In 2014, in Modena - building on the experience of the Modena CSR Club set up in 2008 - the Association for Corporate Social Responsibility was founded. Nowadays, it brings together around fifty member organisations. For FARE INSIEME Charity, Lucrezia Lanzani interviews Elena Salda: President of the Corporate Social Responsibility Association
FARE INSIEME CHARITY is the spin-off of the FARE INSIEME project dedicated to the presentation of some onlus and non-profit associations with roots in the area around Bologna, Ferrara and Modena and that carry out extraordinarily important and crucial work for the entire community. Here are some of their stories.
by Lucrezia Lanzani*
“Sustainability means meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own demands.”
In 2014, the Association for Corporate Social Responsibility was founded in Modena.“Back in 2008, the then councillor for the city council invited a small group of entrepreneurs. He suggested that we start working together on practical corporate social responsibility projects. The results were so positive that, a few years later, those same companies decided to set up the association.“There were about ten of us. However, today there are around fifty members”, says Elena Salda, President of the Association.
Social responsibility. It is a broad concept that can easily remain abstract unless it is reflected in everyday life.“It means giving back to the local area what the local area has given to the business. It is an act of giving back, but also an act of responsibility: doing business has an impact, and this must be taken into account. Not only for shareholders, but for all stakeholders: employees, suppliers, customers, the environment, and public institutions. It is a different way of understanding the role of business in society: not just production, but relationships”, explains Elena Salda.
The Association for CSR works on two fronts. The first is cultural: promoting a culture of sustainability within member companies and across the local area.“We want entrepreneurs, managers and employees to really understand these issues”, Salda continues.“We also reach out to citizens, public institutions and third sector organisations. Sustainability is a culture, not a department.”
The second front focuses on practical projects, and one of the most important of these involves schools.“For many years we have been going into schools to deliver civic education on sustainability. Entrepreneurs speak directly to the students, explaining what it means to be sustainable in real terms. Then we ask the students to build on what they learnt and present it at our Sustainable Development Festival”, Salda continues.Held every year during the national sustainability days, the Festival has become a much-anticipated in Modena, with two or three days of meetings, debates and training sessions.“Usually, one day is devoted to the ‘S’ for social issues: disability, inclusion, language and gender equality. However, the second addresses environmental topics: reducing emissions, water use and the impact of companies”, the President explains.
Alongside awareness-raising, the Association also carries out experimental projects. One of the best known is the research project on “happiness at work”, conducted with the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.“The university developed an algorithm to measure people’s wellbeing.We asked our employees to complete the questionnaire. This gave us a very interesting overview and enabled us to better understand where we needed to take action”, Salda recounts.
Another key project was developed in partnership with the Manigolde Association: a circular-economy initiative that turned second-hand clothes into a tailored collection created by women in vulnerable situations.“The garments were then presented in a fashion show at Collegio San Carlo. With the profits from the sale, we bought sewing machines for the tailoring workshop at Sant'Anna women’s prison”, the President recalls.The Association’s vision also gave rise to Mutina Arborea: a forestry consortium focused on urban reforestation.“We have already created several urban woodlands in the province of Modena”, Salda points out.
Last December, the CSR Association organised a photography exhibition, L’ombra delle fragole (the shadow of strawberries), created to highlight the harassment suffered by women working in fruit picking. It featured a meeting on inclusive language with linguist Cecilia Robustelli. It also included a working group on artificial intelligence applied to sustainability and a group dedicated to sustainable mobility. It is precisely in the area of mobility that the Association is experimenting with new forms of collaboration with local stakeholders.“We collected data on our employees’ habits and encouraged the use of eco-friendly transport during European Mobility Week”, Salda continues.“Then we approached the local authority with specific proposals for improving cycle paths and public transport. We believe that sustainability requires structural choices, not just good intentions.”
Companies that choose to join the Association are required to sign up to a code of ethics. Furthermore, they need to implement in-house projects ranging from gender equality certification to workplace nurseries, from parenting support to initiatives on sustainable mobility and emissions reduction.“Every company must make a genuine commitment. Sustainability is social, environmental and related to governance. We do not pick and choose just one aspect; we hold them all together”, concludes Elena Salda.
For ten years now, the Association has continued to grow. With one conviction guiding every project: sustainability is not a label, but a way of engaging with the local area. When a business assumes this responsibility, it becomes an engine of change.
*Lucrezia Lanzani is a former student of Liceo Steam Emilia, who is now studying Communication Science at the University of Amsterdam. She is eighteen years old and has always been interested in social issues. For more than three years, she has been volunteering in various organizations in her community.
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
Read the other interviews
