sustainable development, Lidl Hellas calculated and offset the greenhouse gas emissions of the event for the premiere of the show with the help of Green Evolution and based on the CO₂ Neutral Seal certification mark.

Due to the success of the show, we tried to find a solution for its continuation even during the pandemic when live performances were not possible. Therefore, we continue our sponsorship of the online show "4 Seasons", which starts on March 14th until December 31st, through the online television channel, GNO TV.

When you share common goals and visions then cooperation with organizations active in the culture sector can become creative and productive with mutual benefits. It is the first time that a retail business has collaborated with an iconic national body and together they produce culture, cultivate ecological awareness and promote artistic education. This is how healthy business activity is represented and the good in every sector of public life and the economy is recognized