What state is responsibility communication currently in at Pirkanmaan kierrätys ja työtoiminta ry, and how is it intended to be developed in the future?
Responsibility communication as a challenge
Like other small, and why not larger, companies and associations, Pirkanmaan kierrätys ja työtoiminta ry also had a problem: the work is done with responsibility in the lead and developing the different aspects of responsibility, but hardly anything has been communicated about it. When it comes to communication, a lack of resources can also become a stumbling block, especially for a small association. However, the pressure to communicate about responsibility and to make activities transparent is constantly growing, both from customers and from other stakeholders. That is why it would be a good idea to start investing in responsibility communication already now. Although responsibility reporting is currently required only of large listed companies, the requirements may over the years extend to smaller organizations as well, in which case the significance of the groundwork already done is further emphasized.
So what exactly is responsibility communication?
Responsibility communication means, put simply, communicating about an organization's responsibility. Responsibility, in turn, is typically divided into three different areas: social responsibility, economic responsibility and environmental responsibility. When starting responsibility communication, it is worth familiarizing yourself with each of these areas and considering how they connect to the organization's activities. For Pkt ry, social responsibility is best seen in the employment activities, which aim to prevent social exclusion and long-term unemployment. Economic responsibility creates a sustainable foundation for, among other things, the continuity of the employment activities and, in turn, also improves the economic position of individual people. The third area, environmental responsibility, is perhaps the most obvious of them all: the entire association's business is based on enabling reuse and recycling.
Developing responsibility communication at Pirkanmaan kierrätys ja työtoiminta ry
Developing responsibility communication has been considered within the association for some time already. When Sointu Härkönen, a student of sustainable development at Häme University of Applied Sciences, contacted Pkt ry to inquire about a possible traineeship position, common ground was found quickly, and it was decided that the traineeship would focus on developing the association's responsibility communication. In the project carried out during the traineeship, the aim is to bring more extensive information about the different areas of the activities' responsibility to the association's website, as well as to increase responsibility communication in social media channels too. A completely separate section on responsibility is to be created on the website, and under it, for example, key figures about the association's activities will be gathered, as well as information about all three areas of responsibility regarding the association. The project has already gotten off to a good start, and the results can be admired by early 2023 at the latest. So stay tuned, because over the coming months big strides forward will be taken in responsibility communication!