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The green and social consumers

SRI stands for Socially Responsible Investing - a concept, which among other things has resulted in the establishment of several ethical investment funds with the purpose of evaluating the sustainability of businesses based on a number of "negative" and "positive" criteria, so that investors can be guided in their socially responsible investments.

Also among ordinary consumers there is an increasing urge to support social and green initiatives through, among other things, their daily shopping. Hence, a survey from Aalborg University shows that almost 60 % of Danish consumers can be categorized as "political consumers", and hereby constitute a considerable power factor that environmental movements and humanitarian organizations trust in as a shortcut to creating positive changes in the world.

In Denmark there are gradually great opportunities for integrating ethical standpoints with daily consumption:

The Ø-label [Ø stands for Økologisk = Ecological] has for some time ensured the support of ecological farming and production. Likewise, the Max Havalaar-label ensures that suppliers such as coffee farmers etc. get a fair price for their goods.

The Danish company Engodsag.dk [en god sag = a good cause] combines charity with business. By clicking in to www.engodsag.dk consumers can choose the shop where they want to do their web-shopping whilst at the same time choosing a humanitarian organization they wish to support. Then, when they do their shopping the humanitarian organization automatically receives a percentage of the price of the goods - without the goods becoming more expensive for the consumers.

As a customer at, for example, Merkur Bank you contribute to the financial basis for sustainable development projects due to the fact that 80 % of the bank's loans are earmarked for cultural, social or ecological purposes. You can read more about Merkur Bank's business practices in the enclosed (Danish) article or you can read more at www.merkurbank.dk

Links to other ”green and social” banks, investment funds and media:

Danish
Banco Invest, www.banco.dk
J.A.K Andelskasserne, www.jak.dk
Oikos Andelskasse, www.oikos.dk

International
International Association of Investors in the Social Economy, www.inaise.org
Green Futures, www.greenfutures.org.uk
Green Money Journal, www.greenmoneyjournal.com

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Denmark is falling behind in environmental sustainability

Apropos sustainability, the yearly Environmental Sustainability Index 2005 was presented in January this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The report compares the world's countries on various parametres, which altogether make up each country's environmental sustainability.

Our Nordic neighbours Finland, Norway and Sweden are right at the top among the world's 5 most sustainable countries, whereas Denmark is falling behind as number 26 - right after Columbia, Albania and the Central African Republic!

You can read the full report at www.yale.edu/esi

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Inspiratorium presentation Wednesday 8 June

Throughout this Spring I am holding a number of open presentations under the theme "Future Leadership and Worklife". The next and final presentation will be held Wednesday 8 June with focus on The social entrepreneurs and the fourth sector.

Time: hrs. 1800-2100. Doors open at hrs 1730.
Place: Rosendalsgade 11, kld. • 2100 København Ø.
Entrance: 160 kr. per person. Ticket can be purchased at entry.
Sign-up: is recommended due to limited number of seats - sign-up at inspiratorium@taniaellis.dk

The presentation intends to open up for an exchange of knowledge and experience in the form of an open dialogue with the participants.

You can download an invitation here >>
You are welcome to forward this invitation to others with a possible interest in participation.

Welcome!



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Conference on working with joy and change Thursday 2 June

Thursday 2. June "Projekt Arbejdsglæde" [Project Working With Joy] will resume last year's success with yet another conference on working with joy - this year with special focus on change. The conference offers interesting presentations by, among others, ServiceGruppen and Kjaer Group, as well as a variety of 12 different workshops, where you can participate actively.

The conference will take place in BaseCamp in Copenhagen from hrs 0800-1600.

Read more about the conference on www.arbejdsglaede.nu, where you can also sign-up for participation (as subscriber on the Tania Ellis Newsletter you get a 300 kr. discount - just remember to write "Tania Ellis" in the field for "Bemærkninger" [Comments].

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Free workshops at Sankt Helene Friday 3 June

For the third year in a row the Sankt Helene course centre is hosting a whole-day course in the beautiful natural surroundings of Tisvildeleje in Northern Zealand.

During the course of the day 15-20 workshop providers will be presenting appetizers for the courses they offer to businesses and organizations in both the private, public and non-profit sector.

Hereby, it is possible for managers and those responsible for HR to get a lot of new inspiration as well as an opportunity to get an impression of the various providers and their services, and not least a great opportunity to network with colleagues and likeminded.

Participation in the various workshops is free. After five o'clock p.m. you can invite your family for dinner in Restaurant Sofie and for a skumringstur to the holy spring of Sankt Helene. Participation in dinner and twilight trip costs 50 kr. per person. For overnighting guests there is a morning buffet Saturday morning. There is also a chance to feed the resident farm animals. One overnight stay costs 250 kr. per familiy.

You can find more information about Sankt Helene, the workshops and sign-up forms here>>

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Inspiratorium dialogue groups start up in August

In August new dialogue groups will be starting up in Copenhagen. The course consists of five theme meetings of each four hours from August to December 2005. Each meeting includes lectures, presentations, exercises and discussions.

The purpose of the dialogue groups is to lift leadership and work life into a broader perspective in order to create new insights and reference frames that provide inspiration for new work practices.

You can read more about the Inspiratorium™ dialogue groups, programme content etc. (in Danish) here >>

If you are interested in establishing an Inspiratorium™ dialogue group in your local area you are welcome to send an e-mail to te@taniaellis.dk

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The future child institution - a model for sustainable business practices

Project Stjernehaven is the story about a kindergarten, which 4 years ago was a place, where public cuts in staffing and worn down buildings were affecting the staff negatively in terms of daily routines marked by apathy and frustration. All this in turn was also affecting the relations to the 60 children and their parents.

As a result, both board and management of Stjernevejen Kindergarten in the town of Gråsten in South Jutland agreed upon starting to work with the organization's mental and emotional processes, so that the negative spiral with focus on despair and blame could be turned into focus on thinking forward, positively and holistically. Through this work Stjernevejens Kindergarten have - without increasing their budget - achieved the following:

• reduction of sick days among personnel,
• positive psychological work environment præget af engagement, enthusiasm and will to cooperate
• fewer conflicts among the children and less ”scolding”,
• higher customer satisfaction and positive response from partners outside the institution,
• sufficient resources to take in 20 persons with other ethnic backgrounds etc. for activation, job training etc.

Due to these positive results Stjernevejens Kindergarten have taken the initiative to Project Stjernehaven - the development of "The Sustainable Institution", in other word an institution with a holistic approach that takes both the needs of the public, the industry, the employees and the users into account. An institution that is both socially, environmentally, emotionally, professionally and economically sustainable.

The pre-project focuses on the creation of models and framework for developing 1) Sustainable competencies, 2) Sustainable physical surroundings and 3) Sustainable financial operations. These models and frameworks are then to be tested during a trial period at Stjernevejens Kindergarten.

Hence, the purpose of the project is to develop a model that can serve as an exportable precedent for public institutions in Scandinavia, which at the same time can serve as an inspirational model of holistic business practices.

Rolf Jensen's Dream Company, Gråsten Kommune and Nopus under the Nordic Council of Ministers have already expressed their support - but much more is still needed:

1) Participants for 3 think tanks. Here they need everyone from visionary teachers and researchers from the educational world, futurists, family advisers, psychologists and consultants to storytellers, architects, energy advisors, producers of play grounds, politicians, trade unionists etc.

2) Financial support. Here contributions will be welcome not only for the 15-month pre-project but also from companies and organizations willing to sponsor the main project with an annual contribution.

3) Moral support. Spreading information about the project to others who might be interested and other non-financial contributions will also be welcome.

You can read more about the 3 think tanks and Project Stjernehaven (in Danish) here>>

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Organizations wanted for projects on meditation and meaningful work

Business PhD project about meditation as Human Resource Development tool:

Sara Katrine Jandrup Grunwald is looking for organizations that wish to participate in a Business PhD project that is to investigate the challenges and advantages in turning awareness training (meditation) into a part of the culture of a company/department that is dependent on the mental performance of its employees.

Sara Katrine Jandrup Grunwald has previously worked on competency development at Ledernes Hovedorganisation and will be working as project manager in connection with the practical preparations and implementation of the initiative.

The final project form will be conducted in cooperation with the participating organizations. The project is expected to be financed as a business research scolarship, which will mean a limited contribution by the participating organizations.

You can read more about the thoughts behind the project (in Danish) here>>

One-year master project about meaningful work:

Stine Skaarup will shortly graduate in psychology and communication. In connection with her dissertation on meaningful work she is looking for an organization with an interest in investigating into what meaning means for them, and what possibilities and limitations there are of creating more meaningful work in the organization.

The project will thus be focusing on mapping how meaning is perceived in the participating organization, as well as on finding new connections and courses of action for the organization.

Stine already has similar work experiences through her work as a consultant as part of a study project, where she worked with communication, management development and employee resistance to change (see article in Erhvervsbladet 10 January 2005 and Metroxpress 11 January 2005).

There are no financial obligations for the participating organization .

You can read more about the project here>>

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Success for project "Keep your working ability"

In my newsletter of August 2004 you could read about physiotherapist Anni Vindnæs and her project "Keep your working ability", a project about movement learning [bevægelseslæring] aimed at persons in the labour force with pain problems in neck, shoulders, back and legs, conducted in the companies Thor Fisk in Hvide Sande and Vestas in Lem.

Both projects have now been completed with great success due to the fact that it has been proved that it indeed is possible to remove pain with very few means. At the same time it has proved that the training of employee groups, has resulted in a daily body consciousness that prevents work injuries.

The two projects have been documented on an ongoing basis with film, midway evaluations as well as with a final written report. The report from the project at Thorfisk can be downloaded (in Danish) via www.det-angaar-os-alle.dk. Furthermore, the monthly magazine Lederne is this month bringing an article with interviews of managers and employees at Thorfisk about their outcome of the project.

Simiilar courses are now also available for other companies with an interest in this kind of preventive work. You can read a further description of the courses in the newsletter from August 2004 >>

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Tania Ellis :: Skt. Peders Straede 24 :: 1453 Copenhagen K :: Tel 26252295 :: te@taniaellis.dk :: www.taniaellis.dk