Social sustainability in economic activity refers to actions that support a company’s development in harmony with its environment and, specifically, with people.
It refers to embracing values that foster certain behaviors, such as a respect for nature; maintaining balanced and satisfactory levels of education, training, and awareness; offering support to a country’s population to help them better themselves and maintain a good standard of living; and encouraging these same people to get involved in creating something new within the society of which they are a part today.
What factors should a company consider to be socially sustainable?
Primarily, the balance between the benefits a company derives from its economic activities in a given area and the benefits that the community and society can derive from those activities in terms of employment, economic development, business activities, environmental stewardship, the preservation of cultural practices, and the promotion of community projects, among other things.
Pillars of social sustainability.
There are three fundamental principles that could ensure the social sustainability of projects; these include:
- Ananalytical dimension, which involves assessing and documenting the social context and the project’s likely impacts, both positive and negative;
- Aparticipatory dimension, which involves engaging project stakeholders in a meaningful way; and
- Amanagement dimension in which analysis and participation are integrated into project decision-making and management systems, both during the planning and implementation phases.
What are the benefits of social sustainability for organizations?
There are many benefits, but the most significant one is that they are long-term and, therefore, enduring.
Some of the benefits of implementing social sustainability include:
- It demonstrates transparency regarding its economic activities.
- It fosters a harmonious relationship between the company and the community.
- Projects developed in collaboration with the community are participatory. Therefore, they are more likely to succeed than if they were designed solely by the organization.
- It facilitates public-private partnerships through projects with government agencies, by pooling resources and efforts for the benefit of the community.
- The organization fosters a sense of ownership and/or identification with its activities among the community. As a result, its operations can be sustained over the long term.
AtGDI, we have a variety of sustainability initiatives, such as reusing fabric scraps, incorporating upcycled garments, and protecting the environment and our resources.
We regularly provide training to our employees on how to carry out our activities and future projects with a sustainable vision—not only with regard to the environment, but also with regard to our customers and the community at large.