Creating & Communicating Sustainable Value
CSV is committed to working with partners to develop strategy and practices that enhance social and environmental benefits while simultaneously creating economic value
Key Concepts for Creating Sustainable Value
Sustainable Value
Building a sustainability case for business that involves the creation of both stakeholder and shareholder value.
Organisational Learning
The processes by which an organisation continually expands its capacity to create its future.
Human Capital Development
The process through which individuals, organisations and societies strengthen their capacity to set and achieve their development objectives.
Green Economy
An economy that is low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive.
Just Transitions
Who benefits and how? Involves social dialogue, participation and learning (procedural justice) that contributes to the fair allocation of economic and social impacts of change (distributive justice).
Services
Creating Sustainable Value for
Business
CSV offers advisory services on environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria at a board and senior managerial level. CSV can support businesses to create sustainable value through integrated thinking and sustainable business models. Central to this offering is the recognition that to break deeply entrenched, unsustainable patterns requires powerful learning processes that lead to individual and collaborative action and transformation.
Key service offerings:
- Board and Exco level strategic processes aimed at creating sustainable value for your business
- Building a shared commitment across the business that focuses on the creation of sustainable value
- Empowering individuals and units within the business to increase value, reduce waste and respect people and the environment in all they do
- Embed within the business a continual improvement ethos that creates sustainable value throughout the supply chain
- Developing a communications and media strategy within and beyond your business
By drawing on integrated thinking and linking this to emerging and innovative initiatives such as circular economy and just transitions, CSV supports businesses to mitigate social and environmental risk and to build their reputation.
Creating Sustainable Value for
Society
CSV works with civil society groups to build capacity to monitor, learn from, report on, build partnerships for and take action to ensure greater sustainability within the water, energy and food system. This includes supporting citizen-based water quality monitoring, just transitions within these sectors, waste reduction and the reconfiguration of supply chains.
Key service offerings:
- Monitoring, evaluation, reporting and learning (MERL) processes linked to citizen science particularly in the management of catchments and water resources
- The development of Just Transition frameworks that recognise and develop the capacity of civil society groups to participate in and influence the distribution of social, environmental and economic benefits during systemic change
- Using emerging web and mobile phone technologies to monitor water quality and reduce food waste
- Reporting on and profiling citizen-based sustainability initiatives to enable greater impact and support
By supporting a deeper understanding of citizen-based sustainability initiatives through monitoring, evaluation, research and reporting, CSV works with civil society groups to support social change. This includes a focus on participatory and expansive learning processes that build the capacity to bring about just transitions in specific sectors while simultaneously supporting broader transformational change at a societal level. Our expertise in reporting on and profiling civil society work contributes to highlighting the substantial contribution that civil society makes to creating a world that is safe and just.
Creating Sustainable Value for
GOVERNMENT
CSV seeks to work with government to build the frameworks and capacity to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (UN) . This includes just transitions in the way that we manage water, energy and food systems for the sustainable benefit of all. Central to this offering is the recognition that building both the supply of and the demand for green skills will require systemic change in the provision of training and a deeper commitment to building a sustainable economy at multiple levels.
Key service offerings:
- Identification of opportunities to create sustainable value while simultaneously fulfilling the requirements outlined in the BBBEE codes
- Development or sourcing of skills development programmes that are customised to create sustainable value for your specific business
- Working with your business to support new enterprise and supplier development with a particular emphasis on creating sustainable value throughout your supply chain
- Creating a CSI strategy that builds sustainable value for your business through enhanced social and environmental impact
By locating skills development within the higher education and training frameworks and focussing on workplace based learnerships and accredited training, CSV provides an advisory service to government institutions committed to building green skills, creating green jobs and expanding the green economy.
CSV seeks to work with business, government and civil society to build green skills for an economy that is low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive.
Selection of Project Publications
Meet the Team
Mike Ward
Creating Sustainable Value
As the director and founder of CSV, Mike Ward draws on over 25 years of experience in the sustainability sector. Mike is a Chartered Director (SA) and has served as an executive and non-executive director on a number of boards. Mike has worked in South Africa and Sweden, and has developed and implemented sustainability related capacity building programmes throughout sub-Saharan Africa as well as in Sweden, India and China. He has a Master’s in International Environmental Science (Lund University, Sweden) and a MBA from Henley Management College (UK/SA). After 20 years in one of SA’s oldest and largest environmental NGOs (WESSA), Mike now works both nationally, in collaboration with NGOS, government, business and universities, and internationally as a member of a UN Advisory Committee on sustainable lifestyles and education. Mike’s current work includes consulting to the World Bank on Just Transitions.
Kim Ward
Communicating Sustainable Value
Central to the work on creating sustainable value is the need to conceptualise, produce and disseminate a range of communication and capacity development materials. Kim has a Master’s in Environmental Education (Rhodes University) . She has worked in this field since 1994 in the NGO sector and for the past 15 years as an independent editor and materials developer. Recent work has included a media and communication grant for the USAID-funded AWARD (Association for Water and Rural Development) programme that supports social and ecological resilience in the Oilfants River Basin. She is also a member of the editing and production team for the Southern African Journal of Environmental Education (SAJEE).
Our Partners
CSV works through collaborative partnerships to provide high levels of expertise in the delivery of its services.
Contact
Let’s work together! Please either fill in the contact form or use the contact details below.
+27 (0)33 343 1241
+27 (0)72 753 4653