conference about corporate responsibility for companies and ngos in serbia

On 25th of February 2008 the Pontis Foundation organized the conference Corporate responsibility – exchange of experience between Slovakia and Serbia. It was organized with our Serbian main partner organization SMart Kolektiv at the premises of Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Belgrade.

During the event Slovakian and Serbian companies presented their own experience, contributions and plans in the area of corporate responsibility (CR) but also innovative examples and challenges in implementation of corporate responsibility in their everyday business. The successful examples, specific methods and tools which can help to develop corporate responsibility were presented: Lenka Surotchak (director of Pontis Foundation), Janka Ruzicka (program officer of Pontis Foundation), Neven Marinovic (director of SMart Kolektiv), Denisa Proksova (CSR manager, Philip Morris-Slovakia), Maja Sotra (CSR manager, Philip Morris-Srbsko), Maja Dzelatovic (director of communication in the Holcim company in Serbia). At the conference there were more than 40 representatives from companies, NGOs and the media.

Between 26th to 28th February 2008 we did so-called “business dialogues” in Leskovac, Krusevac and Nis. These meetings were organized with the cooperation of local NGOs Resource Center in Leskovac, Education Center in Krusevac and Resource in Center Nis and hosting companies: Actavis-Zdravlje, Henkel-Merima Philip Morris. The representatives of companies shared information about their activities in the area of corporate responsibility. Janka Ruzicka and Neven Marinovic presented experiences of Slovakian and Serbian companies and introduced new opportunities for cross-sectoral co-operation. These events were attended by representatives of local companies, town halls and media.
A good summary of development of CR in Serbia was done by director of SMart Kolektiv Neven Marinovic who said:” Three years ago talks about corporate responsibility in Serbia had been just a vision and today they are reality!”

These know-how activities are implemented by the Pontis Foundation and our Serbian partners in the frame of long-term project Supporting sustainability of Serbian NGOs using Slovak experience in corporate responsibility. The project is supported by Slovak official development assistance in the frame of Slovak Aid program.

Conference about corporate responsibility in Belegrade:

Business dialogue in Leskovac: