Emirates Environmental Group hosts corporate social responsibility training for GCC businesses

Joining hands with main sponsor Oryx Enterprises and support sponsor Sinak Corporation, EEG organised the full training programme conducted by the Asian Institute of Management (AIM). AIM is one of the top-ranking business schools worldwide, well-recognised for its cutting-edge expertise on CSR.

EEG has brought back AIM for the second time to deliver a locally-relevant version of its premier 'Reinventing CSR' programme. The objective of boosting EEG's ongoing efforts to promote sustainability in business is realised through such programmes by encouraging GCC companies to adopt CSR principles as well as create their own unique CSR strategy and structure. The training aims to overcome barriers to CSR implementation in the region by yielding a generation of qualified, trained CSR practitioners within organisations.

Arguably the UAE's pioneering environmental organisation, the EEG was among the first to bring together private corporations to explore effective management of corporate social responsibility and community participation in the region. EEG Chairperson Habiba Al Marashi delivered a presentation on recognising the need to harness the vitality of the private sector in cultivating sustainability in the region's rapidly developing environment.

Ms. Al Marashi commented, 'We are confident that this training will be valuable to you in understanding what CSR means to companies across the world, how it is being implemented and to identify the ways to gain stakeholder value through CSR and its best practices. In effect, we hope this training will help you evolve your own organisation's unique CSR structures and strategies.'

Riza Cunanan and Patrick Taylor, representing Oryx Enterprises and Sinak Corporation respectively, presented their organisations' CSR best practices to the delegation in a segment of the training focused on CSR in the regional context. Both these corporations are EEG CSR Network founding members as well as UN Global Compact participants.

The training was imparted by a high-level team from AIM (details enclosed in the attached biographies). Fundamentals and definitions of CSR were covered in the first part of the training and it was directed at companies that are beginning to address CSR as a business objective. The second part of the training was focused on advanced practitioners that have successfully embedded CSR as a core strategy, and provided advanced tools and methods in tracking CSR performance, measuring value add and benchmarking.

The delegation of the training comprised of top-level industry professionals from diverse sectors, both public and private, including Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), Dubai Healthcare City, Tatweer, Dubai Investment Group, Gulf Energy Maritime, Emirates NBD Bank, DHL, Wild Wadi, Etisalat, Dolphin Energy, Metito, Turner & Townsend, Dubai Real Estate Corporation, Dubai Centre for Corporate Values and Marks & Spencer's, to name a few.

CSR is seen by leadership companies as more than a collection of discrete practices or occasional gestures, or initiatives motivated by marketing, public relations or other business benefits.

EEG has been organising workshops and seminars on CSR for the last three years under the umbrella of the EEG - CSR Network. In June 2007, EEG organised the first part of this CSR training programme.