7.17.2006 - 12:00pm ET

Press release from: Center for Sustainable Innovation

Social Footprint Masterclass Announced

(CSRwire) Thetford Center, VT– The Center for Sustainable Innovation (CSI) is pleased to announce its first Social Footprint Masterclass to be offered in late September of this year. The class will be two-and-a-half days in length, and will be held in Burlington, Vermont (USA) on September 20 – 22.

The Social Footprint is the world's first quantitative method for measuring and reporting social bottom lines in organizations. It is intended for corporate and organizational use where commitments to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and/or multi-bottom line reporting have either already been made or are being considered. Unlike other mainstream approaches to sustainability reporting, the Social Footprint method is composed of both a numerator and a denominator. This makes true social bottom-line measures, or quotients, possible as compared to many other methods, such as GRI, which rely exclusively on top-line or numerator-only metrics.

On the first day of the class, students will receive an overview of contemporary CSR/Sustainability Management concepts and practices. Strengths and weaknesses of several mainstream methods will be discussed. Next will come an introduction to the Quotients Approach to Sustainability and the Social Footprint Method itself, a rubric for measuring and reporting on the social sustainability of organizational operations.

Days 2 and 3 will continue with hands-on exercises for how to use the Social Footprint method, incorporating contemporary issues and applications. Key issues raised by the method, and variations on how it can be used to suit individual needs, will also be discussed. Of particular relevance will be the distinction the Social Footprint makes between internal versus external areas of impact. Whether it be external impacts on society or internal impacts on employees, the Social Footprint has a valuable role to play in computing social bottom lines. This is a cutting-edge program that corporate CSR and sustainability managers of all types should find both practical and rewarding.

The Social Footprint Masterclass will be taught by Mark W. McElroy, CSI's founder and Executive Director, creator of the Social Footprint method, and Visiting Researcher at the University of Groningen, CSI's development partner. Mr. McElroy, is also a former partner at KPMG Peat Marwick in the U.S., and board chair emeritus of the Sustainability Institute, also located in Vermont.

About the Center for Sustainable Innovation

The Center for Sustainable Innovation (CSI) is a Vermont non-profit corporation founded in 2004 with a vision of working for sustainability, both within and by means of innovation. At present, most of CSI's resources are being applied to development of the Social Footprint, a corporate sustainability measurement and reporting system, in conjunction with the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

Contact Information

More information about CSI can be found at www.sustainableinnovation.org or by contacting CSI's Executive Director, Mark W. McElroy at mmcelroy@vermontel.net.

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