CSR
Creating value beyond parking
At Q-Park, we believe our role extends far beyond providing places to park. As cities evolve and mobility patterns change, we help connect people, businesses and communities through safe, sustainable and accessible mobility infrastructure.
Our purpose is clear: to enhance urban liveability and connect communities by providing sustainable mobility solutions and seamless parking services. Our ambition is equally clear: to be the vital mobility infrastructure partner.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is therefore not a separate programme within Q-Park. It is embedded in how we invest, operate, innovate and collaborate across our business.
Our CSR approach
Our CSR strategy focuses on the topics where Q-Park can create the greatest positive impact for society while managing the most significant risks and opportunities for our business. Following an extensive review of our activities, value chain and stakeholder expectations, our strategic framework centres around three key themes:
Urban liveability
Cities are increasingly seeking solutions that improve accessibility while reducing congestion and emissions. Q-Park contributes by helping to organise and optimise mobility flows, supporting cleaner, more liveable urban environments.
Sustainable mobility solutions
We support the transition towards lower-carbon mobility by developing mobility hubs, integrating shared mobility services and expanding EV charging infrastructure. These initiatives help customers combine different modes of transport and make more sustainable travel choices.
Seamless parking services
Customers expect parking to be convenient, reliable and secure. We continuously invest in digital services, operational excellence and customer-focused innovations that make parking easier and more efficient.
We've complemented our seamless parking services with security layers to safeguard physical well-being and personal data as follows:
Safety and wellbeing: The safety of our customers and employees is fundamental to our license to operate and directly supports our commitment to quality in parking. We invest in safe parking facilities, safe working environments and continuous improvement programmes focused on prevention, awareness and accountability.
Data protection and privacy: As digital services become increasingly important, safeguarding customer data remains a critical responsibility. Robust cybersecurity, privacy protection and responsible data management are essential elements of how we operate.
Understanding what matters most: our double materiality assessment
To ensure our CSR strategy remains relevant and aligned with both stakeholder expectations and evolving European sustainability requirements, Q-Park recently completed an updated Double Materiality Assessment (DMA).
The assessment was conducted with support from ERM and followed the principles of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). It combined a top-down analysis of sustainability topics with a bottom-up review involving internal experts, business context analysis, value chain mapping and stakeholder engagement.
The process included:
a comprehensive 360-degree business review;
analysis of industry trends, peer companies and regulatory developments;
review of Q-Park's value chain and operating activities;
interviews with senior leaders and subject matter experts;
assessment of sustainability impacts, risks and opportunities (IROs);
validation by Q-Park's CSR Committee.
Through this process, we identified the sustainability topics that are most significant for both society and our long-term business success.
Our material topics
The assessment confirmed the continuing importance of:
energy;
climate change mitigation; and
mobility transition
In addition, three revised material topics emerged:
employee health and safety;
customer safety; and
customer data protection and privacy.
These outcomes reflect the evolving role of Q-Park. As a provider of critical mobility infrastructure, we must not only reduce environmental impacts but also protect people, safeguard information and support the transformation of urban mobility systems.
Measuring progress through transparent reporting
Transparency is an essential part of responsible business. For many years, Q-Park has published Annual CSR Reports that provide stakeholders with insight into our ambitions, activities and performance.
Our reporting helps us:
monitor progress against strategic objectives;
strengthen accountability across the organisation;
identify opportunities for improvement;
provide transparent information to stakeholders; and
prepare for future CSRD reporting requirements.
Our reporting covers environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics, including energy use, climate initiatives, mobility solutions, employee wellbeing, customer safety and responsible business conduct. The findings from our double materiality assessment now provide the foundation for determining what information is most relevant and meaningful to report.
As reporting standards continue to evolve, we remain committed to providing clear, reliable and decision-useful sustainability information that supports stakeholders in understanding both our impacts on society and the factors that influence our long-term value creation.
Looking ahead
The mobility sector is undergoing profound change. Electrification, shared mobility, digitalisation and changing travel patterns are reshaping the way people move through cities and regions.
Q-Park sees these developments as an opportunity. By investing in sustainable mobility solutions, reducing environmental impacts, safeguarding people and operating responsibly, we aim to create lasting value for customers, employees, partners, cities and communities.
Through a focused CSR strategy, a robust double materiality assessment and transparent annual reporting, we are building a business that is ready for the future while helping cities become more accessible, sustainable and liveable places to be.
Historic perspective
Our first social and sustainability showcase was Q-Park Quintessence, developed in 2007. It demonstrated a broad perspective on urban challenges. Linking mobility and parking policy, even claiming that parking policy is the most important instrument in regulating mobility in urban areas - explaining the logic behind regulated and paid parking.
Q-Park's first Annual CSR Report was published in 2008 and we've been reporting annually on sustainability, based on the GRI Standards, since 2011. In the early years, it was all about raising awareness and integrating sustainable development in our day-to-day business. We benchmarked ourselves and ensured we were doing the right things in the right way. We engaged with stakeholders, enhanced the transparency of our governance and our impact on environmental and social issues.
From 2017 onwards, we focused more on developing and implementing shared solutions. We identified how we can contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and our role in helping society progress towards Europe's aim to be climate neutral by 2050.
And as of 2023 we worked on CSRD/ESRS compliance concerning the sustainability statement in the Annual Report, mandatory as of the Annual Report 2027. We conducted our first double materiality assessment in 2023, created a compelling strategic framework and established a policy per material topic including datapoints.
