The magazine brings to the forefront the Community Index, the most comprehensive index of corporate investment projects in communities and a centerpiece of the best CSR campaigns run each year.
The mission of this project is to increase the know-how of start-up companies in terms of sustainability and CSR strategies and to help them develop impact projects in the medium and long term.
This research comes as a response to companies' growing interest in corporate responsibility, so The Azores has considered that a project that focuses on community investment performance will bring clear benefits for both communities and companies, and for developing the domain in Romania.
The Community Index is based on a broad analysis for which the Azores team has allocated 350 hours to approximately 400 projects or programs run in Romania between September 2017 and August 2018.
The index analyzed the information gathered from 5 websites dedicated to community investment and information obtained directly from companies, based on a structured evaluation sheet in relation to international standards: the London Benchmarking Group, the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Reporting Standards and the IFC Strategic Community Investment.
The projects were grouped in 17 categories, depending on the most important communities in which they are investing in Romania, the most important being: Environment, Health, Education, Sport, Entrepreneurship or Disadvantaged Environments.
Among the programs or projects that got the best scores are: La TINEri Este Puterea (Coca-Cola HBC Romania), Money School (BCR), Gradinescu (Kaufland), Digitaliada (Orange Foundation), Petroleum School (OMV Petrom) , Domestos Sustine Hygiene in Schools (Unilever).
The best-ranked campaigns have been recognized with Gold, Silver or Bronze Levels for each category. This has highlighted strategic projects that prioritize issues such as stakeholder engagement, business alignment, or medium to long-term impact measurement.
The magazine focuses on useful and relevant content, including a series of interviews with top professionals in the field of sustainability in Romania, such as László Borbély (Coordinator of the Government's Sustainable Development Department), Irina Ionescu (Coca-Cola HBC Romania ), Cristina Brindusoiu (Unilever), Alina Cristea (Holcim), Darren Willman (Sustainalytics) or Nicoleta Deliu (BCR).
In addition, interviews with 10 international experts such as Wayne Visser (Antwerp Management School), Dr. John Izzo (The Purpose Revolution) or Kristin Dypdahl (Global Reporting Initiative).
The Community Index is an integral part of the Romania CSR Index (parent index), ranked at its fourth edition this year and analyzing information on the corporate sustainability of companies in Romania with more than 500 employees.
The results will be announced on July 24, 2019 at Athénée Palace Hilton, during the Best Practices in Romanian CSR, fourth edition.
Community Index Magazine may be ordered physically or digitally from The Azores Sustainability & CSR Services website by accessing this link: https://www.theazores.ro/magazines/
