NATIONAL CSR CONFERENCE™ 2007
‘Partnering the Third Sector’
Post Conference Report
The inaugural National Corporate Social Responsibility Conference ‘Partnering the Third Sector’ was held in Westminster on 27th November.
The conference began with contributions from the Rt. Hon Stephen Timms MP, Minister for CSR, and Phil Hope MP, Minister for the Third Sector who together highlighted the role of the Corporate Sector in assisting Third Sector transformation.
Hosted in association with Bank of America, the conference drew on an international context, addressing some of the main challenges, opportunities and lessons in CSR that can be learnt from Europe and the USA.
Amy Clarke, who leads on Corporate Social Responsibility at Bank of America, comments that:
“Bank of America was really proud to support this event. It is vital that the UK and Europe more broadly get to grips with the issue of third sector transformation. This Conference will brought together representatives from Government, Corporate and the Third Sector to explore possibilities for greater collaboration and partnership in third sector capacity building.”
Addressing the final session, Alun Michael MP, Chair of the Third Sector Alliance, along with representatives from The Impetus Trust and In-Kind Direct, articulated some of the latest thinking and debate the role of the third sector in the context of an increasingly globalised economy.
Some key conclusions from the day:
- Partnerships between the corporate and third sector are transformative, both for the task in hand and also for the individuals involved.
- CSR has become an important element in a company’s presentation of themselves. It is a highly ‘creative movement’ which entails partnership with the third sector.
- There is a lack of understanding of the challenges facing the Third Sector in respect to the financing models, infrastructure and models required to sustain growth.
- Able commercial managers used to innovating to solve tough business problems coming together with third sector leaders will help create a culture which generates new thinking and change.
- In order for the third sector to benefit from the corporate skill set, there needs to be a better understanding on access to capital, skills and resources and what infrastructure is available.
Civic Conferences would like to thank all who supported and participated at the event including the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, the Cabinet Office, Bank of America, ARUP, BT and Yorkshire Forward.
