News From the European Union
Entirely submitted by Daniel Schaubacher
At the Regional CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Conference for business people and stakeholders from new EU states and candidate countries, June 26, in Brussels, during a plenary session attended by some 100 corporate and agency representatives from 10 European countries, I had an opportunity of mentioning EBBF’s experience with learning partners such as AIESEC and the European Confederation of Junior Enterprise Jade in promoting values-driven leadership and responsible entrepreneurship throughout Europe.
Keynoter Richard Howitt, MEP, Rapporteur on CSR for the European Parliament appeared to concur with my remarks pertaining to the need of educating the future generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders, the role of women in business and entrepreneurship, a holistic approach to work, and the need for life-long training
The Conference provided an excellent opportunity for a constructive multi-stakeholder dialogue between business representatives, governments and NGOs. Both in plenary presentations and during workshops on case stories in CSR implementation strategies, it became a unique forum to exchange good practices in CSR in the new Europe region. Participants appeared keenly interested in the newest tendencies, learning from each others‘ experiences, (e.g. from Teodor Milev, Microsoft General Manager in Bulgaria), the use of benchmarking and assessment tools such as the UN Global Compact, the Global Reporting Initiative or AccountAbility‘s; business cases for CSR, government and society engagement, all specific to the new EU member States and candidate countries.
The conference highlight was the presentation by Budapest consultant and Budapest School of Economics professor Robert Braun www.braunpartners.hu/ <http://www.braunpartners.hu/> of a remarkable 80-page „European Baseline Study on CSR Practices in the New EU Member States and Candidate Countries“, he co-authored with Mark Line (the co-founder and director of www.csrnetwork.com <http://www.csrnetwork.com/> ).
The conference was co-organized by the Directorate General Employment and Social Affairs of the European Commission, with the lead taken by the UNDP Accelerating CSR in EU new States Program, based in Vilnius, Lithuania, and Ms. Kori Udovicki, Director of the UNDP Office for Europe and the CIS europeandcis.undp.org . The Hon. Vladimir Spidla, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, a former Czech Prime Minister and Labour Minister, addressed the conference. So did Kori Udovicki of UNDP.
The project leader & driving force behind this successful program, and whose merit was to bring together active & motivated stakeholders and professionals from a surprisingly younger, talented generation, is Ms. Lyra Jakuleviciené, UNDP Lithuania, A. Gostauto 40a, 10f, P.O. Box 62, LT-01002 Vilnius, Lithuania, lyra.jakuleviciene@undp.org Tel: + 370 5 210 7 417 www.acceleratingCSR.eu
Picked up in the June 2007 issue of JADE’s (Eur. Confederation of Jr Enterprise) Newsletter : - see :
www.jadenet.org/download/news/letter/2007/200703_JADE_Gazette.pdf
“The Generation Club
The Presidents Meeting 2007 in Brussels – 120 Junior Entrepreneurs and 20 Senior
Entrepreneurs came together for 3 days to work, exchange and learn. There it was,
that one of my friends came to me and told me in a zesty way how great his
conversation with Mr. Daniel Schaubacher, one of the JADE Advisory Board
members was. But also, how short the time was they had to exchange their thoughts.
That was the hour of birth of the “Generations Club” - where JADE Junior
Entrepreneurs would meet seasoned Seniors from business and politics in an
informal atmosphere to talk, debate and discuss without any shame or barriers.
Linking long time experiences from the senior generation to the fresh and raffish
ideas of the junior generation builds the background.
On the 13th of September 2007 in Brussels, the first JADE “Generations Club” will
take place.”
Presenting at AIESEC Ostende national meeting
Daniel Schaubacher spoke to 55 AIESECers on values-driven leadership and arranged for three case studies to be discussed by separate groups and ensuing plenary meeting reports by each group. The meeting went very well. AIESEC has an active program on CSR & values in which EBBF contributes actively. Participants were invited to visit the Knowledge Centres on EBBF's website.
Brussels, June 27 : Learning from past successes and failures to ensure that current and future environmental challenges are addressed most effectively was the goal of this year's Green Week, the European Commission's annual conference and exhibition event dedicated to the environment. Tying in with the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, Green Week 2007 drew up to 4,000 participants and visitors from June 12-15. The week’s slogan was “Past lessons, future challenges”; Klaus Töpfer, former German Environment Minister and UNEP Executive Director gave a historical presentation of international environmental protection endavours and called for effective world governance. Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Vice-President Margot Wallström both spoke at the opening session, commiting the European Union to effectively address climate change; Polish Commissioner for the Environment Danuta Hübner spoke at a session on regions and environmental sustainability. At a concurrent exhibition, many contacts were made or renewed, and discussions conducted with representatives of business, NGO’s, and environmental protection agencies as well as participants from all over Europe. Green Week provided an excellent networking opportunity to explain EBBF’s awareness programs, such as its Knowledge Centres on its www.ebbf.org <http://www.ebbf.org/> website, its publications and its learning partnerships with economics and business management student organisations. More info on http://ec.europa.eu/environment/greenweek/
Brussels, June 27, 2007 : At a meeting at the Royal Academy of Brussels today, the UN Population Fund released its latest report which projects that more than half of the world’s population, 3.3 billion people, will be living in urban areas by 2008, and that it will swell to almost 5 billion by 2030. This scale of growth will require enormous efforts in economic growth, enterprise and job creation, education, as well as social innovation. The meeting provided an opportunity to explain EBBF’s views on globalization and the role of business and values-driven leadership in contributing to mankind’s prosperity to Mr. Hedi Jemiai, Director of UNFPA Brussels Office, Mr. Paul Taylor, of the UN Human Habitat agency, and Jean-Luc Onckelinx, UN Information officer in Brussels. Additional information and a copy of UNFPA’s latest State of the World Population report entitled “Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth” , together with a supplement brochure illustrating the life of 10 youth “Growing Up Urban” is available from Karin Heisecke, Program Coordination and Liaison Specialist, United Nations Population Fund, Brussels Office, 14 rue Montoyer, B-1000 Brussels, T: + 32 2 550 18 32, F: + 32 2 550 18 33, karin.heisecke@unfpa.be or under www.unfpa.org/swp <http://www.unfpa.org/swp>
