EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PUBLICATION PRESENTS MANAGEMENT TOOLS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Sponsored by Petrobras, Comgás, and cultural sponsorship from Anglo American, AES Tietê, this publication “Sustainability Compendium – Social and Environmental Responsibility Management Tools” gathers tools from 33 countries seeking to enhance the integration of CSR practices into the culture and systems of small, medium-size and large organizations of the three sectors (public sector, private sector, and non-governmental organizations).

We must understand that this is a problem concerning all of us, and we are responsible for the whole, starting from ourselves – individually – in our behavior at home, at work, on the street…

These tools meet the needs of these organizations in several management phases, contributing to processes such as learning, self-assessment, accountability, and incorporation of social and environmental responsibility in our activities.

This survey also shows the diversity and convergence among the various tools developed by research centers and organizations, still little diffused in Brazil, and serves as a parameter for understanding what is going on in an increasingly globalized world. It is not supposed to be exhaustive and cover all existing tools, especially because the theme is relatively recent and its development is in progress. It does not cover, for instance, the Practices Databases and the Codes of Ethics and Codes of Conduct, which, although we recognize truly contribute to socially responsible performance and deserve all the attention from organizations, and despite their methodological and technical advances and their considerable number, are just at the beginning of a long remodeling process of a system that only prioritizes the economic aspects.

This work provides a strategic view of social and environmental responsibility as one of its basic elements to ensure the sustainable evolution of human activities. Only this way it is possible to build the foundation for political decisions and creation of business and governmental strategies to deal with the current state of the world, of scarcity and unsustainability.

As another basic element, we must become aware that CSR is a process that demands stance, principles, values, DNA: it is a way of being, thinking of, deciding upon, acting on, leading and reacting to (Plan, Do, Check, Act) our activities.

A new awareness can lead to the creation of a new, more equitable and sustainable world. We are talking of nothing less than reinventing ourselves, reframing our perceptions, reshaping our beliefs and behavior, composting our knowledge, restructuring our institutions and recycling our societies. (Hazel Henderson)

The Online Sustainability Compendium makes the publication content available on the Internet at www.institutoatkwhh.org.br, so it can be continuously updated. Updates can be made by the organizations that created the tools after making their online registration. In addition, it will be possible for organizations to submit new tools – not included in the printed version – as well as share experiences and successful procedures among users of the tools, enhancing effective solutions for those who have adopted social and environmental responsibility and sustainable development practices.

Designed and coordinated by Anne Louette, this initiative is supported by several civil society organizations, such as Centro de Estudo em Sustentabilidade da FGV (Ces), Conselho Empresarial para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável (Cebds), Fundação Instituto de Desenvolvimento Empresarial e Social (Fides), Grupo de Instituto Fundações e Empresas (Gife), Instituto Ethos de Empresas e Responsabilidade Social (Ethos), Fundação Dom Cabral’s Núcleo Andrade Gutierrez de Sustentabilidade e Responsabilidade Corporativa (FDC), Instituto Akatu pelo Consumo Consciente (Akatu) and Willis Harman House (WHH/A).

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