Top 10 CSR Issues

CSR Asia released the Top 10 CSR Issues Report that highlights the top 10 CSR issues for the next 10 years in the Asia Pacific Region. The 2009 report ranks the following as the top 10 priorities:
1. Climate Change
2. Corporate Governance
3. Labour and Human Resources
4.Environmental Issues
5. Partnerships with Stake holders
6. Regulation and leadership from Government
7. Community investment and pro-poor development
8. Product responsibility
9. Professionalisation of CSR
10.Bribery and corruption
In this context of growing importance of CSR and sustainable development, the professionalisation of CSR is imminent. A new breed of young professionals with solid grounding in development principles and management techniques is the need of the hour. Current CSR practitioners and professionals should share best practices and develop a comprehensive curriculum for the education and development of CSR professionals.

The full report is available at the CSR Asia website

Teacher training for 21st Century

Education is the focus of many CSR programmes of corporate foundations and MNCs in India. When IBM launched its Smarter Education for a Smarter Planet Roundtable consultation in Chennai last week, there was a smattering of educationalists and NGOs who gave some insights into the role that teacher training plays in transforming school systems to become smarter and effective.

Panelists shared experiences from the field which showed that teacher education should be looked in the context of increasingly technology driven society. Teachers adept at using web 2.0 and social networking tools will be able to connect more with their students and peers and learn through collaboration and sharing.

More teacher training institutes have roped in specialists and professionals to train their teachers in using web 2.0 and other tools to align their skills to requirements of 21st century. IBM and many other IT companies too are sharing their technology expertise to make this a reality. 

The Education Plus page of The Hindu Dt. Nov 16th carries details of this story

CSR Credits for Indian Companies

Companies operating in India now have the option of 'earning' credit for CSR activities. They will even be able to trade these CSR credits in a CSR Credit exchange. This way companies that do not have CSR activities in their portfolio could 'buy' CSR credits from companies that have earned them.

Let us hope that this gives the needed fillip to CSR activities in India which is seeing a rapid upswing in these times of economic recovery.