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Forum European Union – Latin America and Caribbean
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and multi-sectoral alliances:
Contributions to competitiveness, innovation and sustainable development
Contributions to competitiveness, innovation and sustainable development
Corporate Social Responsibility was the theme of the second EU-Latin American and Caribbean Forum 2009, held in Buenos Aires/Argentina from 28 to 29 October. The meeting brought together political, business, trade union and civil society leaders from 60 nations for informal discussions about the development of CSR strategies in the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean. The common goal was to place CSR more firmly on the political agenda and to promote the development of multi-sectoral alliances in order to achieve sustainable competitiveness.
Entrepreneurship is key to a nation’s competitiveness and capacity for innovation, and thus also to its economic growth. But is responsible corporate behaviour geared towards meeting social and environmental standards and increasing social capital nothing more than a luxury that we can only afford when times are good? Or does it, in fact, create a sustainable competitive advantage and promote innovation, especially during a crisis? And what underlying conditions are required in order for CSR to maximise its impact?
These are just some of the issues that were discussed by the participants in the
EU-LAC Forum. Other topics included current definitions of CSR – e.g. the ISO 26000 definition – and their applicability, and the implementation of CSR in small and medium-sized enterprises. The dialogue between representatives of different sectors ensured a lively debate, while the chance to gain an overview of the European and Latin American perspectives helped to identify new areas where both sides had something to learn as well as opportunities for future cooperation.
The meeting provided an excellent chance for the participants to network, to learn, and to obtain new ideas for their day-to-day work in government, their business or their NGO. Last but not least, the Forum offered them a variety of ways of actively contributing valuable suggestions for the innovation and competitiveness agenda of the next EU-Latin America Summit in Madrid in 2010.
Entrepreneurship is key to a nation’s competitiveness and capacity for innovation, and thus also to its economic growth. But is responsible corporate behaviour geared towards meeting social and environmental standards and increasing social capital nothing more than a luxury that we can only afford when times are good? Or does it, in fact, create a sustainable competitive advantage and promote innovation, especially during a crisis? And what underlying conditions are required in order for CSR to maximise its impact?
These are just some of the issues that were discussed by the participants in the
EU-LAC Forum. Other topics included current definitions of CSR – e.g. the ISO 26000 definition – and their applicability, and the implementation of CSR in small and medium-sized enterprises. The dialogue between representatives of different sectors ensured a lively debate, while the chance to gain an overview of the European and Latin American perspectives helped to identify new areas where both sides had something to learn as well as opportunities for future cooperation.
The meeting provided an excellent chance for the participants to network, to learn, and to obtain new ideas for their day-to-day work in government, their business or their NGO. Last but not least, the Forum offered them a variety of ways of actively contributing valuable suggestions for the innovation and competitiveness agenda of the next EU-Latin America Summit in Madrid in 2010.
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