RAG-Stiftung (Essen)

The RAG Foundation is a legally recognized civil law foundation based in Essen. It was established in 2007 in connection with the phase-out of German hard coal mining. The foundation permanently finances the so-called "perpetual tasks" of post-mining (mine water management, polder measures, groundwater purification) in the former Ruhr, Saar, and Ibbenbüren mining regions from the returns of its broadly diversified capital investments. In doing so, the RAG Foundation relieves the public sector and ensures ecologically and economically sustainable structures. Furthermore, it promotes education, science, and culture related to German hard coal mining and initiates forward-looking impulses for the transformation of the former mining regions.

The RAG-Stiftung is tasked with managing the obligations arising from the cessation of German hard coal mining in a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable manner. Through a yield- and risk-diversified investment strategy, it ensures the permanent financing of perpetual obligations. Additionally, it assumes social responsibility by improving educational opportunities, supporting research in post-mining activities, and promoting cultural heritage in the former mining regions.

The funding activities of the RAG Foundation are aimed at various target groups: For the perpetual tasks, at the general public and public budgets, which are relieved of ecological obligations; in educational support, at children and young people, especially from non-academic families in the former mining regions of Ruhr, Saar, and Ibbenbüren; in scientific support, at research institutions such as the Georg Agricola University of Applied Sciences, the Post-Mining Research Center, and the German Mining Museum Bochum; and in cultural support, at organizers, associations, and institutions that preserve and convey mining values, traditions, and industrial architecture.