The first time we stumbled upon Corporate Social Responsibility was by participation in WELLcontest 2004. Before participating we did not know much if anything about CSR. Through curiosity our interest was instantly awoken. CSR turned out be the tool for solving some of the side effects of capitalism. The idea of business people being cynical slowly started to fade away. In fact it seemed as if a door opened into a whole new world of opportunities for making a difference. Let's face it, we all wonder around with the hope of making a difference.

In an effort to establish our own opinion about the topic prior to participating in the case competition held by WELL, we participated in an essay competition about CSR held by The Copenhagen Centre and Business Journal Børsen. The following experience at the case competition thought us both a lot about how we perceive CSR but also how students from different studies approach and understand the topic.

The initiative

Today, 6 months since our first encounter with CSR, we have joined WELL and are responsible for the arrangement of the first WELL seminar in Aarhus. An event that is held in cooperation with Nordiska Ekonmie Studerandes Union (NESU). The first seminar will take place on the 19th of April at Aarhus School of Business. Malene Østergård, who is Environmental and CSR Director at Danfoss, will be guest speaker and Niels Westergård-Nielsen from the Department of Economics will act as discussant. In view of keeping with NESU's objective of creating people-networks the event will be followed by a light meal in KLUBBEN (ASB's famous club), a gathering where the participants can network informally.

CSR and Aarhus

The general knowledge about CSR among students in Aarhus seems to be vague if not limited. We feel that it is important to broaden the horizon among tertiary students about how corporate social responsibility is becoming an increasingly important determinant of how companies act in society. CSR is not, as many might think at first, solely about charity or pure philanthropy but actually a way for companies to give back to society profitably. Regardless of whether the discussion falls upon Risk Management, Branding, Organizational Strategy, Corporate Communication, Entrepreneurship or a variety of other corporate means, CSR is a powerful and for many an unexposed facet that companies are just starting to fully realize the importance of. There is no doubt in our mind, that we have only witnessed the top of the iceberg and that the true potential of CSR is yet to be discovered.

Aarhus: Encouraging words and helping hands

When considering our poor background, when it comes to arranging events, our expectations, to be honest, where modest towards the first seminar. However we promptly realized that the scope of the project was more than conquerable. Where ever we turned, doors open and we where met with friendliness and willingness to participate. This project could not fail in Aarhus! Rapidly a network was built to several different interested stakeholders in the Aarhus environment, spanning from Professors at ASB to student Unions at the University.

Into the future through Active Citizenship

The idea is of course to continue arranging seminars. Likewise we will continue to explore the frontiers of CSR while accumulating new knowledge. The participation in the Euro-Environmental conference in Aalborg is one of the means by which we aim to accomplish this objective. At the moment we are working on a survey for a project in Aarhus (Computer Club House) in an attempt to map the attitudes and issue adoption mechanisms involved in Danish CSR activities.

Conclusively we will strive to convincingly communicate the concept of CSR to key stakeholders in our society such as, but not limited to, educational institutions, corporations, centres of innovation, and most importantly, YOU. The individual.