The CSR Newsletters are a freely-available resource generated as a dynamic complement to the textbook, Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation.

To sign-up to receive the CSR Newsletters regularly during the fall and spring academic semesters, e-mail author David Chandler at david.chandler@ucdenver.edu.

Monday, August 31, 2015

Strategic CSR - The elderly

The article in the url below covers an issue that will be near and dear to many of your students – free accommodation:
 
"A nursing home in the Netherlands allows university students to live rent-free alongside the elderly residents, as part of a project aimed at warding off the negative effects of aging."
 
The project demonstrates a creative approach to social issues that is routinely missing from public policy. For the students, the benefits are obvious. But, for their elderly neighbors, I think the benefits are probably greater:
 
"In exchange for small, rent-free apartments, the Humanitas retirement home in Deventer, Netherlands, requires students to spend at least 30 hours per month acting as 'good neighbors,' Humanitas head Gea Sijpkes said in an email to PBS NewsHour. Officials at the nursing home say students do a variety of activities with the older residents, including watching sports, celebrating birthdays and, perhaps most importantly, offer company when seniors fall ill, which helps stave off feelings of disconnectedness."
 
Having said that, in the longer run, my sense is that the students are learning lessons that will pay off many times over. Wisdom is a wonderful thing (that is greatly undervalued in our society) and it only comes with experience, which is highly correlated with time elapsed (i.e., aging). Being able to benefit from exposure to the wisdom of their elderly neighbors, while being paid to do so (in terms of free housing), is a phenomenal asset. What's more, even the noise restrictions are lessened by the bad hearing:
 
"Six students from area universities Saxion and Windesheim share the building with approximately 160 seniors. They are allowed to come and go as they please, as long as they follow one rule: Do not be a nuisance to the elderly. … this is not difficult for the younger residents, especially since most of the older people living at the home are hard of hearing."
 
The idea appears to be catching on:
 
"Similar intergenerational programs exist in Lyons, France and Cleveland, Ohio, according to the International Association of Homes and Services for the Ageing. One program that began in Barcelona, Spain in the late 1990s has been replicated in more than 20 cities throughout the country."
 
Take care
David
 
David Chandler & Bill Werther
 
Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: http://www.sagepub.com/chandler3e/
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/
 
 
Dutch nursing home offers rent-free housing to students
By Carey Reed
April 5, 2015
PBS Newshour
 

Friday, August 28, 2015

Strategic CSR - Art

Plastic is both a wonder and a bane of modern life. While we would be lost without it, it is also a toxin that pollutes because it tends to be discarded rather than recycled. What better way to respond, therefore, than to collect some of the plastic that has been discarded and put it to inspiring use:
 
"Mbongeni Buthalezi collects plastic bags from the streets around his Johannesburg studio and melts them to create a unique kind of art – he calls it 'plastic fantastic.'"
 
The BBC news video in the url below explains how he does it. Also, see Strategic CSR – Graffiti for another example of an ecological artist using his art to comment on our waste and pollution.
 
Truly, upcycling in its grandest form!
 
Have a good weekend
David
 
David Chandler & Bill Werther
 
Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: http://www.sagepub.com/chandler3e/
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/
 
 
The artist who 'paints' with recycled plastic
By Christian Parkinson
August 23, 2015
BBC
 

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Strategic CSR - Welcome back!

 
Welcome back to the Strategic CSR Newsletter!
The first CSR Newsletter of the Fall semester is below.
As always, your comments and ideas are welcome.
 
 
I hope you all had a good summer break.
 
Earlier this year, I was interviewed for a series of podcasts that are being published on a new blog (The Sustainable Century, http://www.thesustainablecentury.net/) set up by Marc de Sousa-Shields. Marc runs a CSR consultancy (ES Global Consulting) and, as a result, is interested in all things CSR. My podcast was launched in May and is available here:
 
 
I forward this in the hope that it will be of interest/value to some of you, but also because Marc is looking for more people to interview. So, if you consider yourself someone with something to say about CSR and would like to be considered for one of Marc's podcasts, please feel free to contact him directly:
 
Marc de Sousa- Shields │ Managing Partner
mdess@esglobal.com│ Tel./Fax: +52 777-313-0438 / +52 777-102-1324 │
Mobile:. +044 777 363 6297
 
Take care
David
 
David Chandler & Bill Werther
 
Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: http://www.sagepub.com/chandler3e/
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/