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Recap: Knowledge Cafe | Sustainable business practices for NGOs: from good intentions to concrete results

On October 17, 2024, The Innovation Hub hosted another edition of the Partos Knowledge Cafe at the Red Cross office in the Hague. During this session, we reflected on the current state of sustainable business practices within non-profit organisations and looked at ways we can move forward as a sector. Furthermore, Shivalika Madgulkar of GSES presented the main results of the Social Aid and Sustainability Benchmark Project. 

23 October 2024

These are the main takeaways of the session

Corporate vs non-profit organisations
We started the session with a presentation by UvA professor Jan Bouwens. Bouwens pointed out that corporate and non-profit organisations often face similar challenges regarding sustainability. This idea was further developed during the panel discussion, as senior business developer Harry Clemens (FairClimateFund) strongly recommended that the non-profit sector should learn from corporate businesses as the aid sector is currently falling behind. After all, why reinvent the wheel?  

The Social Aid and Sustainability Benchmark Project
The pilot ‘Social Aid and Sustainability Benchmark Project’ was conducted with six organisations: the Netherlands Red Cross, War Child, Cordaid, Oxfam Novib, Save the Children and FairClimateFund. The project was coordinated by GSES (Global Sustainable Enterprise System) and Boris van Westering of Building Bridges Advice. Marjolijn van Gerven, an expert on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), contributed to the knowledge sharing. 

In the pilot project, sustainability of organisations was measured according to a standard, namely GSES’ Global Sustainable Enterprise Standard. It also looked at measuring projects against Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), using the Data for Good platform.  

Importantly, the project concluded that most organisations have taken some measures to reduce emissions. However, sustainable procurement, circular economy and biodiversity seem to be areas of improvement within organisations as these topics scored rather low on the pilot project. On the other hand, matters like CO2 reduction, CSR, and health & safety scored quite high and thus seem to be getting a lot of attention within the sector.  

Moreover, it is very important to build a historical overview, as this will allow for consistent carbon accounting. In turn, this gives an organisation the space to analyse trends and implement actions to reduce emissions. At last, target setting can be a helpful tool if it is based on real data. Hereby, third-party verification of data is crucial. 

Collaboration
During our panel discussion, the panellists agreed that collaboration is much needed as we all face the same struggle. Hence, now is the time to learn from each other and step up. To do so, panellist Martine van Schaik (Oxfam Novib) recommended organisations to find both internal as well as external allies to further sustainable practices within the sector.  At last, Mark Kirkels (War Child) emphasised the importance of find support within your own organisation as the sustainability journey can be a long process.

Follow-up
In collaboration with GSES and the benchmark members, Boris van Westering is currently organising an online follow-up meeting in November to explore how we can continue the benchmark and the community of practice. 

If you want to participate in the follow-up meeting, please email him at borisvanwestering@gmail.com.