Sustainability

• English  
• Spanish  

NGO Guide to Tools for CSR

Briefing documents from an ifPeople research project "Survey on Tools for Corporate Social Responsibility". The reports available here are on 13 of the most common and internationally-accepted instruments for promoting socially responsible practices in business (also available in Spanish ). A unique aspect of this report is its inclusion of how the tool can be used from civil society organizations as well as in businesses. Over 40 pages of material, all published under a Creative Commons license .

ifPeople's ResponsibleIT Standard

Technology can be a powerful tool for change, especially when used responsibly. Responsible Information Technology management should be an important part of any socially responsible enterprise's strategies, policies, and practices. ResponsibleIT is a set of guidelines to help incorporate values into its core practices. With informed decision-making and clear objectives, it is possible to combine the performance and efficiency benefits of technology with socially responsible and environmentally sustainable practices. ifPeople has built the Guidelines for ResponsibleIT on best practices, industry research, and the extension of social responsibility to business processes that often fail to incorporate such practices. Download the standards for more information about how IT can be socially and environmentally responsible and what the benefits from that are.

Greening Your Business: A Guide for SMEs

A practical guide for businesses to improve their environmental impacts with tips, information and links to additional resources. The original in English, produced by the GreenBiz Network, is also available here in Spanish (produced jointly by ifPeople and GreenBiz.com).

Evolutionary Leadership for Building Sustainable Organizations

Tirza Hollenhorst of ifPeople in collaboration with Manuel Manga of the Center for Evolutionary Leadership announces a white paper on leadership for sustainable organizations. The paper explores five competencies leaders need to effectively manage the socially responsible and ecologically sustainable businesses. These competencies of the Evolutionary Leader are those of vision and back-casting, language and conversations, systems thinking, scientific understanding of sustainability, and culture and organizational learning.

Business Strategy and Sustainable Development

Business Strategy, undertaken by Deloitte & Touche, the Business Council on Sustainable Development and the International Center for Sustainable Development, offers an in-depth look at sustainable development business practices and describes the practical steps companies can take to internalize sustainable development and profit from the opportunities it offers.

The Environmental Sustainability of the Countries of the World:

A 2002 essay by ifPeople cofounder Chris Johnson on the Environmental Sustainability Index that provides insight on the meaning of the index and the Latin American perspective, as well as suggestions for a more inclusive and equal index that more accurately reflects the characteristics of sustainability.

FairSource: ifPeople's Model for Sustainable Service Supply Chain

ifPeople seeks to create collaborative relationships for the development of IT software and solutions. These relationships are governed by the ifPeople model called FairSource, and link IT professionals in the Southern Cone, our project management and consulting staff, and clients in order to develop micro-enterprises, enable sustainable livelihoods, and extend responsible practices in the supply chain.

FairSource: Sustainable Livelihoods through Trade in Services

Global trade in services is growing at a tremendous pace. Trade in services has the potential to contribute to a more just and sustainable world through economic development and access to opportunity. However, like globalization in the commodities market, trade in services can also lead to the destabilization of prices and the exploitation of labor. FairSource is a sustainable business model and a standard for trade in services. The standards codifies a commitment to responsible business practices, long-term relationships, and professional development. The goals of FairSource are to empower responsible enterprises that are unable to access or maintain IT expertise with powerful and appropriate technology tools, while supporting sustainable livelihoods and quality of life through micro-enterprise development, greater access to opportunity, and secure employment.

FairSource: Responsible Enterprise Development Through Trade in Services

This paper is the second FairSource paper produced by ifPeople (July 2005) and presented at the Entrepreneurship and Human Rights Conference at Fordham University. The paper introduces the concept of FairSource, its relation to Fair Trade, and the standard. It also presents case studies of ifPeople's use of FairSource in Latin America and one of the FairSource provider companies (Except).