Second Hi4CSR Learning Activity, which was hosted by Global Impact Grid, took place in Berlin from 15th to 19th of May 2017 at the Steinbeis University Berlin.
Aside from GiG, seven other European organizations renowned in the field of CSR participated in the Learning Activitiy, namely: RRiF-plus GmbH (Croatia), The Croatian Institute for CSR (Croatia), Abis – The Academy of Business in Society (Belgium), Ekvilib Institute (Slovenia), LUM University (Italy), Pontis Foundation (Slovakia) and Bridging to the Future (United Kingdom).
Project deals with harmonization and implementation of European CSR directives into national legal frameworks, its main goals being adult education, sharing of best practice between project partners and dissemination of knowledge. Five-day activity was organized in a way that every day was dedicated to a specific topic, with a special emphasis on innovation and innovative practices in each field.
First day was dedicated to the problem of ecolabels and related innovations in partner countries, while the topic for the second day was non-financial reporting and the implementation of the Directive EU2014/95 into national legislations. Third day was dedicated to the processing of used materials and new methods in waste management, for which GiG organized a visit to the EUREF-Campus, a smart urban district and a pilot project serving as a home base for companies, start-ups and initiatives working in the fields of energy, sustainability and networked mobility.
Malgorzata Olesiewicz of Green City Solutions presented the City Tree, an innovative product which combines the IoT technology with biological properties of certain moss cultures into an intelligent and natural air filter for cities. Julia Marczi of InfraLab Berlin presented the long-term project in which six major infrastructure companies (BSR, BVG, BWB, GASAG, Vattenfall and Veolia) are working together in order to contribute to urban development and implement smart city projects in close cooperation with politics, industry and science. Simone Kellerhoff from Material Mafia, small initiative based in the district of Berlin-Kreuzberg, showed new innovative and creative ways of upcycling and reuse of used materials and the importance of waste reduction through redistribution and education.
The topic of the fourth day was legislative framework related to the food donation systems in partner countries, along with general food law and a growing problem of food waste. Dario Adamic presented a successful project called the Homeless Veggie Dinner which combines volunteering and social integration of marginalized groups with the reduction of food waste. On the same day, dr. Robert Gerlach from mm1 talked about sustainable product- and business model innovation as an integral part of a modern sustainable organisation, with a special focus on tailored product development, management and decision making tools for sustainable innovation.
The topic of the last day was employment of persons with disabilities, where project partners shared latest innovation in the field and best practice from their countries.
Hi4CSR project will result in a unique Guide concerning EU legislation in the field of CSR, as well as a number of different educative materials.
For any questions, feel free to write to the project at info@hi4csr.com.