CSR in action 2014

The end of the year is traditionally devoted to an annual conference of the Corporate Responsibility Club, ‘CSR in Action 2014’. This year’s topics, UN Global Compact, Development and Trends of Responsible Business and Food Waste, were different than in previous years, we were not sharing the best practices but broadening the knowledge of the participants. We would like to thank you for your attendance.

The event took place at the Netherlands Embassy and was opened by a welcome speech of H.E. Ed Hoeks, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Czech Republic.

Kateřina Kopetzká (Association of Social Responsibility) then introduced the first topic of the conference “UN Global Compact” as the biggest free and voluntary initiative around the globe based on the adoption of 10 universal principles from the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. UN Global Compact is now setting up a Local Network also in the Czech Republic. For more information please contact Kateřina on kopetzka@a-csr.cz.

The next speaker of the event, the organiser of the conference, Veronika Karásková (NCCC) presented news from the Netherlands. CSR Risk Check is a tool developed by MVO Nederland, for entrepreneurs who want to import/export internationally produced goods or produce products abroad, and they want to find out more about their “destination” from a CSR perspective. The project is constantly updated and your comments are always welcome (please contact Veronika for the information or visit www.mvorisicochecker.nl/en). The second piece of news presented was CSR Passport. It is not the „passport“ as one might think, it is a guide issued by MVO Nederland summarizing the main information about CSR, CSR terms and their importance for companies who want to implement it. After the approval from the Netherlands we would like to translate it also into Czech and update local information and contacts. 

Tereza Strmisková (AFS Intercultural Programs) shared with the participants the intercultural experience that students get from their programs which are global, voluntary and form new business leaders with open minds. For the first time, there is a possibility of a scholarship in the Netherlands for next year.

Pavlína Kalousová (Business for Society) summed up the development of responsible business over the last years and pointed out the trends of possible CSR further progress. Corporate Social Responsibility will become more important and of strategic value for stakeholders. Communicating responsibility and sustainability internally and outside the business will be the key drivers towards employees and customers. The definition of CSR will modify to integration of ethics and economy and shift to a long-term perspective. Diversity in the HR area, innovations, circular economy, and re-use of resources will be playing an important role in the future.

The next speaker Jan Žůrek (Czech BCSD) summarised the organization, activity and priority areas of Czech BCSD. He offered the participants a few practical solutions for concrete companies. Mr. Žůrek mentioned also the reestablishment of the Council of Government for Sustainable Development in September 2014, that is promoting sustainable development in the governmental agenda.

Petr Koten (Czech Society for Quality) then led us through the certification process of how to have proof of a socially responsible approach to customers in the Czech Republic (ČSN 01 0391) and internationally (EFQM Commited to Sustainability). For further details, please see the presentation on our website or contact Petr at koten@csq.cz.

After a short coffee break with some refreshments provided by Ahold Czech Republic, we continued to the last part of the conference “Food Waste”. The first speaker Jakub Unger (Business for Society) outlined the development and problems with this issue. Business for Society is trying to raise awareness about it, and educate and inspire the stakeholders and consumers to involvement and new better solutions. The approach against food waste needs to come from all parts of the society - state, business sphere, NGOs and the public. The presentation finished with information about National Food Collection 2014, which as we know was very successful. There was in total, 173 tons of food collected on 22^nd November from over 380 stores all around the Czech Republic. Following the theme, we did not waste any food at the conference and our participants got a small “take away” snack.

The last but not the least speaker of this unique event, Jindřich Fialka (The Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic), showed his broad knowledge and expertise about the theme of food waste during his presentation that led to questions and a follow-up discussion. The key points of his speech can be found in the interview on pages 2-3. 

We would like to thank the Netherlands Embassy for their support of this event, Ahold Czech Republic for providing the refreshments and partners of this event - AFS Intercultural Programs, Association of Social Responsibility, Business for Society, CBCSD, Czech Society for Quality and The Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic.

We hope that this event will be only one of many that will lead to better cooperation among CSR organizations within the Czech Republic. As the traditional proverb says, “In Teaching Others We Teach Ourselves”.

                                                                                                                                                              Martina Netuhová