Intellectual Volunteers of Baikal. Evaluation of CSR projects
March – May 2018
In March 2018, Lake Baikal Foundation in cooperation with the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation launched the project «Intellectual Volunteers of Baikal. Evaluation of CSR projects». The educational project of Lake Baikal Foundation was aimed at students, future specialists in corporate social responsibility. Its aim is to draw their attention to sustainable development goals and the state of environment in the Baikal region, as well as to show them how business companies can do much in future for the environment. The project is based on the analysis and identification of best practices in CSR sphere of companies whose eco-projects touch upon the Baikal region.
Goal:
- to draw the students’ attention to sustainable development goals and the state of environment in the Baikal region.
Targets:
- to organize a group of students interested in this topic;
- jointly to conduct a research and to set the following tasks for them:
- to make a list of companies which implement eco-programs on the Baikal in the framework of CSR;
- to analyze nonfinancial reports of the companies chosen according to set criteria;
- to make independent conclusions and recommendations for the companies;
- to present the results of the research.
What was done:
- the participants analyzed 12 companies which have branches or rep offices in the Baikal region. The students chose the companies on their own;
- during the round table discussion «Corporate Social Responsibility: a new view» in the framework of the conference «IV International Congress of Young Scientists on Sustainable Development» 21 May 2018, the students presented the results of their research.
Results:
- the project allowed students to deepen into the practical meaning of sustainable development topic, which is becoming more and more popular among Russian business corporations. Its results are unique and valuable for many target groups: business, NGOs, government, which for the first time looked at the integral map of eco-initiatives in CSR on lake Baikal;
- by the end of the project the students became intellectual volunteers of the Baikal. In future, while working in companies, they will be able to put into practice their experience and ideas about implementing corporate social responsibility in Russia.
The results of students ‘ research you can find in the presentation.
Photo: Unsplash