Monitoring Corporate Social Responsibility of Major Polish Corporations
Public scrutiny
Completed
mazowieckie
Warszawa
Ethical Trading Initative Norway, Norway
2014-10-01 - 2016-03-31
162 884,88 PLN
133 636,33 PLN
workers' rights, public institutions
Project description
The largest Polish businesses treat Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) superficially. Access to verifiable data on companies’ activities in this area is limited.
The project contributed to improved quantity and quality of publicly available information and strengthened the position of civil society organisations and trade unions in the discussion about social and environmental business standards, which is currently dominated by large corporations.
The monitoring included 227 companies in 16 industries. It was the largest research project of this type, which brought to the attention of businesses that they can be subject to independent evaluation and public pressure. An online tool was created, allowing the public to compare CSR standards of monitored companies.
More than 70 businesses initiated direct dialogue about their responsibility. Some of them published civic society reports, ethical codes and information about the protection of human rights or elimination of corruption. As a result, the first CSR activities were undertaken in special economic zones, where working conditions are particularly difficult.
Publication of the report “Corporate Social Responsibility in the Polish context. Theory vs. Practice”, was an important event. The report presents a diagnosis of the state of CSR in Poland, discusses the results of the monitoring, contains 26 annotations illustrating social problems caused by companies, such as banks, mining companies, retail businesses and security agencies. The report was quoted by media, and texts from the ngo.pl website provoked discussion about CSR in the Polish third sector.
A hundred and fifty people took part in 5 public debates in Warsaw, Poznań, Wrocław, Gorzów and Gdańsk. They were held in the European Solidarity Centre, and during the Urban Movements Congress; they involved environmental NGOs and urban movements in the CSR debate.
In partnership with the Ethical Trading Initiative – Norway, a study visit to Oslo was organised for 8 representatives of Polish NGOs. In Warsaw, a workshop was held with participation from activists of the Norwegian Changemaker organisation. Thanks to the support of the DNV GL, the outcomes of the project reached the Polish business sector – 60 people took part in two webinars.
We use the grant for capacity building
The project contributed to improved quantity and quality of publicly available information and strengthened the position of civil society organisations and trade unions in the discussion about social and environmental business standards, which is currently dominated by large corporations.
The monitoring included 227 companies in 16 industries. It was the largest research project of this type, which brought to the attention of businesses that they can be subject to independent evaluation and public pressure. An online tool was created, allowing the public to compare CSR standards of monitored companies.
More than 70 businesses initiated direct dialogue about their responsibility. Some of them published civic society reports, ethical codes and information about the protection of human rights or elimination of corruption. As a result, the first CSR activities were undertaken in special economic zones, where working conditions are particularly difficult.
Publication of the report “Corporate Social Responsibility in the Polish context. Theory vs. Practice”, was an important event. The report presents a diagnosis of the state of CSR in Poland, discusses the results of the monitoring, contains 26 annotations illustrating social problems caused by companies, such as banks, mining companies, retail businesses and security agencies. The report was quoted by media, and texts from the ngo.pl website provoked discussion about CSR in the Polish third sector.
A hundred and fifty people took part in 5 public debates in Warsaw, Poznań, Wrocław, Gorzów and Gdańsk. They were held in the European Solidarity Centre, and during the Urban Movements Congress; they involved environmental NGOs and urban movements in the CSR debate.
In partnership with the Ethical Trading Initiative – Norway, a study visit to Oslo was organised for 8 representatives of Polish NGOs. In Warsaw, a workshop was held with participation from activists of the Norwegian Changemaker organisation. Thanks to the support of the DNV GL, the outcomes of the project reached the Polish business sector – 60 people took part in two webinars.
