Corporate social responsability

0
3124

Looking at our shopping list

The European Union decided to review its attitude towards Social Responsibility (CSR), identifying it as one of the necessary tools that contribute to the final implementation of the “EU 2020” strategy, which Europe defined in order to ensure a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth within its boundaries. For this reason, over the last months, it launched an on-line survey questionnaire, open to all citizens, nonprofit organizations, and public or private entities. One of the key elements revealed by this initiative is a clear definition of Corporate Social Responsibility common to all Member States, a “concept which should lead enterprises to a voluntary integration of environmental and social issues in their core business, in close cooperation with stakeholders”. In particular, it revealed the importance of reviewing the business model. The new business model shall deal with environmental and social responsibilities that are expected in the short term, and which cannot be solved with simple donations, understood as residual marketing activities. In the context of employment emergency, for instance, new synergies between the educational and entrepreneurial world shall be developed that willshow to new generations the practical and real meaning of work, encouraging them to develop their attitudes towards the productive world. Without forgetting the importance of a continuous education in order to guarantee higher flexibility to the “workforce”, in order to develop engineeringand technical skills, more knowledge of mathematics and science, entrepreneurial skills and workplace attitudes, areas in which Europeans seem to be weaker than workers of other areas of the Planet, as India and China. Also from the environmental side, emergencies are not missing, and this will require a review of the production patterns. In a world in which resources are no longer “infinite”, the use of products that are designed and produced in order to be reused or easily recycled will be unavoidable, thus falling within the virtuous cycle of raw materials. The results of the online questionnaire have not been entirely disclosed yet, but it is obvious that the EU objective is to reach the excellence in the social responsibility system, thus becoming a model for non-European countries. On such an important issue, the contribution of public and private entities, as well as of simple citizens, takes on a particularly relevant significance in terms of shared social responsibility, which comes on top of individual nation-states, allowing Europe to apply more authority and awareness when implementing targeted and effective actions for the benefit of future generations.
by Dante Marco De Faveri