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7.17.2006 - 12:00pm ET
Press release from:
Center for Sustainable Innovation
Social Footprint Masterclass Announced
(CSRwire)
Thetford Center, VT– The Center for Sustainable Innovation (CSI)
is pleased to announce its first Social Footprint Masterclass to
be offered in late September of this year. The class will be
two-and-a-half days in length, and will be held in Burlington,
Vermont (USA) on September 20 – 22.
The Social Footprint is the world's first quantitative method
for measuring and reporting social bottom lines in
organizations. It is intended for corporate and organizational
use where commitments to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
and/or multi-bottom line reporting have either already been made
or are being considered. Unlike other mainstream approaches to
sustainability reporting, the Social Footprint method is
composed of both a numerator and a denominator. This makes true
social bottom-line measures, or quotients, possible as compared
to many other methods, such as GRI, which rely exclusively on
top-line or numerator-only metrics.
On the first day of the class, students will receive an overview
of contemporary CSR/Sustainability Management concepts and
practices. Strengths and weaknesses of several mainstream
methods will be discussed. Next will come an introduction to the
Quotients Approach to Sustainability and the Social Footprint
Method itself, a rubric for measuring and reporting on the
social sustainability of organizational operations.
Days 2 and 3 will continue with hands-on exercises for how to
use the Social Footprint method, incorporating contemporary
issues and applications. Key issues raised by the method, and
variations on how it can be used to suit individual needs, will
also be discussed. Of particular relevance will be the
distinction the Social Footprint makes between internal versus
external areas of impact. Whether it be external impacts on
society or internal impacts on employees, the Social Footprint
has a valuable role to play in computing social bottom lines.
This is a cutting-edge program that corporate CSR and
sustainability managers of all types should find both practical
and rewarding.
The Social Footprint Masterclass will be taught by Mark W.
McElroy, CSI's founder and Executive Director, creator of the
Social Footprint method, and Visiting Researcher at the
University of Groningen, CSI's development partner. Mr. McElroy,
is also a former partner at KPMG Peat Marwick in the U.S., and
board chair emeritus of the Sustainability Institute, also
located in Vermont.
About the Center for Sustainable Innovation
The Center for Sustainable Innovation (CSI) is a Vermont
non-profit corporation founded in 2004 with a vision of working
for sustainability, both within and by means of innovation. At
present, most of CSI's resources are being applied to
development of the Social Footprint, a corporate sustainability
measurement and reporting system, in conjunction with the
University of Groningen in the Netherlands.
Contact Information
More information about CSI can be found at
www.sustainableinnovation.org or by contacting CSI's
Executive Director, Mark W. McElroy at
mmcelroy@vermontel.net.
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