Programme DIGITAL DISRUPTION AND THE FUTURE OF CSR CSR ONLINE AWARDS SEMINAR 2014 Conference • Workshops • Gala Dinner • Awards Milan, 27–28 May 2014 Fondazione Cariplo Conference Centre Follow the event on Twitter an event of in collaboration with #CSRawards @Lundquist lundquist. SPONSORS PARTNERS AND SUPPORTERS CSR ONLINE AWARDS SEMINAR 2014 · 3 FUTURE OF CSR Dear participant, We are pleased to welcome you to the 5th CSR Online Awards Seminar. The event takes place in Milan thanks to the generous support of Fondazione Cariplo in its magnificent conference facilities in the heart of the city. Our thanks to them. We are looking forward to two days of intense discussions on how CSR is being transformed in a digital age and the need to look beyond reporting to deal with the new challenges of sustainability. We will learn from more than 25 internationally renowned speakers in three plenary sessions and six workshops, topped by a gala dinner at the historic Palazzo Visconti. This seminar is intended In the course of monitoring user trends and corporate practices, we have witnessed how the pervasiveness of digital has created a shift in the to be a laboratory of ideas company-stakeholder dynamic and opened up enormous potential for transparency, engagement and social change. This digital disruption where sharing experiences impacts both on the time (the speed of interaction) and space (the proliferation of communications channels). can help companies improve Our speakers will consider this disruption from many aspects: their CSR, to stimulate awareness how reporting is changing, the future of engagement and getting your message across through storytelling. and move towards excellence. Findings from CSR Online Awards – reporting is not enough As a basis for our discussions we will present findings from the 6th CSR Online Awards research, which has examined the 100 largest companies in Europe and how they communicate sustainability through online channels. Unfortunately, most are still struggling in a reporting mindset: almost a fourth of the companies fail to communicate their sustainability information altogether let alone engage with their stakeholders, differentiate themselves from their peers or use storytelling techniques to get their messages across. We look forward hearing your views on these topics. The German, Italian, Nordic and Swiss lists will be rolled out shortly. A very sincere thank you to all our sponsors and to everyone else who helped to make this event possible. Welcome and enjoy the seminar. James Osborne and Joakim Lundquist 4 · CSR ONLINE AWARDS SEMINAR 2014 OUR UNIQUE RESPONSE TO A CHANGING SCENARIO AN OUTSIDE-IN PERSPECTIVE All our work at Lundquist Having a user-centric approach means opening eyes internally and finding ways to change the culture towards a more sustainable mindset. That’s is user-centric as we look because we believe this demanding perspective is central for effective communications: it puts the focus on aspects such as transparency, dialogue for ways to help companies and user friendliness in the true sense of the term. to better respond to the needs The fervid activity unleashed by the Global Reporting Initiative’s new sustainability reporting guidelines (G4), which is prompting many companies and expectations of key audiences to engage stakeholders over materiality and to determine their most pressing sustainability issues, is perfectly in line with our outside-in in a guided, step-by-step process. perspective. In fact, the CSR Online Awards is founded upon a form of stakeholder engagement, sounding out 1,600 people over the course of the years – analysts, journalists, NGOs, academics and experts as well as hundreds of CSR managers. It is through this activity that we see how digital is re-shaping the company-stakeholder relationship. WHERE WE ADD VALUE: THE SUSTAINABILITY ECOSYSTEM In our work we have Focusing only on a report is not enough when the challenge is to build trust and offer a convincing account of how sustainability is integrated into day- witnessed the collapse to-day business and managed as a competitive advantage. As non-financial reporting becomes mandatory in the European Union, companies will need to in traditional barriers between offer a distinctive vision of their own sustainability journey. report, communications To do this successfully, we think it will be essential to take a strategic, holistic approach to the sustainability ecosystem considering the principal and engagement. touchpoints between company and different audiences. Very often, ineffective online communications is the result of decisions taken at another stage of the process. It’s hard to be open and clear online if the mindset around disclosure is inward-looking and conventional. From our integrated standpoint, we can draw on our experience to build a strong business case for sustainability, reshape reporting, enhance communications and build solid foundations for constructive relationships. And above all to demonstrate how to use digital as a driver in these activities. GET GOING IN FOUR STEPS Strive for excellence Prioritise your activities Understand your context and stakeholders Assess what you have CSR ONLINE AWARDS SEMINAR 2014 · 5 SEMINAR THEMES The seminar is built around a series of plenary sessions with keynote speakers and thematic workshops featuring company case studies and “master classes” from recognised experts. Our programme for this year is underpinned by the insight that digital has not simply added a new set of communications channels, it has profoundly disrupted the company-stakeholder dynamic. The immediacy and interconnected nature of online environments raises complex questions for companies that go beyond simple definitions of reporting and communicating. Our aim is to share new Corporate disclosure in a digital-first era The fact of abandoning a paper-first logic has combined with recent approaches to sustainability evolutions in corporate accountability – not only G4 – to give rise to a host of ways for companies to disclose their non-financial performance communications and emerging to different audiences. But above all it is the need to engage stakeholders and understand their expectations that is collapsing the experiences in non-financial barriers between reporting, communications and engagement (internally and externally). What does this panorama look like through a digital lens disclosure, social media, and how can online and offline be successfully integrated? How do the latest trends in reporting affect the broader communications approach? digital storytelling, Putting the “social” back into corporate responsibility visual communications Social media has fully come of age in the field of corporate responsibility, with many professionals finding the lines have blurred between personal and stakeholder engagement. and work domains. Most companies have made only tentative steps, torn between the need for qualitative dialogue with a limited number of people and the need to reach out to a vast and assorted public. How are companies harnessing social media to build relationships, drive change and spark innovation? What are the opportunities and limitations of integrating new digital channels fully into engagement strategies and how does this impact on the visibility of the dialogue process? Seeing is believing: mastering digital and visual communications Research shows our brains are hard wired to retain more information through moving images than simple words on a page. Digital provides opportunities for using visual communications but many go untapped in the field of CSR, leaving it isolated in a dry, technical report format. What techniques are best for putting across a credible story that will resonate with stakeholders and avoid superficiality and one-sidedness? What are the errors to avoid? And how are companies trying to align their sustainability messages with the broader corporate story and demonstrate their value? 6 · CSR ONLINE AWARDS SEMINAR 2014 PROGRAMME • DAY TUESDAY 27 MAY Fondazione Cariplo 13.30 Registration opens PLENARY SESSION 14.00 Seminar opening Joakim Lundquist · Founder, Lundquist Ahead of the curve: the imperative for responding to the sustainability agenda 14.30 Setting the scene: corporate disclosure in a digital-first era James Osborne · Head of CSR, Lundquist Keeping pace with digital disruption: a new approach to the CSR Online Awards Manjit Jus · Sustainability Operations Manager, Financial materiality and clarity in multi-stakeholder RobecoSAM reporting André Doren · Chief, External Outreach, Integrating corporate responsibility to respect human Office of the United Nations High Commissioner rights in the Post-2015 agenda for Human Rights 15.30 Coffee & networking break 16.00 – 17.30 PARALLEL WORKSHOP SESSIONS: THE FUTURE OF REPORTING A • Inside Reporting Introduced and moderated by Sara Rusconi · This workshop will examine how companies are Head of online communications, Lundquist adapting their reporting models to respond to a · Company Experiences rapidly evolving scenario – from narrative and Donald Johnson · Head of Corporate integrated reporting – and input from multiple Responsibility & Brand Strategy, National Grid stakeholders. You will hear an overview of the current Roberto Ciati · Scientific Relations & state of non-financial reporting – who’s reporting on Sustainability Director, Barilla what, where and in what formats. Two companies · Experienced People will provide a perspective on how they are organising Marcella