Foretica
Focus on a Partner - October 2008
In this interview, German Granda, Managing Director of Forética (Spain), discusses the latest Spanish business and government initiatives on CSR and presents the Spanish MarketPlace on CSR (October 2008).
What are, in your view, key CSR topics on the agenda for Spanish companies?
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| German Granda |
The main CSR topics for the companies to achieve in order to perform a policy on CSR can be connected with the nine management areas covered by Forética's SGE 21 standard: Top Management, Customer Relations, Supply Chain, Human Resources, Social Impact, Environmental Impact, Investors, Competitors and Public Administration.
A useful reference document presenting current CSR trends is the Forética Report, a market research that gauges the trends and evolution of CSR practice. The analysis focuses on two aspects: business practices on CSR and consumer attitudes and perceptions. The 2008 edition constitutes the fourth review of the market in Spain.
Forética is organising the second Spanish Marketplace on CSR in October 2008. What do you see as its value for participants?
The CSR MarketPlace is where practical solutions to the most current CSR challenges can be found. With 70 new solutions to be shared and 300 participants in attendance, this event will offer to the Spanish companies a valuable opportunity to share, learn, and network with peers who may hold the key to a challenge they face or with policy makers who may help them to shape the future of CSR.
What do you see as the main advantage for the companies presenting their CSR activities in such an environment as is the MarketPlace?
The main advantage is that the companies taking part will be able to share new, innovative CSR solutions with other companies. They will learn about the impact of CSR solutions within the Spanish business community and they will seek ways to improve the sustainability of companies and its products.
The Second Spanish Marketplace has the support of the Spanish Employment and Immigration Ministry. What is the approach of the Spanish government towards CSR and what kind of activities do they find important?
The Spanish government has created a CSR Council in order to promote CSR in Spain with a non-regulatory and consensus based approach. The main tasks will be to promote research, training, the involvement of consumers, SRI, among others.
Forética has just launched a publication on Management Strategies for Climate Change. What are its objectives?
This publication is divided into two parts, first a scientific introduction to the issue that gives us an idea on how important is to act against climate change, and the second one is a compilation of some best practices driven by top Spanish companies. Our idea was firstly to strengthen the importance of fighting global warming and climate change, and secondly, to provide other companies with some examples on how they can act against it.
For some years now, Forética has been organising a CSR Journalism award. This year you are holding it again. What is the aim of this initiative?
With this initiative we want to reward journalists efforts for a sound and in-depth coverage of such a broad range of issues that we call CSR. This year is the fourth edition of the awards and we will announce the results in December.
More information
Read more about Forética at http://www.foretica.es/.
Previous interviews
- Impronta Etica, Italy
- ORSE (Observatoire sur la Responsabilité Sociétale des Entreprises), France
- RespACT, Austria
- Business in the Community Ireland
- Econsense, Germany
- The Hellenic Network for CSR, Greece
- Responsible Business Forum, Poland
