Business and sustainability Archives

Sea Harvest socio-economic study

This is an assessment of the socio-economic benefits of Sea Harvest, one of South Africa’s largest fishing companies focused on deep-sea hake fishing. The purpose of the assessment is to provide the company and its stakeholders with an overview of the diverse social and economic benefits of the company, in order for these impacts to be considered more explicitly in strategy and decision making.

Profiling CSR Policies

This is a desk study prepared for the Bertelsmann Foundation, Germany, on the role of public policies in providing an enabling framework for corporate social responsibility (CSR) in South Africa. The desk study report was used by writers in the Foundation to prepare a report comparing a number of countries around the world.

Bibliography on Sustainability in the Extractive Sector

In this project we contribute a section to a broader bibliography on the role of the extractives sector in Africa, which is being compiled and published by the Institute for Security Studies. Our section provides an overview of the literature on the relationship between the extractive industry and sustainable development, which relates broadly speaking to the need to integrate environmental stewardship, socio-economic development, and some measure of fairness and local community participation in decisions that affect them.

Survey of Education and Training Services on Cross-Sector Collaboration

The purpose of this survey is to provide an initial overview of both the current and potential future supply of education and training services available in South Africa on issues related to cross-sector collaboration and partnership. Its overarching aim is to facilitate the design and implementation of support interventions to improve capacity among relevant organisations for more effective cross sector-partnerships.

Woolworths Sustainability Index

This project provides support to the development of a measurement model to assess progress on the Woolworths ‘Good Business Journey’. This is in response to a commitment made in April 2007 by the CEO of Woolworths, Simon Susman, to a “five-year plan, changing the way we do business, and incorporating a series of challenging targets and commitments, centred on four key priorities: accelerating transformation, driving social development, enhancing our environmental focus, and addressing climate change.”

Case Study of the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) Sustainable Development Initiative in Grabouw, Western Cape

The Grabouw Sustainable Development Initiative (SDI) is one of six pilot projects undertaken by the DBSA in an effort to support the development of “sustainable communities.” This programme is in response to the realization that, although international and national policies and frameworks (e.g. Local Agenda 21, South Africa’s White Paper on Local Government) have long emphasized the need to develop local solutions to the challenges of sustainable development, such objectives are notoriously difficult to implement.