CSR at national and European level The European Business Campaign on Corporate Social Responsibility is now taking off at national level in the form of the European CSR Marathon. The Campaign Marathon will link conferences in 12 major European cities before culminating in the European CSR Olympics 2004.
The Campaign responds to the growing momentum amongst European governments, business leaders and stakeholders on the topic of CSR. In particular, the Campaign aims to establish the role of business in helping Europe achieve the Strategic Goal outlined at the Lisbon Summit in March 2000. The goal of the Campaign is to mobilise 500 000 business people and partners on the topic of CSR by 2005.
Challenging Europe The Campaign will:
-Popularise the business case for CSR and celebrate what can be achieved by the new way of doing business
-Build the capacity of current and future business leaders and stakeholders to mainstream CSR in their core business practices
-Energise the dialogue and partnership between business and stakeholders (social partners; investors; local, national and European institutions; Media; NGOs; academics and International Organisations)
Campaign Highlights
-European CSR Marathon of 12 linked conferences over 4 years, connected by a travelling CSR Torch and leading up to a European CSR Olympics in 2004
-Stakeholder exchange: Annual Excellence Reports to update the business response to Europe’s call for CSR, and an online SRI Compass to bring investors the latest information on all existing green and ethical funds and indices in Europe
-30 000 user packs containing a CSR Toolkit (online and in CD ROM format) designed with and for small, medium and large companies to broaden their knowledge and access useful tools on CSR
-European Academy on CSR to train today’s and tomorrow’s managers on CSR
-A CSR Menu providing a useful range of communication tools (from employee involvement, to training, support and workshops on CSR)
A Five-year Boost
2001: Campaign take-off at national level through national conferences, starting in Athens on November 30, 2001
November 2001: Launch of SRI Compass on the occasion of the first European Presidency Conference on CSR organised by the Belgian Government
December 2001: Campaign Portal is launched
May 2002: European Academy on CSR is launched
September 2002: first release of the CSR Toolkit on CD ROM
March 2002: first Annual Excellence Report is published
2003: Mid-term review of the Campaign
2004: Special European Year on CSR culminating in a European Olympics on CSR
2005: A Business agenda on CSR towards 2010
Partners:
-CSR Europe – www.csreurope.org
-The Copenhagen Centre – www.copenhagencentre.org
-The International Business Leaders Forum – www.iblf.org
15 National Partner Organisations in more than a dozen European countries, reaching over 5000 companies in Europe. With the support of the European Commission-Employment and Social Affairs Directorate General.
