Yes / This report on Algeria is one of 13 case studies (all of the case studies are available at www.bradford.ac.uk/cics). This research draws upon secondary data sources including existing research studies, reports and evaluations. The author would like to thank David Seddon and Tim Heath for comments made on an earlier draft. The analysis and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views or policy of DFID or the UK government.

Yes / This report on Chechnya is one of 13 case studies (all of the case studies are available at www.bradford.ac.uk/cics). This research draws upon secondary data sources including existing research studies, reports and evaluations. The analysis and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views or policy of DFID or the UK government.

Yes / This report on El Salvador is one of 13 case studies (all of the case studies can be found at www.bradford.ac.uk/cics). This research draws upon secondary data sources including existing research studies, reports and evaluations commissioned by operational agencies, and early warning and survey data where this has been available. These secondary sources have been complemented by interviews with government officers, aid policymakers and practitioners, researchers and members of the local population. The analysis and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views or policy of DFID or the UK government.

Yes / This mini report on Northeast India is one of 13 case studies (all of the case studies are available at www.bradford.ac.uk/cics). This research draws upon secondary data sources including existing research studies, reports and evaluations. As DFID does not have any direct development engagement in Northeast India, this report does give any direct programming or policy recommendations. However, it does highlight key issues which need to be addressed for armed violence to be reduced in the region. The authors would like to thank David Seddon for comments made on an earlier draft. The analysis and opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or policy of DFID or the UK government.

Yes / This report on Nairobi is one of 13 case studies (all of the case studies are available at www.bradford.ac.uk/cics). This research draws upon secondary data sources including existing research studies, reports and evaluations. The analysis and opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or policy of DFID or the UK government.

Yes / This report on Northern Kenya is one of 13 case studies (all of which can be found at www.bradford.ac.uk/cics). This research draws upon secondary data sources including existing research studies, reports and evaluations commissioned by operational agencies, and early warning and survey data where this has been available. These secondary sources have been complemented by interviews with government officers, aid policymakers and practitioners, researchers and members of the local population. The authors would like to thank Patta Scott-Villiers for comments on an earlier draft. The analysis and opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or policy of DFID or the UK government.

Voluntary environmental initiatives (VEIs) promise to provide firms and facilities additional flexibility and motivation in managing their environmental affairs in part by reducing compliance and enforcement costs and improving their public image. As a result, since 1990, over 13,000 organizations have participated in more than 100 US and international VEIs. In order for these initiatives to be successful, they need to be implemented following good practice guidelines, reliable enforcement mechanisms, appropriate monitoring, reporting, transparency, and public information availability. All of these activities may be contingent on high levels of stakeholder participation. Little is known, however, about how different stakeholders have been involved in the development of these programs and how this participation varies for different types of VEIs. By conducting an Internet based survey to 63 VEI managers, this research examines the diversity and intensity of stakeholder participation in the design and implementation of VEIs relative to sponsorship. This study concluded that VEIs developed by a partnership between different organizations had the largest number of different types of stakeholders involved. Yet, industry and government sponsored initiatives had a number of different types of participants very close to what occurred in the design of partnership VEIs. Third-party initiatives had the lowest diversity of participants involved in the design of their programs. This pattern illustrates that the VEI sponsors traditionally more susceptible to criticism in terms of credibility are the ones more concerned with stakeholder involvement in the development of their initiatives. As for the role of specific stakeholders, it was observed that government sponsored VEIs had a higher degree of involvement from industry associations than from any other stakeholder. Even if the degree of involvement by non-profit organizations was not considerably lower than by industry associations, the existing difference supports the critique that government VEIs are generally developed in a tighter cooperation with the private sector and sometimes without the collaboration of the civil society. As for third-party initiatives, it was observed that the industry sector had a higher degree of involvement than the government. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning

No description available.

Bakgrund: I dagens samhälle ökar medvetenheten om vår omgivning mer och mer. Miljö, samhälls- och etiska frågor blir allt viktigare att ta hänsyn till, både för privatpersoner och för företag. Banksektorn har länge legat på efterkälken när det kommer till hållbarhetsredovisning. Dock blir bankernas intressenter mer och mer medvetna om hållbarhetsfrågor och för att vara konkurrenskraftiga har bankerna därför börjat engagera sig i detta. Dock kostar engagemanget både tid och pengar för bankerna så därför gäller det att mervärdet av hållbarhetsarbetet är större än de resurser som läggs ner. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka varför endast vissa banker väljer att hållbarhetsredovisa enligt GRI, samt varför de banker som redovisar enligt GRI väljer att stanna på en B- eller C-nivå. Syftet är även att utreda varför de undersökta bankerna anser att granskning av revisor är nödvändigt eller inte samt på vilket sätt bankerna anser att mervärde skapas genom arbete med hållbarhet. Metod: För att kunna förklara och belysa syftet med hållbarhetsredovisningen genomför vi en explorativ undersökning där vi använder oss av den kvalitativa metoden, dock med vissa inslag av kvantitativ metod. Denna metod ämnar skapa djupare förståelse och insyn i vilka faktorer som drivit hållbarhetsredovisningens utveckling. Uppsatsens syfte kommer besvaras av en genomgång av utvalda företags hållbarhetsredovisningar och med hjälp av intervjuer. Teoretiska perspektiv: Den teoretiska referensramen innefattar Carrolls pyramid av CSR, Carrolls trefaldiga modell, Intressentteorin, Legitimitetsteorin och Institutionell teori. Empiri: Det empiriska materialet består dels av granskning av hållbarhetsredovisningar upprättade av sex olika företag som bedriver bankverksamhet, Nordnet, Swedbank, Länsförsäkringar Uppsala, Handelsbanken, Danske bank och SEB, dels av intervjuer med personer från dessa företag som arbetar med hållbarhetsfrågor. Resultat och slutsatser: Engagemang inom hållbarhet ses idag som otroligt viktigt för att lyckas uppnå en konkurrenskraftig verksamhet. Eftersom bankerna hela tiden strävar efter att uppfylla intressenternas förväntningar innebär det att hållbarhetsarbetet har blivit en viktig del för att vara samhälleligt legitima. Redovisning enligt GRI ses av bankerna öka legitimiteten, dock upplevs inget krav på ökad nivå från intressenternas sida i dagsläget. På samma sätt menar bankerna att extern granskning av revisor inte ses som nödvändig. Dock tyder studiens resultat på att bankerna sannolikt skulle erhålla mervärde genom att ta hjälp av en extern part på den nivå de ligger på i dag istället för att vänta tills de kommit upp i en högre nivå. Bankernas upplevda mervärde kan här ses som den grad av legitimitet som uppnås. Genom att uppfylla intressenternas förväntningar och därmed skapa mervärde för dem kan bankerna långsiktigt erhålla ekonomiskt mervärde. / Background: In today’s society, the knowledge of our environment is increasing. Environmental, social and ethical issues are important to take into account, both for individuals and businesses. The banking sector has traditionally lagged behind when it comes to sustainability. Today, banks are becoming more interested and more aware of sustainability issues and in order to be competitive, banks have begun to engage in this. However, engagement in sustainability means investments in both time and money for the banks; therefore they need to have a belief that the invested resources brings added value for them. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate why only some banks' choose to work with sustainability reporting in compliance with GRI, and why the banks' that have submitted GRI choose to stay at a B or C level. It also aims to investigate why some banks' believe that an external audit is necessary and how the banks' perceive that added value is created within engagement with sustainability. Methodology: In order to explain and illustrate the purpose of sustainability reporting, we perform an explorative study where we use the qualitative method, but with some elements of quantative methodology. This choice will create a deeper understanding and insight into the factors which have driven the development of sustainability reports. Purpose of this essay will be answered by a survey of selected corporate sustainability reports and through interviews. Theoretical perspectives: The theoretical framework includes Carrolls pyramide of corporate social responsibility, Carrolls three-dimensional conceptual model of corporate performance, Stakeholder Theory, Legitimacy Theory and Institutional Theory. Empirical foundation: The empirical material consists of the review of sustainability reports by six companies engaged in banking, Nordnet, Swedbank, Lansforsakringar Uppsala, Handelsbanken, Danske Bank and SEB. It also consists of interviews with people from these companies that work with sustainability issues. Conclusions: Involvement in sustainability issues is seen as extremely important to be able to reach competitiveness in the market. Since banks' are constantly striving to meet stakeholder expectations, sustainability work is almost seen as a must in order to be socially legitimate. Reporting by GRI is seen by the banks' to increase legitimacy; however, they have not experienced any demands for increased levels of GRI from stakeholders in the current situation. Similarly, the banks' mean that external review by auditors is not seen as necessary today but probably in the future. Conclusions drawn from this report is that the banks would probably earn economic value by using an external audit in a lower level of GRI instead of waiting until they have reached a higher level. The banks' perceived value can be seen as the degree of legitimacy that is obtained. By meeting stakeholder expectations, thereby creating value for them, the banks' may obtain long-term economic value.

The aim of this thesis is to describe and evaluate the current situation of social responsibility in selected company (Prague Airport), and propose possible improvements based on identified responses via questionnaire. And also by analyzing report of corporate social responsibility issued by Prague Airport in comparison with the requirements of the Global Reporting Initiative version of the G4. In the first part are theoretically analyzed the basic features and principles of social responsibility, approaches to evaluation and mentioned trends in reporting. Then are described the specifics and development of air transport and the methodology used in the creation of the questionnaire. The practical part describes the current situation of corporate social responsibility at Prague Airport. Based on the survey and the analysis reports according to GRI Guidelines. In the conclusion, are the answers to the hypothesis written in the introduction and also suggested possible improvements.