"CSR is the heart of business and thus 'a need-to-have'."
Bouwe Taverne, Head Sustainable Development, Rabobank
Report: Conference on Advancing Sustainability Reporting Practices in Turkey
On 19 October 2009 CSR Consulting Turkey announced the launching of the Turkish language version of the GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines during a conference at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul.
The conference entitled "Advancing Sustainability Reporting Practices in Turkey" and the translation of the Guidelines were initiatives of CSR Consulting Turkey and were made possible with the sponsorship of the leading GSM operator Turkcell. The conference hosted by Boğaziçi University Sustainable Development and Cleaner Production Centre (BU-SDCPC) attracted about 100 participants representing various stakeholders, mainly businesses. During the conference, representatives of Boğaziçi University, Accenture, Turkcell, GRI, CSR Consulting Turkey, UNDP Turkey and International Finance Corporation (IFC) underlined various perspectives on sustainability reporting and shared practical knowledge.
During her presentation, GRI's Learning Services Director Dr. Nelmara Arbex announced GRI's decision to launch certified training programs for Turkey. The appreciative remarks on this announcement, the translation initiative and the conference suggest that there is definitely interest and need among the Turkish businesses for learning more about sustainability reporting.
Currently, G3 Guidelines, Application Level document and the "Let's Report Template" are available in Turkish. In the second phase of the translation, the Indicator Protocols will be translated into Turkish. The translation coordinator CSR Consulting Turkey is aiming for finalising the work latest in May 2010.
Turkish language version of the GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines can be found on GRI's website:
G3 and AL documents
Let's report template
More information about the conference and presentations can be found here (in Turkish):
http://www.buyem.boun.edu.tr/konferans.htm