Destination: Sustainability

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DestinationSustainability

• EAUC Conference 2009
• Anne Raudaskoski, University of Westminster
• Liesl Truscott, CSR Consultancy

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CSR the path to sustainability

• Why CSR
• How to develop it?
• Opportunities Challenges
• Your experience
• Some solutions ideas
• Universities That Count benchmarking

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Why should universities engage in CSR?

• For the first time
• we now have an opportunity to holistically
  understand what our performance and impact as an
  institution is.

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• Jonathon Porritt, Chairman of the UK Sustainable
  Development Commission Founder Director, Forum
  for the Future
• "42 of the university applicants in our Future
  Leaders Survey said they would like to know more
  about the environmental performance and social
  values of the university they choose. For this
  reason, we enthusiastically welcome Universities
  that Count, which offers the only authoritative,
  independently assessed benchmarking system to
  show how universities are performing in these
  areas."

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University of Westminster

• Universities should have a dual transformative
  role, i.e. unlocking the individuals potential
  as well as improving a sense of collective
  wellbeing. This new vision of quality provides us
  with the opportunity to demonstrate the full
  power and potential of higher education for the
  individual, for the economy, for the environment
  and for society.
• (New economics foundation University Challenge
  Towards a well-being approach to quality in
  higher education, 2008).

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University of Westminster

• Universities should embrace corporate social
  responsibility principally because they are well
  placed to exercise the necessary leadership.
• Director of Estates Facilities
• CSR shows that a university thinks of itself as
  part of a greater community, and provides a link
  to the outside world for its students.
• It makes students understand the importance of
  CSR and 360 degree benefits that accompany and
  carrying it forward into the organizations they
  join after graduation.
• Tomorrows Leaders Project Coordinators

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University of Westminster

• Our day-to-day activities will have an effect on
  the local, regional and global environment in a
  number of ways. For Universities, this means
  action in all aspects of our everyday work, not
  only internally through our policies, but through
  our procurement and supply chains and, through
  our learning, teaching and research activities.
  We need to do the same with our external
  communities, whether locally, regionally, or
  overseas."
• Pro Vice-Chancellor
• UTC has been truly an enlightening process. It
  has made me ask questions I had never thought of
  before.
• Director of Finance

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P

• Opportunities
• Challenges
• Increasing cross-departmental collaboration, e.g.
  HR, EF, SU. Schools
• Catalyst for organisational development
• Improving the institutions reputation
• Being a great neighbourenables to express value
  base
• Creating new partnerships
• Bringing together the triple bottom line ethos
  environment, social economic decision-making
  and practices making the case for CSR stronger
• Academics and operational staff working together
• Greater self-governance
• Improves accountability, trust and transparency
• Brings people together
• Improves employee motivation and morale
• Makes ethical statements practical
• Streamlines environmental, ethical and social
  initiatives
• HEIs and FEIs providing thought leadership in
  creating future
• Understanding responsibility beyond providing
  education
• Saving money
• What else..?

• Challenges
• Opportunities
• What is CSR?? not how but why
• Were a university, not a corporation
• CSR and its many faces I get the environmental
  side, but what about this social bit?
• Fragmented organisational structures
• Many lines of responsibilities Committees,
  Executives, Marketing, SHE, EF, HR
• Gap Strategic Operational staff
• Limited resources (no CSR dept.)
• Being Jack-of-all-trade CSR Expert, Activist,
  Catalyst, Facilitator
• Communicating it effectively
• Building up the CSR agenda development of a
  unique approach
• Trade-offs tight budgets
• No internal/external support
• What else..?

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Your experience

• Challenges I face in my job...
• Lack of leadership
• Hierarchy involved/red tape
• Breadth of agenda
• Lack of interest
• Frustration in getting things done
• University engaged in change
• Difficulty with resources
• Language/terminology involved

• What I love about my job...
• Breadth of agenda
• Interaction with the sector
• Embracing change
• Student engagement
• Meeting and working with people
• More moral perspective
• Doing what trained in
• Opportunity to make difference

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• Analyse the current situation
• identify the gaps
• plan
• use cascade approach to reach all levels of the
  organisation
• You probably need to be (a bit of!)
• Jack-of-all-trade ExpertCatalyst
• FacilitatorActivist
• and keep the ball rolling
• Initiate and delegate
• Use multiple channels

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• Welcome to EAUC e-news
• (Positive!) communication constitutes
  participation
• Never underestimate the power of thank you!
• Talk to people, listen to them and their
  ideasmake your agenda relevant to them

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CR Index Model
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The CR Index - Questions
Corporate Strategy
Performanceand Impact
Management
Integration
Values CR principles Leadership Advocacy Risk
mgmt Policies
Integration of principles Business
conduct Performance mgmt Remuneration
systems Strategic decision-making Training
development Senior training Stakeholder
engagement Reporting
Key issues Objectives/ targets Allocation of
responsibilities Training/ support Internal
monitoring and reporting
Measuring and reporting Scope of data Quality of
data Target setting Performance improvement
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New Impact AreaTeaching, Learning and Research
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Presenting the results

• Institutions feedback reports
• Confidential from us to you
• Specific to the Institution
• Comparison against HE Sector
• Comparison against the overall Index universe
• Detailed gap-analysis for action planning

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What makes a University That Counts

• leadership and commitment at the highest level
• policies to ensure responsible behaviours
  across the HEI
• CR/SD issues integrated into strategic decision
  making,
• objectives and targets set to drive continuous
  improvement
• clear responsibilities defined at all levels
• effective communication to share learning and
  knowledge
• training for relevant staff to ensure delivery
  of objectives
• process for stakeholder consultation and
  engagement
• monitoring systems to assess and report
  progress
• public reporting of key issues, targets and
  performance
• willingness to disclose information and share
  best practice
• SD/CR integrated into teaching, learning, and
  research

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• For more information
• www.eauc.org.uk/utc/

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• Thank you!
• raudasa_at_wmin.ac.uk
• liesl_at_csrconsultancy.com