Training

Companies, foundations, organisations, individuals, choose to receive:
TRAINING AND CONSULTATION WITH ACTUAL TOPICS FROM AREAS OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY.

Contents of training:

• What is social responsibility?
• Why Slovenia doesn’t yet have a national strategy for SR and how is it like elsewhere?
• Standards, certificates, awards, recognitions on areas of SR
• Standard (guidelines) for social responsibility ISO26000:2010
• Slovenian award for SR Horus
• CSR Europe and business networks for corporate SR
• Current topics in the EU about SR
• Sources of information on SR in Slovenia and abroad
• Self-analysis by the organisation about the state of SR and consultation for the introduction of changes and the development of SR
• Preparation of SR strategies for companies, organisations, foundations
• Reporting about SR
• Other contents by request and wishes of the client.

Providers: Experts and practitioners of the IRDO institute and its members, i.e. external associates for a given field.
Price and scope: by agreement. We customize the offer depending on the request, needs and possibilities of the client.
Appointments: by agreement.
Contact and orders: info@irdo.si, +386(0)31 344 883

Consultation for companies and organisations

We carry out expert consultation for companies and organisations and organise the execution of socially responsible, marketing and development activities. We consult companies on areas of developing SR strategies, new products and marketing services in the context of SR. We show options of introducing social responsibility in business activities and present examples of good practice, especially through the Horus award. The funds that the IRDO institute gets from the organisations are used for non-profit activities and further development of the IRDO institute.

More and more companies, foundations and organisations come across the need to know more about social responsibility. For this purpose, the experts of the IRDO institute are working on seminars and workshops on request.

The educational contents are prepared by the wishes, needs and possibilities of the clients.

The participants usually familiarise themselves about the basic concept of social responsibility, fields, advantages and weaknesses, standards, examples of business practice, news and concrete instructions on work in the client’s company, organisation or foundation. With the help of the participants, we design a program of development and depending on the possibilities and needs of the client, help realise it in practice.

By request of the clients, we can also prepare specialized programs of training for different branches (internal, external programs). Send us your requests, wishes or needs at info@irdo.si. We look forward to working with you.

Certificate Manager for Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development

We are educating CEO’s and Department managers, experts, who can gain our certificate Manager for Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development. If you are interested, please contact us!

Awards

• The Slovenian award for social responsibility HORUS

The mission of the HORUS award is to promote holism in thinking, innovation in working and responsibility in conducting Slovenian companies’, organisations’ and individuals’ activities. With the HORUS award we wish to strengthen the awareness of the meaning of social responsibility and warn on humans’ interdependence. Since 2009 we publish a call each year for various categories, we promote examples of good practice of Slovenian companies, organisations and individuals through seminars and publications in media, and through consultation in preparing SR strategies we encourage them to a more responsible and effective business activity. The archive of awarded companies and organisations has already grown into a library of examples of good practice in areas of social responsibility and is an invaluable source of skills and knowledge in the field. We bestow the HORUS award in collaboration with the Slovenian association for public relations (PRSS) and many support partners. More at: www.horus.si

• European award for socially responsible business practices

We carried out an expert consultation for the Slovenian network of social responsibility, working under the Ekvilib institute, in regard to the preparation of tender documentation for the European CSR Award Scheme.

• Magdalena Festival, a festival of creative communication for the young: the award for the most socially responsible work at the festival.

We have carried out a round table discussion under the Magdalena Festival in Maribor, on 15-17 May 2008, titled “CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN ADVERTISING.”

The IRDO festival also bestowed the award for the most SR work at the festival for the first time. The winner was a music video titled “Svi u štrajk” (“Everybody strike!” by Dubioza kolektiv) (Author of the Idea: Mirza Čeho, Director of Photography: Aziz Čeho, Designer: Vedran Mujagic, TV/Film Director: Mirza Čeho, Year: 2008, Category: 4. Motion, Awards: Finalist IRDO Award).

Link: http://www.magdalena.org/en/gallery/entries/42744/details.html

The second time we bestowed the award at the Magdalena Festival in Maribor in May 2009, the winner was a calendar titled “Think Different 2009”, Creative Calendar (3D, 6.600×0), Author of the Idea: Bojan Galič, Support: Saša Djordevic.  Awards: Finalist IRDO Award).

We also continued with bestowing the awards in the following years, you can find more information at: www.magdalena.org.

• Kalidays Festival, a festival of marketing communications students

In cooperation with the Kalidej association, an association for marketing communications (http://www.kalidej.net/) we participated in November 2007 at their Kalidays Festival and carried out the first call for an advertising text or banner on the topic of social responsibility. The topic of our call in 2007 was a project called DO-IT! The project was intended for the promotion of creativity of youngsters (high and higher schools students) in the sense of developing new proposals, ideas and projects for socially responsible activities.

The following two works were selected at the 2007 Kalidays Festival:

• selected by the jury: Maja Kocjančič (4009.pdf)
• selected by the sponsor: Jure Vidmar (4003.pdf)

When Slovenia was presiding over the EU, the RS Ministry of work, family and social topics organised an international conference titled “Work for youngsters – well-being for all” and was attended by over 300 participants from various EU countries. In cooperation with the ministry, the IRDO organised an exhibition of works of creative youngsters on the topic of youth employment. The contest and the exhibition was prepared in cooperation with the association of marking communications students, Kalidej from Ljubljana. Seven selected works were presented in Brdo, Kranj. We also compiled the proceedings for the conference and coordinated its production. The proceedings were published in December 2008 with a print run of 200 copies. Link to the proceedings for this conference: http://www.mddsz.gov.si/fileadmin/mddsz.gov.si/pageuploads/dokumenti__pdf/delo_za_mlade_zbornik_www.pdf

Research

Research activities – ZRC IRDO
The work of ZRC IRDO is focused mostly at interdisciplinary research of social responsibility and presenting the results of ZRC IRDO in Slovenia and abroad. The associates of the institute already started publishing contributions at various expert and scientific conferences in Slovenia and elsewhere in 2005. Prof. Emeritus DDr. Matjaž Mulej, Anita Hrast and other members of the IRDO institute regularly participate at scientific and technical conferences in Slovenia and abroad and other expert meetings. Our work is evident from the bibliography of our researchers. We have participated at numerous round tables, seminars, scientific and technical events, etc. The bibliographies of IRDO researchers can be found on www.sicris.si under the codes of individual researchers:

• MATJAŽ MULEJ [08082]
• ANITA HRAST [28701]

So far we have participated at several events of other organisers, including: SKOJ, NVO conference (Podravje, Gorenjska), the Association of economists Maribor (Portorož), SFPO (Krka, Novo mesto), Rotary Maribor, Ljubljana etc., the European Ombudsman and Fundamental Rights Conference, UK + USA CSR conference Ljubljana (+ video-conference), WACRA EPF Maribor, ZKPS Ljubljana (UNIAPAC), ZSU Ljubljana, …

In 2009 we successfully ran for funds and received approval and contracts for two 3-year research projects:

• A requisitely holistic model of measuring employees’ well-being in transitional organizations as compared with both innovative and less innovative ones (in cooperation of EPF UM and IRDO, ARRS)
• The development of formal and informal models of training for the profession of youth worker for inclusion in programs of organisations (in cooperation of IRDO and 16 consortium partners, MŠŠ (ESS)), www.mladinski-delavec.si

We published the following under the framework of our research, e.g. in 2013:

1.-4. Social responsibility beyond neoliberalism and charity. Bentham Science, US et al. Matjaž Mulej, Robert Dyck, with 48 co-authors from 13 countries, Bentham Science. E-book in four volumes. 2014

5. Dialectical systems thinking and the law of requisite holism concerning innovation. Emergent Publications, US. Volume 3 in the series Unity through diversity, Bertalanffy Center, Vienna. Matjaž Mulej, 16 co-authors from 10 countries. 2013

6. Social responsibility – measures and measurement. Systems Practice and Action Research.  Guest-editor: Matjaž Mulej, 23 co-authors from 6 countries. 2013

7. Social responsibility – a new socio-economic order. Systems research and behavioral science. Guest-editor: Matjaž Mulej, 30 co-authors from 10 countries. 2014

8. Social responsibility – current challenges. Collection of proceedings of all eight conferences sponsored by IRDO Institute for development of social responsibility, Maribor, about 250 contributions; edited by Anita Hrast, Sabina Kojc and Matjaž Mulej. On average authors are from beyond ten countries. 2013

9. The quest for happiness: conference proceedings: (Series Družbena odgovornost). Edited by Amna Potočnik, Simona Šarotar Žižek, and Mulej, Matjaž. Maribor: Mariborska razvojna agencija (MRA) and Inštitut za razvoj družbene odgovornosti (IRDO), 2013

10. Social responsibility and current challenges 2014: health – personal and/or social responsibility?  The 9th IRDO conference. Edited by Matjaž Mulej, Anita Hrast and Sabina Kojc. 2014

National strategy of developing SR
The social responsibility of companies is indirectly connected with the development of Slovenia and contributes to a bigger motivation of employees to work, a better relationship between employers and employees, a positive development of a social picture and the country as a whole. That’s why we in the Scientific Council at the IRDO institute developed an initiative for preparing a national strategy of development of social responsibility. The partnership in developing a national strategy began in 2012 and consists of various experts in the field of social responsibility, representatives of organisations and institutes, and experts, sadly not yet from the highest positions in ministries, as informal participants, because they haven’t received any formal authorisation yet. The partnership is coordinated by the Network of social responsibility in Slovenia – the Ekvilib Institute (organisationally) and the Institute for the development of social responsibility – IRDO (in content). We prepared the design for the Slovenian national strategy for social responsibility, with emphasis on companies. The strategy follows the ISO26000:2010 standard, its scope and principles. It includes key groups of stakeholders (the government, the economy, civil society and media) and intends to prepare plans of action – in areas of relations with the community, employees, environment, market and leadership.

Informing

Informing, promotion

We strive to transmit actual and relevant information about social responsibility to the Slovenian public. That’s why we inform the media and the public about the work of the institute and its collaboration with our partners in regard to activities and projects dealing with social responsibility. We collaborate on several festivals, such as Magdalena Festival (2008, 2009, 2010, 2013) and Kalidays (2007, 2008).

We regularly report about our work to the media, members, partners and other organisations in the community.

We promote experts, foundations, organisations and companies that work in the field of social responsibility in Slovenia, because we realise that by sharing the information and examples, we contribute to raising awareness and the development of social responsibility in Slovenia and elsewhere.

For members of the IRDO institute, we prepare monthly newsletters about social responsibility (IRDO news). We exchange experiences, knowledge and practice. Subscribe for a free copy and join the members of the IRDO institute! You can join at any time; the application form can be found here. For more information, send us an email at clani@irdo.si.

We have forwarded a lot of information in areas of social responsibility to the media, mostly by organising conferences, bestowing the Horus awards and carrying out international projects. We have monitored our publications, as well as other news about social responsibility in the media. We present the results of an increase of the number of publications on the topic of social responsibility in media each year at our IRDO institute conference, in cooperation with Press Clipping d.o.o. that monitors these publications in the media.

Since 2008 we publish a magazine called IRDO Mozaik for our members, the first Slovenian socially responsible newspaper.

Cooperation on events of others:

Lecturing:

• 12. June 2012, URI – Soča, Maribor, Workshop for managers on the topic of CREATING SYNERGY WITH EMPLOYEES, Lecture: Social responsibility in connection with creating synergy with employees, Anita Hrast, IRDO chairwoman,
• 24. forum of excellence and mastery, Otočec 2012, in Šport Otočec hotel. The title of the meeting was “Socially responsible behaviour in enforcing universal excellence and mastery.” Lecture: The mission of the IRDO institute and the Slovenian award for social responsibility – HORUS. Anita Hrast. Ddr. Matjaž Mulej spoke about the basics of socially responsible behaviour. More: www.fos.unm.si/media/pdf/forum/FORUM_ODLICNOSTI_2012_vabilo_koncno.pdf
• SIQ conference on the topic of Systems of leadership and social responsibility, 19. June 2012 in Ljubljana. Speeches by Ddr. Matjaž Mulej and M.A. Vesna Kovačič from the IRDO institute.
• And many others.

Round tables:

• Responsibility – of society, the individual, companies, organisations or the country? – Challenges of the 21. Century, DOBA Faculty of Maribor, 19.11.2012. The discussion was held under the framework of “Relations with the public and social responsibility.” The co-speakers were members of the Partnership for developing a Slovenian national strategy for social responsibility. The opinions and views were passed by: Sonja Šmuc, the managers’ association of Slovenia, Aleš Krajnc Kušlan, the network for social responsibility in Slovenia, Anita Hrast, IRDO, Nina Irt, AMCham, and Zineta Vilman, ministry of agriculture. More: http://www.fakulteta.doba.si/si/broadcast/
• Round table “Human rights, limits of privatisation?”, 23. October 2012, Ethnographic Museum (SEM), Ljubljana. Also participated: ANITA HRAST – IRDO chairwoman
• And many others.

Publishing

The IRDO institute regularly publishes various literature in areas of social responsibility.
Each year we publish the following publications:

• proceedings of the conference “Social responsibility and current challenges” (printed copies, CD);
• proceedings of the finalists for the Slovenian award for social responsibility Horus (CD, web);
• since 2008 monthly newsletters (electronic) for members and sympathisers of the IRDO institute;
• we participate on scientific and technical conferences in Slovenia and abroad and other expert meetings, we publish contributions in scientific, technical and other publications in the field of social responsibility, the work of our researchers is evident from their bibliographies;
• we publish books on CDs (sustainable tourism, essays about social responsibility, etc.) in Slovenian and English languages;
• as co-authors we participate in publishing manuals, books and educational material of various publishers (e.g., association of Slovenian designers, association Integriteta, the government of the RS and foreign organisations);
• in cooperation with Press Clipping d.o.o. since 2007, we monitor publications about social responsibility in Slovenian media.

We welcome you to buy some of our books. Contact us for orders.