Top international CSR specialist to address Sri Lankan audiences on sustainable CSR
View(s):Dr. Wayne Visser, founder of CSR International and Director of think tank Kaleidoscope Futures, will be presenting a series of keynote speeches on transformative CSR from April 22 to 24.
He is here at the invitation of CSR Sri Lanka, the local organisation said.
In a media statement CSR Sri Lanka said the country spends over Rs. 4 billion annually on CSR initiatives, yet little attention is paid to sustainability in most projects.
In addition, there are no mechanisms to measure the impact or map the continuity of these projects. In the past, companies used CSR for philanthropic or public relations purposes. This concept is now outdated. A new business paradigm that looks at creativity, scalability, responsiveness, “glocality” which means “global localisation”, and “circularity” which is an alternative to the traditional linear economy, is the new way forward and will be expounded in greater detail by Dr. Visser.
“Increasingly, society and governments are looking to business to help them address the urgent economic, social and environmental challenges we face. Yet, the old approaches of CSR: defensive, charitable, promotional and strategic, have failed to reverse the negative trends. Today, the real business pioneers are going further and adopting transformative CSR (Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility), which creates innovative solutions and integrated value,” Dr. Visser was quoted as saying.
CSR Chairman Chandula Abeywickrama says, “There has been no greater challenges faced by society, enterprises and the environmentfor their continuity, sustainability and survival, than what we face today. Neither can we sacrifice one for another just for short term gains.
This is where the paradigm shift is critical for transformation in the way we think and act in business; whether it is social, entrepreneurial or looking after the environment”.
The 3-day sessions by Dr Visser are targeted at three specific groups: CEO’s and chairmen of companies, senior Govt. officials and CSR heads of private sector companies.