ESG Imperative Project

Learn about Civil Society Media's ESG Imperative Project

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The ESG Imperative Project was born out of our annual conference by the same name. ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance, representing a framework for assessing and reporting an organisation’s impact across these three key areas.

This page brings together our resources to help your organisation on its ESG journey and details the work that Civil Society Media is undertaking on our own journey.

Resources to help with your ESG journey
Recent in-depth articles
Civil Society Media's ESG journey
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Resources to help with your ESG journey
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Print & Digital

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Events

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Training

Civil Society Media is committed to developing resources to aid you in your ESG journey through our editorial content, events and training portfolio. 

Our flagship event for this project, the ESG Imperative was launched in 2022. From navigating the complex world of responsible investment, through to developing net zero targets and tackling the complexities of reporting and good governance, there is a myriad of practical and ethical decisions facing today’s leaders. This one-day conference offers practical insight and advice, demonstrating the importance and urgency of the ESG agenda, and leaving you better-equipped to take meaningful action

Read on to find further resources. 
 

Environment

Social

  • Current resources: 

    • EDI training series - upcoming courses on anti racism, menopause and neurodiversity in the workplace
    • Training: How to recruit and retain a diverse board
    • Employment law training
    • Safeguarding training

    View the training calendar

Governance

  • Current resources: 

    Governance & Leadership magazine - Governance & Leadership covers all the major issues relevant to the roles of charity trustees and executive leaders, presenting topics from both perspectives. 

    Trustee Exchange - the UK's foremost event for charity trustees, executive leaders and anyone interested in how charities are governed

    Trustee Training - a full calendar of training courses for charity trustees and professionals 

     


Recent In-depth content
You will need to be a subscriber to Charity Finance or Governance & Leadership to access some of the following content. 


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Civil Society Media's progress to date...

We are committed to our own ESG journey and have multiple projects underway with this objective. Read on to find out what we have already actioned and what we are currently working towards. 

Sustainability at conferences and events

  • We are well underway on our journey to reduce our carbon footprint at events. 

    Measures undertaken to date: 

    • Offering fully vegetarian menus at all of our one-day conferences. 
    • Measuring the carbon impact of the menu at our annual Charity Awards and choosing a vegetarian or low carbon option.
    • Selecting venues that are leading in sustainability and prioritising this in future venue selection. 
    • Going paperless—our event app will provide the programme, presentations, and delegate list, replacing traditional printed materials.
    • Using fully recyclable badges—please hand in your badge and lanyard at the end of the day so they can be recycled and reused.
    • Measuring the carbon footprint of our events and identifying opportunities to reduce our emissions further.


    We are trialling a partnership enabling us to offset the carbon emissions produced at our ESG Imperative conference, and make this a net positive event. We have partnered with One Tribe, an ICRO-accredited organisation, ensuring that only certified carbon offsets from internationally recognised registries are used to meet the highest standards of environmental integrity. Civil Society Media staff chose to support the Safe Water Scheme in Rwanda for this event, which maintains water wells and essential infrastructure to provide clean water, reducing the need for inefficient fires to purify water.

    View our retirement certificate

     

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

  • This is an ongoing worsktream at Civil Society Media, and we have been partnering with Be the Riot to ensure this remains a priority within the organisation. 

    Recent actions undertaken include: 

    • Increase the small charity rate for access to our products from charities with income up to £250k, to income of up to £1m.
    • Internal review of our current bursary scheme 
    • Introduced annual audits of visible diversity across all of our content producing products (editorial and events)
    • Develop an optional diversity monitoring form for contributors in order for us to increase our awareness and understanding of how protected characteristics are being represented by the contributors at our conferences and in our magazines.
    • EDI training sessions for all staff
    • Introduction of bi-monthly wellbeing workshops to support staff and help to foster a culture of belonging
    • Investing in our annual Charity Awards programme to ensure it is accessible and inclusive to all. Some extra measure include; no fees for charities to enter, no fees for shortlist to attend, live streaming the Ceremony online, investing in subtitles and BSL signer on the night.
    View our Events Commitment Statement

     

Sustainability and our magazines

  • We made the decision in 2020 to go plastic free with all of our magazine delivery. 

    We are proud to partner with Micropress Printers who are FSC® certified, ISO 14001, and ISO 9001 certified and are proactively investing in renewal technologies to further support their environmental initiatives. They currently generate nearly 25% of their total power consumption from solar. Over the last year they have carbon balanced 559 tonnes of CO2. This initiative has enabled the World Land Trust to protect and restore 106,912 square meters of critically threatened tropical rainforest. 

    All our paper is sourced from suppliers certified by the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) and the Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). These certifications ensure that the paper we use originates from responsibly managed forests and other controlled sources that comply with strict environmental, social, and economic standards. In addition, we also employ materials such as vegetable ink, recycled stock, non-toxic binding glues, and biodegradable laminates.

    We are continuously reviewing our data to ensure there is minimal wastage and any undelivered magazines are identified and rectified. 

Core functions at Civil Society Media

  • We are about to underatke a substantial re-design of our premises in Clapham to raise our EPC rating to a B by Spring 2025. 

    The UK government's goal is to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and they view improving EPC ratings as a key part of this. The government has plans to increase the minimum EPC rating for commercial properties to C by 2025, and then to B by 2030 so we will be well ahead of this target. 



If you are interested in finding out more about any of the resources or projects listed above, please get in touch: 

Events director: [email protected]
Editorial team: [email protected]
Sales team: [email protected]


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