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KBC Bank Ireland runs a Sustainability programme which shares a vision for better, brighter communities, supports innovation, strives for long-term sustainable impact and builds a culture within KBC that reflects the Bank of You, their brand proposition to customers in the Irish market. KBC Bank drives this vision through four diverse focus domains: entrepreneurship, financial

HEINEKEN has recently announced its ‘Drop the C’ programme for renewable energy. With ‘Drop the C’ the company aims to grow its share of renewable thermal energy and electricity in production from the current level of 14% to 70% by 2030. HEINEKEN wants to drive a real change towards renewable energy and will therefore not

We kick off our first In Conversation of 2018 with no less than our CEO Tomás Sercovich. In this feature Tomás provides great insights into the current state of sustainability and business in Ireland, they key areas businesses should be focusing on and why.   Delighted to welcome you as our new CEO. What are

The Masters sponsorship program is part of an ongoing strategic partnership between Intel and UCD. January 17th saw Intel Leixlip welcome 18 Intel sponsored Masters students from UCD. The students, pursuing full time masters in Science, Engineering and related disciplines, were on site to meet their Intel, industry mentors and receive commendation for their achievements

Through the PwC ‘People Giving Scheme’, PwC helped 3 Irish charities in 2017, raising a total of €59,902, and recently they presented the charities with their funds. The charities chosen by PwC people to benefit from the scheme last year were Alzheimer Society of Ireland, MS Ireland and Temple Street Foundation. The scheme is now

eir, Ireland’s principal provider of fixed-line and mobile telecommunications, was certified to the Business Working Responsibly Mark in 2016 . The company has a long commitment to responsible and sustainable business practices and environmental sustainability is a core focus of their CSR strategy. eir has been making significant advances in this area in recent years and through the energy and creativity

Living sustainably has become a lifestyle choice. The eco-movement has exploded within societies, and especially within popular culture; organizations, governments, and consumers are all taking steps to ‘‘green’’ their lives. The downturn in the global economy in 2008 signalled an end to the Gordon Gekko ‘‘greed is good’’ 1980s mentality, and a recognition by many

Coming from Africa, I knew I had to work hard to find a job and I was ready given the fact that things are done differently in the western world. But alas, I was devastated and I was getting desperate to say the least”. When Enyinna Ngwobia left Nigeria, he had completed graduate studies including

What is biodiversity? Biodiversity defines life as we know it. It is the nature around us, the food we eat and the raw materials that we use in business. Biodiversity also provides services on which we all rely on, from pollination to flood protection and climate regulation. Why does it matter to business?

On November 20 & 21, Business in the Community Ireland organised training for members on How to Conduct Due Diligence in Human Rights. This bespoke member training was delivered by Parul Sharma, Dean of the Academy of Human Rights in Business at CSR Sweden. The November training followed hot on the heels of the launch

On the 21st November we held our Employability Programme Roundtable. The event was hosted by Standard Life and there was great participation by many member companies interested in this area. Learn some of the key features of both the Standard Life and Vodafone Returners programme that were discussed.

For our last In Conversation piece of the year we are delighted to get to know more about Marian Troy, Head of Corporate Affairs at SSE Ireland. SSE Ireland are a member of the network and have recently achieved the Business Working Responsibly mark.

We recently held our 4th and final Biodiversity Learning Network of 2017, hosted by RTE, which focused on building a Business case for Biodiversity. We heard from a number of BITCI member companies, went on a nature walk, announced the winners of the BITCI Biodiversity Photography Competition, and had a chance to meet some of the environmental NGOs at

We are excited to be launching a new In Conversation Series with our very own CSR Advisers from the Membership Services Team who work with some of Ireland’s leading brands on their sustainability. We kick off this new series with our environmental expert, Nick Reynolds.

Each year Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI) analyses the areas that organisations find least and most challenging in the Business Working Responsibly mark questionnaire . The Business Working Responsibly mark standard, for responsible and sustainable practices, is based on ISO26000 and is open to any organisation.

At the Q2 Network Meeting in May, our Head of Marketing Moira Horgan, shared insights on why it is crucial to communicate to your employees about your sustainability efforts. Moira also provided tips on how to do so successfully:

For this issue of our In Conversation with Series we had the opportunity to hear from David O’Flynn, Dawn Meats’s Group Head of CSR.   Please describe your role and responsibilities and how many years you have been in the company As Dawn Meats’ Group Head of CSR my role covers our 17 sites in

We recently held our 3rd Biodiversity Learning Network of 2017, which focused on communications around biodiversity. We asked ourselves the following questions: How can companies raise awareness of biodiversity among employees and in communities? How can we identify and engage the passionate individuals within our own organisations? How can we support internal dialogue between departments

At the Smarter Travel Awards 2017, Northern Trust won the overall Smarter Travel Workplaces award along with the Carsharing and Workplace Coordinator awards. What can we learn from Northern Trust’s experience of building a culture of Smarter Travel?

In this month of our In Conversation with series we are delighted to talk to Christina van der Kamp, Corporate Responsibility Manager at Gas Networks Ireland.

  On Tuesday 26th of April, BITC Ireland held the first Learning Network meeting for this year with the theme:Biodiversity, Wellbeing and Employee Engagement.

Parul Sharma engaged all seated at 10 am in A&L Goodbody on March 21, 2017 for the BITCI Workshop on Identifying & Addressing Human Rights Risks in Company Operations & the Supply Chain.

Business and Human Rights is a vast topic and while it is a relatively new concept to some organisations, it is material to all business sectors. The prevalence of human right abuses as a result of corporate operations has no geographic boundary and with increasingly globalised supply chains, the time to act is now.  

In this month of our In Conversation with series we are delighted to talk to Leslee O’Loughlin, Group HR Manager for Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

Awards Calendar This calendar provides a listing of Award schemes that relate to Corporate Responsibility. Timeframes and links to relevant websites are included. This calendar is updated monthly by BITCI.

    On 2nd February, BITCI held a workshop with its members to discuss the intersection of two topics – sustainable procurement and Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). Regardless of the type of business you are, you’re likely spending sums of money annually on products and services offered by SMEs – be it gardening

14th out of 149 countries isn’t bad in any global index for our small nation, especially when the Nordic countries are in the running. That’s Ireland’s ranking in the SDG Index which provides a ‘traffic–light’ report card for countries against the United Nation’s new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI), as the network for responsible business, identified a growing trend of large companies undertaking initiatives that support Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Hence it undertook preliminary research to explore this topic in more detail to uncover exactly the types of initiatives large companies are carrying out to support SMEs

Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI), as the network for responsible business, recognised a growing trend amongst its members of initiatives being implemented that are aimed at supporting Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs). These initiatives aren’t driven solely by Business-to-Business (B2B) companies who would potentially have SMEs along their supply chains as both customers and