General Terms and Conditions

General Terms and Conditions of Use (Terms)

Governing Language 

This English version of the General Terms and Conditions is provided for convenience and information purposes only. In the event of any discrepancies, contradictions, or disputes regarding the interpretation of any provision, the German version shall prevail and be legally binding.

Nachhaltigkeitshelden GmbH

Platform: www.nachhaltigkeitshelden.de

Version: 2.0 | Status: June 2026

Preamble – Operator, Contact and Provider Information

These General Terms and Conditions of Use (hereinafter "Terms") govern the contractual relationship between

Nachhaltigkeitshelden GmbH

Simbacher Str. 17, 81673 Munich, Germany

Managing Directors: Thomas Klir and Kevin Tscholitsch

Register Court: Munich District Court, HRB 125242

VAT Identification Number: DE 348041491

Email Address: info@nachhaltigkeitshelden.de

(hereinafter "Nachhaltigkeitshelden")

and the users of the online platform under the domain https://www.nachhaltigkeitshelden.de as well as the associated social media presences (hereinafter collectively "Platform").

Before registration or use of the Platform, every Business User and every Private User must expressly read and accept these Terms and commit to complying with them. The hosting of the Platform is provided by STRATO AG.

1. Definitions

For the purposes of these Terms, the following definitions apply:

• 1.1 Platform: The online intermediary service provided at https://www.nachhaltigkeitshelden.de together with all functions, subdomains and associated social media channels and presences.

• 1.2 Business User: Any natural or legal person, commercial operator, freelancer, association, NGO or self-employed individual who uses the Platform for promotional presentation of their own business, sustainable products or services.

• 1.3 Private User: Any natural person who uses the Platform as a consumer to obtain information about sustainable businesses, products and services, to search for or review them, or to suggest unregistered businesses, and who does not themselves offer sustainable products or services on the Platform.

• 1.4 User: An umbrella term for Business Users and Private Users collectively, unless explicit distinction is required.

• 1.5 Account: The user's personal user account, which is created following successful registration and contains access credentials and personal information.

• 1.6 Services: All functions and services made available by Nachhaltigkeitshelden on the Platform free of charge or for a fee, such as search functions, business directory entries, rating systems or advertising measures.

• 1.7 Price List: The current price list available on the Platform that applies exclusively to Business Users and sets out the paid services and their prices.

• 1.8 Content: All information, text, photos, descriptions, videos and other materials that users upload, transmit or publish on the Platform.

2. Purpose and Scope

• 2.1 Subject Matter of the Contract: The Platform functions as an online intermediary hosting service and virtual exchange forum. It enables Private Users to search for and review sustainable businesses, products and services or to suggest unregistered businesses. Business Users are given the opportunity to present their own business and offerings to the public.

• 2.2 Social Media Channels: These Terms apply mutatis mutandis to all interactions of users on the official social media presences and accounts of Nachhaltigkeitshelden (e.g. Facebook, Instagram).

• 2.3 Age Restriction: The Platform is intended for persons who have reached the age of 18. Persons under 18 years of age are prohibited from using the Platform without the express consent and supervision of a parent or guardian. By registering, the user confirms that they are of legal age and have legal capacity, or are acting with the appropriate consent and supervision.

3. Registration and Account Management

• 3.1 Registration Data: To register on the Platform, a valid email address is required. This serves to identify you each time you access the site. All data requested during registration must be provided truthfully and completely.

• 3.2 Single Registration: Each user may register only once on the Platform and may create only one account. However, Business Users may activate multi-user management, whereby multiple employees can access the company profile using their own email addresses.

• 3.3 Confidentiality: Users are obligated to treat their access credentials and passwords confidentially and to keep them strictly secret from third parties.

• 3.4 Obligation to Update: Business Users are obligated to update information and data stored on the Platform in their account immediately upon any change.

• 3.5 Verification: Nachhaltigkeitshelden reserves the right to require subsequent account verification for security reasons (e.g. via confirmation link sent to the stated email address or by submission of proof).

4. Registration of Businesses, Products and Services

• 4.1 Authorisation for Registration: Sustainable businesses, products or services may be registered on the Platform only by the following persons:

  • 4.1.1 By the Business User themselves, provided the business belongs to them or they are demonstrably authorised by their function to manage and maintain it.

  • 4.1.2 By employees of Nachhaltigkeitshelden GmbH for editorial purposes or on customer instructions.

• 4.2 Prohibition of Duplicates: It is prohibited to register the same business, product or service more than once on the Platform (prohibition of duplicates).

• 4.3 Quality Requirements for Media: When creating a profile, at least one photo or video of appropriate quality must be uploaded (depending on the chosen pricing model). The person uploading must possess all necessary usage rights to this image and sound material and be authorised to transfer them. Content responsibility rests solely with the respective user; Nachhaltigkeitshelden accepts no responsibility for this.

5. Paid Services, Price Changes and Payment (Business Users Only)

• 5.1 Additional Services for B2B: In addition to free services, Business Users may book paid additional services. The respective prices and scope of services are set out in the price list valid at the time of booking. All prices are in euros (EUR).

• 5.2 Payment Obligation: The Business User is responsible for timely and proper payment of fees for the services booked in accordance with the terms of the invoice issued or the agreed payment terms.

• 5.3 Price Changes: Nachhaltigkeitshelden is entitled to adjust the price list for future bookings at any time. Ongoing services already booked remain unaffected by price changes until the end of the current billing period (end of month for monthly payment; end of year for annual payment). Price changes will be communicated to Business Users in good time.

• 5.4 Automatic Renewal and Cancellation of Business Subscriptions: Paid subscriptions for Business Users are automatically renewed for the same period following expiry of the minimum contractual term (e.g. for a further month or further year), unless cancelled with two (2) weeks' notice before the end of the respective term.

6. Rules of Use and Prohibited Content

• 6.1 General Conduct Obligations: Every user undertakes to act in good faith when using the Platform and creating content (e.g. messages, support requests, profile text), to comply with all applicable legal provisions and to respect the rights of third parties.

• 6.2 Prohibited Content (Central Exclusion List): It is strictly prohibited for all users to publish, transmit or distribute content (text, images, videos, links) on the Platform that:

  • 6.2.1 is untrue, misleading, inaccurate, incomplete or falsified;

  • 6.2.2 infringes the rights of third parties, in particular intellectual property (trade marks, copyright, registered signs, design rights, trade dress);

  • 6.2.3 infringes property rights, personality rights or data protection rights of third parties, in particular the right to one's own image (e.g. photos on which other persons are recognisable without express consent) or discloses personal data without authorisation;

  • 6.2.4 violates good morals, accepted moral standards or public order (in particular erotic, pornographic, glorifying violence, harmful to minors or violent content);

  • 6.2.5 incites, endorses or trivialises criminal offences or crimes, discrimination, hatred, racism or violence based on race, ethnic origin or nationality;

  • 6.2.6 contains defamatory, insulting, business-damaging or personality rights-infringing statements;

  • 6.2.7 contains malware, viruses or programmes that could disrupt the operation of the Platform or damage the IT systems of other users;

  • 6.2.8 contains spam, chain letters, unlawful advertising or links to or advertising for competitors of the Platform;

  • 6.2.9 assumes the identity of another person or acts under a false identity.

• 6.3 Data Mining and Scraping Prohibition: It is strictly prohibited to collect, combine, systematically extract (scraping/data mining) or disclose to third parties data from the Platform or information about the behaviour of other users in an automated manner, unless such data was obtained by legal means or with express written permission.

7. Rating System Guidelines

• 7.1 Prerequisites for Reviews: A user may give a review of a business, product or service only if they actually know the offering from their own experience, have personally used it or visited the business in person.

• 7.2 Prohibition of Self-Rating and Remuneration: Reviews of one's own business or one's own products and services are not permitted. Users receive no compensation or financial benefits from Nachhaltigkeitshelden for providing online reviews. Reviews must be fair, honest and factual.

8. Intellectual Property and Licence Grant

• 8.1 Rights to the Platform: Nachhaltigkeitshelden retains all ownership, protection and copyright rights in the Platform. The system, layout, design, software used and all trade marks, logos and domain names used are exclusive intellectual property of Nachhaltigkeitshelden.

• 8.2 Usage Rights in User Content: To the extent a user uploads copyright-protected content (e.g. photos, description text, reviews, videos) to the Platform, they grant Nachhaltigkeitshelden a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence valid for the statutory period of protection (unlimited in time) to use, copy, reproduce, display and technically adapt such content for the operation, presentation, promotion, further development and functionality of the Platform.

  • 8.2.1 Important Restriction: This licence is strictly limited to the scope required for the operation and marketing of the Platform. Any advertising use beyond this scope on unusual third-party media (e.g. in television or print media) for commercial purposes of the corporate group is carried out exclusively following receipt of separate express consent from the affected user.

  • 8.2.2 Continuation Upon Account Deletion: To preserve the integrity of forum discussions, posts and business directory entries, this licence remains in force following deletion of the user's account for purposes of Platform operation.

• 8.3 Warranty of Rights: Users represent that they possess all necessary rights in the content they upload and are authorised to grant the licence under Section 8.2. Users are solely liable for any claims by third parties arising from missing rights.

9. Liability and Limitation of Liability

• 9.1 User Responsibility: Users bear sole and full criminal and civil responsibility as authors for the content and profiles they publish. They shall indemnify Nachhaltigkeitshelden against all claims by third parties arising from a culpable breach of obligations under these Terms (in particular Section 6.2).

• 9.2 Disclaimer for Third-Party Content (Hosting Provider Privilege): As a service provider/platform operator, Nachhaltigkeitshelden is not required under applicable law to proactively monitor transmitted or stored third-party information or to investigate circumstances that might indicate unlawful activity. Liability for unlawful content is only possible from the point of actual knowledge of a specific legal violation. Following proper notification and review (pursuant to Section 10), the affected content will be removed within a reasonable timeframe. Nachhaltigkeitshelden is in particular not responsible for user actions, the accuracy of profiles or the quality of the products/services presented.

• 9.3 Disputes Between Users: Nachhaltigkeitshelden is not responsible for disputes, contracts or interactions arising between users themselves (e.g. between Business Users and Private Users). Nachhaltigkeitshelden provides no support in such cases and does not participate in dispute resolution.

• 9.4 Internet Risk Disclosure: Users are aware that the internet, despite all security precautions, is not an absolutely secure network by its nature. Nachhaltigkeitshelden is not liable for unforeseen events such as cyber attacks or security breaches in data transmission, nor for limitations in transmission speed, unless these are due to culpable conduct by Nachhaltigkeitshelden. Users are obligated to implement their own protective measures (e.g. current security software, virus scanners, backups).

• 9.5 Statutory Limitation of Liability (Scope of Liability): Nachhaltigkeitshelden is liable without limitation for damages arising from infringement of life, bodily integrity or health, and for damages arising from intent or gross negligence by Nachhaltigkeitshelden. In the case of slight negligence in breach of essential contractual obligations (cardinal duties), Nachhaltigkeitshelden's liability is limited to the damage that was typically foreseeable at the time of contracting. Beyond this, liability for slight negligence is excluded insofar as permitted by law.

10. Content Moderation, Reporting and Complaints Procedure (DSA Compliance)

• 10.1 Reporting of Unlawful Content (Notice-and-Action): If users or third parties discover content that violates applicable law or the usage rules of these Terms (Section 6.2), they may report it via the following routes:

By Email: info@nachhaltigkeitshelden.de

By Mail: Nachhaltigkeitshelden GmbH, Simbacher Str. 17, 81673 Munich, Germany

Upon receipt of a properly substantiated report, Nachhaltigkeitshelden will carefully examine the matter and remove or block the unlawful content within a reasonable timeframe.

• 10.2 Obligation to Provide Reasons (Art. 17 DSA): If Nachhaltigkeitshelden restricts, deletes or hides a user's content, hides their profile, or temporarily or permanently suspends an account, it will provide the affected user with a clear and specific explanation for this decision, provided Nachhaltigkeitshelden knows the electronic contact details. The explanation shall state the facts, the applicable Terms clause or legal provision, and information on the available remedies.

• 10.3 Internal Complaints Management (Art. 20 DSA): The affected user has the right, free of charge, to lodge a complaint against moderation measures (such as deletion or suspension) within six (6) months of receipt of the decision. Complaints may be submitted by email to info@nachhaltigkeitshelden.de.

• 10.4 Processing of Complaints: Nachhaltigkeitshelden will review all cases received through the internal complaints system promptly, carefully and impartially. The procedure will be carried out by qualified staff (no purely automated decision in the complaints procedure). The result of the review will be communicated to the user immediately.

11. Sanctions and Account Suspension by the Operator

• 11.1 Suspension Rights: Nachhaltigkeitshelden is entitled to suspend accounts temporarily or permanently or to refuse registration in the future if the user:

  • 11.1.1 culpably violates obligations under these Terms, the Privacy Statement or legal prohibitions;

  • 11.1.2 intentionally provided/published inaccurate, misleading or incomplete data during registration or in the course of use;

  • 11.1.3 unlawfully assumes the identity of another user or insults other users;

  • 11.1.4 attempts to log in again under a different identity or from an already suspended IP address or suspended device despite an existing suspension;

  • 11.1.5 has already received at least three warnings/cautions from Nachhaltigkeitshelden.

• 11.2 Consequences of Permanent Suspension: A complete suspension involves permanent exclusion of the user from the Platform. Re-registration is prohibited. Data required to clarify legal violations or to fulfil statutory retention obligations will be retained for such purposes in accordance with the Privacy Statement.

12. Data Protection

The protection of users' personal data is important to Nachhaltigkeitshelden. All information about what data is collected, processed, stored and transmitted, as well as the rights of data subjects, is set out in the separate Privacy Statement, which can be accessed at the following link:

https://www.nachhaltigkeitshelden.de/datenschutz

The Privacy Statement is an integral part of these Terms. By registering and using the Platform, users accept the Privacy Statement.

13. Term, Termination and Changes to the Service

• 13.1 Termination by User: Users may terminate the usage relationship for free services at any time without observing a notice period. If an account has been created, deletion may be requested via profile settings or termination may be declared by email to info@nachhaltigkeitshelden.de. For booked additional services of Business Users, the contractual terms set out in Section 5.4 apply.

• 13.2 Ordinary Termination by the Operator: Nachhaltigkeitshelden may terminate the indefinite usage relationship for free services with thirty (30) days' notice in writing or by email, in particular in the event of fundamental changes to the business model.

• 13.3 Extraordinary Termination: The right to terminate without notice for good cause (in particular in the case of serious or repeated breaches of usage rules or if the user objects in a timely manner to amended Terms) is reserved for both parties.

• 13.4 Cessation of Operation: Nachhaltigkeitshelden reserves the right to cease operation of the Platform, in whole or in part, or to restrict or transfer it to a third party, provided notice of at least thirty (30) days is given. Users will be informed of this in advance.

14. Procedure for Changes to the Terms

• 14.1 Right to Amend: Nachhaltigkeitshelden is entitled to amend these Terms with future effect if necessary to adapt to changed law, court decisions, regulatory requirements or due to significant technical, market-driven or organisational developments.

• 14.2 Procedure for Business Users (Opt-Out / Deemed Acceptance): Changes to the Terms will be notified to the Business User at least fifteen (15) days, or in the case of material changes (e.g. restriction of main functions or new obligations) at least four (4) weeks, before the planned effective date by email. If the Business User does not object to the changes before the proposed effective date, the amended Terms shall be deemed accepted. Nachhaltigkeitshelden will expressly point out the importance of the Business User's silence and their right to terminate without notice in the event of objection in the notification.

• 14.3 Procedure for Private Users (Requirement of Consent): Since the Platform is permanently free for Private Users, material changes to these Terms require their express consent. Automatic acceptance due to silence is excluded. The Private User will be informed in good time and will be asked for their active consent (Opt-In) upon next logging in to the Platform. Without consent, the Platform may not be used in full.

15. Final Provisions

• 15.1 Applicable Law: These Terms and all resulting legal relationships shall be governed by the law of the Federal Republic of Germany, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). For consumers (Private Users), this choice of law applies only insofar as the protection afforded is not removed by mandatory provisions of the law of the state in which the consumer is habitually resident (Art. 6(2) Rome I Regulation).

• 15.2 Jurisdiction: If the user is a merchant, a legal entity under public law or a public special asset, the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from or in connection with these Terms shall be the registered office of Nachhaltigkeitshelden GmbH (Munich).

• 15.3 Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumers (ODR Platform / VSBG): The European Commission provides an online dispute resolution (ODR) platform which consumers can find at the following link: https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/. Nachhaltigkeitshelden is neither willing nor obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer dispute resolution centre under the Consumer Dispute Resolution Act (VSBG). The competent general dispute resolution centre is: General Consumer Dispute Resolution Centre of the Centre for Mediation e. V., Straßburger Straße 8, 77694 Kehl am Rhein, www.verbraucher-schlichter.de.

• 15.4 Communication: All contract-related notifications, inquiries and other information exchanged between Business Users and Nachhaltigkeitshelden will be sent via the contact form provided on the Platform or by email to info@nachhaltigkeitshelden.de.

• 15.5 Assignment: Subject to applicable data protection law, Nachhaltigkeitshelden is entitled to assign all rights and obligations under these Terms in whole or in part to third parties (e.g. in the event of mergers or changes of control). Business Users will be informed of this at least thirty (30) days in advance and are entitled to terminate without notice in such cases.

• 15.6 No Corporate Relationship: These Terms do not establish a partnership (of any legal form), employment relationship, sales agency relationship or franchise relationship between Nachhaltigkeitshelden and users.

• 15.7 Severability Clause: Should any provision of these Terms be or become wholly or partly invalid or unenforceable, the validity of the remaining provisions shall not be affected. An invalid or unenforceable provision shall be replaced by a legally valid and enforceable provision that comes closest to the economic intention of the original provision.

Version 2.0 · Status: June 2026 · Nachhaltigkeitshelden GmbH, Munich