The Sustainability Learning Forum

Introducing Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be understood as a management concept that integrates economical, social and environmental aspects in business operations and their way of exchange with its stakeholders. The objective of this course is to introduce the the concept of CSR, defining terms and definitions. more[...]

Business Ethics

Business ethics - some also call it corporate ethics - deals with moral principles and social values. It is based on the assumption that as an individual as well as organization you should act ethically. According to Andrew Crane, "Business ethics is the study of business situations, activities, and decisions where issues of right and wrong are addressed." more[...]

Sustainability Management

Sustainability management is a concept that optimizes the processes of an organization to help them act in a sustainable manner. It is an integrated system that deals with the major challenges of sustainability: sustainable development of the organization through an integrative way regarding social, environmental, and economic aspects of their activities. It covers all fields of impact of an organization. Running a sustainable business can be easily realized with a good sustainability management concept. In the end, it benefits present and future societies and helps maintain a high-quality level of life on our planet. more[...]

Stakeholder Management

The landscape of business and enterprise policy is subject to almost unparalleled change. An ever-increasing majority of corporate and institutional management boards find themselves operating in a networked world of interests and opportunities for influence. In addition to primary stakeholders such as shareholders, customers, suppliers, and employees, secondary and tertiary stakeholder groups are increasingly making regulatory, social, political, and ethical demands on businesses. more[...]

Reporting

An increasing number of companies and organizations want to make their operations sustainable and contribute to sustainable development. Sustainability reporting can help organizations to measure, understand and communicate their economic, environmental, social and governance performance. Sustainability – the ability for something to last for a long time, or indefinitely – is based on performance in these four key areas. Systematic sustainability reporting helps organizations to measure the impacts they cause or experience, set goals, and manage change. A sustainability report is the key platform for communicating sustainability performance and impacts – whether positive or negative. Source: GRI more[...]

Compliance

Auditing, codes of conduct and presenting the ‘business case’ to suppliers is not enough. Actually changing the business practice of suppliers requires more than platitudinous statements of commitment. In this section we look beyond compliance at how to develop suppliers and induce real change of managerial practices for improved productivity, responsible use of labour, greater environmental performance and creating long-term reliable supplier bases. more[...]

Supply Chain Management

Sustainable supply chain management affects organization’s supply chain or logistics network in terms of social, environmental, risk, and resource costs. To make progress on this issues, MIT-expert Peter Senge says, organizations must understand that they’re part of a larger system. Wikipedia adds: "Sustainability in the supply chain is increasingly seen among high-level executives as essential to delivering long-term profitability and has replaced monetary cost, value, and speed as the dominant topic of discussion among purchasing and supply professionals." more[...]

Standards & Audits

Standards and audits are helpful instruments to bring sustainability forward and protect the environment as well as society. They function as regulations or as guidelines, as they define the minimum goals. Standards also create the ability to set benchmarks that measure the success of an organization’s sustainability approaches. Regarding the results, it is possible to generate and apply auditing systems. These are very helpful to compare organization processes, progress, and plans for a more sustainable future. more[...]

Product Responsibility

OECD defines Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) as an environmental policy approach in which a producer’s responsibility for a product is extended to the post-consumer stage of a product’s life cycle. An EPR policy is characterised by: (1) the shifting of responsibility (physically and/or economically; fully or partially) upstream toward the producer and away from municipalities; and (2) the provision of incentives to producers to take into account environmental considerations when designing their products. more[...]

Landwirtschaft Feld Trecker-EdWohlfahrt_flickr

Resource Efficiency

Resource efficiency means using the Earth's limited resources in a sustainable manner while minimising impacts on the environment. It allows us to create more with less and to deliver greater value with less input. more[...]

Sustainable Business Cases

The concept of a green economy has become the new buzz word in sustainability discourses, particularly in light of the Rio+20 Conference. Because of the current economic crisis and the perception that sustainability politics cannot be implemented efficiently, politicians have set their hopes on greening the economy. However, in everydays work it turns out that it isn´t that easy. What are good strategies, solutions, examples? more[...]

Biodiversity Management

Biodiversity underpins development through the provision of products such as food, fibre and medicines and ecosystem services such as the regulation of water supply and air quality. Though billions of people around the world depend on such ‘goods’ and services, this contribution is neither fully recognized nor valued in markets. more[...]

Climate Change

Extreme events increase. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there were only ion he US a record twelve weather disasters costing more than $1 billion in 2011. The strategies to meet this are mitigation – that means reduction and prevention of greenhouse gases output - and adaptation – that means measures to adapt to the inevitable global warming. more[...]

Introduction to Labour Standards

For much of the last decade, globalization was a leading issue of public policy debate, and global core labor standards (CLS) were the lead demand of critics of globalization. Now, with the world economy stuck in the deepest economic recession since the 1930s, attention to globalization and the need for labor standards has waned as people have become more concerned about jobs and economic recovery. more[...]

Diversity Management

Diversity management is part of human resources management. Many organizations have a growing interest in not only taking into account anti-discrimination, but also taking advantage of the chances and opportunities offered by employing a diverse team, which offers more creativity, a wider range of perspectives, and a broader network. more[...]

Menschen im Sudan-UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Human Rights & Business

Human rights have traditionally been the concern of states, and international human rights law has generally been addressed to them only. As more companies come to realize their legal, moral, and/or commercial need to address human rights issues within their own operations and activities, they are confronted with a number of challenges. Businesses will have to come to grips with the human rights framework and assess how their activities may relate to it. Moreover, companies are often uncertain how to avoid complicity in human rights abuses and where, in practical terms, the boundaries of their human rights responsibility lie. more[...]

Spotlight: Strategic Philanthropy

We are witnessing an exciting global movement whereby philanthropists from both developed and emerging economies are using targeted and innovative approaches to address sustainable development. Today, strategic philanthropists are responsible for stimulating entrepreneurship and small business development in developing countries. These philanthropists are increasingly recognizing the importance of adopting a more business-like approach to philanthropy to maximize social and environmental returns of their philanthropic investments. more[...]

The Post-2015 Agenda

"Three out of the eight millennium development targets – on poverty, slums and water – have been met ahead of the 2015 deadline, but much remains to be done. The future development framework – the Post-2015 agenda – should build on the lessons learned from working toward achieving the MDGs, which have been providing the structure for the UN’s development activities since the Millennium Summit in 2000." Source: UNDP more[...]

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