The Value of Collaboration in Sustainability

The business contribution is core to Europe moving towards a sustainable future. However, sustainability is no longer about an individual company’s management, but it is about the entire eco-system and is only possible if implemented through strengthening local communities.

This month, we talked with Maria Alexiou, Group ESG Senior Advisor at Titan Cement, about the importance of collaboration to advance corporate sustainability and reach the objectives of the European Green Deal. The interview is part of “The Sustainability Agenda Towards 2030”, a new series of monthly interviews with CSR Europe’s Board Members to shed light on key CSR challenges and how leading companies are turning threats into opportunities.

2030 is getting closer, and the time to reach the 17 Sustainable Development Goals is slowly running out. In your opinion, what are the main challenges lying ahead for companies?

Each of the 17 Goals is an urgent call for action for peace and prosperity to all businesses, sectors, countries, and people. Two are the main challenges we are facing, especially for companies. The first one is that time is running out, and we are all still not moving in the same direction, acting together to meet the targets we have committed to achieve since 2015.

Time for the ancient Greeks was not only the God of Risk but also of opportunity. This is really the second challenge that businesses currently face: the lack of skills and competencies to understand sustainability challenges as opportunities. In other words, look beyond compliance and be proactive in this decade, innovate, differentiate, and become a catalyst for system and market transformation.

Based on your experience at Titan Cement, what is the starting point to shift towards a resilient, carbon-neutral, digital economy?

In my opinion, it all starts with the harmonization of international norms and standards to ensure a fair playing field for all. Focus on democracy and the rule of law as a condition for the implementation of any change towards sustainable and inclusive growth. Sustainability, as defined today by the European Union, indicates a new “era of Enlightenment” in which human needs are aligned with the needs of the planet.

We are all one and sustainability is what connects us, not only to the present but also the future. It is for this reason that TITAN - as a Group of companies operating in different countries and local conditions - has focused on collaboration and capacity building for sustainability in the last twenty years. Driven by our values and the purpose to serve humanity’s fundamental needs we acknowledge that only within society we can thrive.

Once a company has laid the foundation for the integration of sustainability within its business model, how can it scale up sustainable solutions that will make systemic transformation possible?

Every company is active and visible within its own eco-system. Every company can have an impact and demonstrate sustainability values and principles, such as openness and transparency, authenticity, and integrity. Mahatma Gandhi taught us to be the change we want to see around us, and this is the way to go to scale up sustainable solutions: make the commitment and focus on what really matters not only in the short term but also in the longer term, be proactive rather than reactive, and serve the purpose instead of the cause. TITAN has invested more than twenty years in embedding sustainability within its business model and value chain and scaling up and multiplying best practices. This has increased the ability of the company to mobilize all available capital, innovate and demonstrate sustainable solutions for different material issues.

How do you see the role of networks in contributing to achieving the SDGs and how do your position CSR Europe’s role vis-à-vis other networks and platforms?

SDG 17 is the goal that remains more challenging in a global context. We still have not achieved the level of consciousness and solidarity required to ensure sustainable and inclusive growth as defined by European Union strategy 2030.

Collaboration is built with trust and shared values and we - at CSR Europe and its network of local National Partner Organizations and at TITAN with its long-standing experience in Greece, Kosovo, Albania, and Serbia amongst others- are blessed with this spirit and privileged to have achieved tangible results in many different occasions. We developed and implemented the European Business Alliance for CSR back in 2007, the European Pact for Youth in 2015, and the European Pact for Sustainable Industry in 2020, joining forces with sector associations to bridge the current gaps on material issues, like biodiversity, diversity and inclusion, innovation, re-skilling and upskilling of people across industries and value chains.

Although we have achieved a lot together in the last two decades, we have more to do. Now, we have the opportunity to raise the bar amongst companies and leaders to increase the positive impact of our individual action by engaging with stakeholders in a marathon for the victory against “our ignorance” or even “our complacency”.

In your opinion, how can a stronger collaboration with our national partner organisations create the levers for impactful sustainability transformation at scale?

We face global challenges whose impact differs across countries and regions. Companies have to adapt and align their purpose and strategy for an impactful transformation process on the ground. At CSR Europe we have a unique combination of capitals, particularly social, human, and intellectual due to its community of corporate members with a global outreach and National Partner Organizations that include companies of all sizes and coming from many different sectors. This allows for the design, coordination, and implementation at both EU and global as well as at the local level.

CSR Europe was from the beginning based on the power of collaboration. This approach has nourished relationships amongst members, multiplying the available resources and ensuring maximum benefits. Moreover, as a community of action involving key stakeholders and peer groups, we are increasing our indirect impact beyond the boundaries of our own community. This is the case of the annual SDG Summit, where CSR Europe’s corporate members and National Partner Organizations work together to expand their collective impact and reach a global, rather than European, audience. This is also the moment where the network demonstrates its maturity in sustainability, with a focus on three common areas of interest: