WELL’s members have a lot to offer when it comes to sharing and developing perspectives on CSR in a local as well as global business context.

From June 9 to 11, the competencies found in WELL, gave four members the opportunity to go to the ‘Being Globally Responsible Conference’ in Shanghai as representatives for Copenhagen Business School. Here they tested and expanded their CSR skills in the Chinese context where enormous growth rates have accentuated the importance of socially as well as environmentally responsible business practises.

An educational trip
The scene was set at the China Europe International Business School with participants from leading business schools in Europe, Asia and Australia. Among the prominent speakers were representatives from the United Nations, the EU, Transparency International and several Chinese companies. For the WELL representatives it became quite an educational trip. As Trine Munch, project coordinator in WELL commented: “I was pretty excited to see what the MBAs had to offer, and to realise that we were indeed able to contribute with our own experiences.”

Networking opportunities
As the two days of speeches and workshops went on, it became very clear that the four WELLies have what it takes to contribute with a lot of interesting ideas and perspectives on CSR in an international setting. In several cases, comments spawned lively discussion and recognition. The trip also offered excellent opportunities to network with people from all over the world, and WELL might very well be going to a similar conference in Australia in 2007.

CSR in the Middle Kingdom
The different workshops at the conference acted as forums for the sharing and development of ideas and solutions with several foci that will help propel a sustainable development in China. They spanned across topics as anti-corruption, CSR business strategies, evaluation of CSR, private-public partnerships, community outreach and social entrepreneurship just to mention a few.

The Shanghai Consensus
Thinking CSR as a means of creating value for businesses is, according to Fred Dubee, Senior Advisor to the UN Global Compact and the conference’s key note speaker, a crucial step for China to develop both economic and social sustainability. In his address, Dubee argued “that the unequal dispersal of benefits in China is detrimental to sustainability,” and he therefore opted for more corporate responsibility in order to counter the widening socio-economic gap. His point was not that businesses carry the sole responsibility, but as China is increasingly opening up to international trade, he argued that the trends of European and American businesses can help inspire the Chinese to embrace new methods, such as cross sector partnerships. The many delegates seemed very eager to become part of this new development, and despite differing opinions on how to do it everybody seemed to agree that certain principles should be followed. The Shanghai Consensus charter presents these principles and the signatures of those, who chose to abide hereto.

A great experience
For the WELL representatives it was a great experience. “The positive attitudes towards us and our work make it very clear to me that what we are doing in WELL is valuable. No doubt about that!” Trine Munch said once back in Denmark.