Beyond Corporate Social Responsibility - Corporation and Community Sustainability by Intersectoral Consortium
Authors: Carvalho Edison D. , de Souza Maíra , Lopes Luciano E. , Danciguer Lucilene 
Published: July 2010

In this paper we present GAIA's findings in four corporate social responsibility projects. Three of them were implemented in partnership with Oil & Gas companies and one with a mining company. The projects had as the main goal to improve the relationship with communities in the companies’ direct influence areas, and to promote local sustainable development. The methodology developed by GAIA comprises companies’ and communities’ interests and encompasses nine stages. 1. Socio-environmental appraisal or inventory, mapping main risks, communities’ needs and their leaders. 2. Communication plan, defining strategies, languages and communication vehicles for each stakeholder group. 3. Inter- institutional meetings to include other institutions in the program. 4. Launching seminar in partnership with local authorities, divulging companies’ actions in the cities with pipelines. 5. Multiplier agents formation, enabling teachers, local leaders and government representatives to disseminate correct information about the pipelines such as their functioning, hazard prevention, maintenance actions, and restrictions of activities over the pipelines. 6. Formation on project management, enabling teachers, local leaders and government representatives to elaborate, fundraise and manage socio-environmental projects aimed at improving communities’ life quality. 7. Follow-up, supporting communities leaders during dissemination of information about pipelines, project fundraising and implementation. 8. Creation and follow-up of companies’ networks to support some of the projects elaborated by the communities. 9. Impact evaluation, measuring the results accomplished by the whole project after its realization. The overall process is monitored with management and quality tools such as PDCA and processes and results indicators. The elaboration of projects by communities’ members, organizing their needs and requests, facilitates management decisions regarding private social investment. During the follow-up, GAIA supports the communities’ fundraising from several organizations, as well as creates networks of potential local supporters. Thus, companies foment communities’ autonomy and citizenship, creating a situation in which both, companies and communities, are benefited. We propose that companies' knowledge in management and its influence in all sectors of the society can be employed to create intersectoral consortia aiming at local sustainable development. Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives would gain scale and efficacy by integrated socioenvironmental planning, managed by intersectoral consortia. These consortia would be managed by an intersectoral board, which would guide the organization by strategic planning. The consortia should have its own staff, but the integrated plan would be implemented as programs and projects by the communities, supported by companies, government and NGO's. Our 18-year experience working in partnership with companies, governments and communities make us believe that the consortium strategy is viable and powerful, being a crucial step beyond Corporate Social Responsibility, towards society and companies long term sustainability.