CiYuan held a training and fair for NGOs & Brands to facilitate partnerships in the supply chain
December 7th, 2011
BSR organized a training and fair for NGOs & Brands on partnerships in the supply chain in Guangzhou on November 29. Sponsored by TÜV Rheinland, the event is an important part of BSR’s CiYuan initiative that builds cross-sector partnerships to enhance the value of social investment in China. The training and fair consisted of around 80 participants from NGOs and brands, including: Ann Inc, Averydennison, Burberry, Coach, Disney, Dell, Flextronics, Hallmark, Hitachi, Intel, Marks & Spencer, and Starbucks. A number of NGOs attended including: Brandnu, Equity & Justice Initiative, Facilitators, Giving Hand, Huadan, ICO, Inno, Little Bird Hotline, Marie Stopes International China, NPI, Rural Women, and San Sheng Environment & Development Institute.
The training and fair aimed to help NGOs and brands develop partnerships through sharing case studies, best practices and insights. One major topic that was discussed was the capacity of NGOs and companies to partner, and also the role foundations or others may play in helping build capacity. The six case studies that were shared covered a number of issues related to workers such as managing grievances, engaging workers, improving workers’ life skills, improving workers’ health and protecting the environment through community development. These examples enabled both NGOs and brands to better understand how to develop partnerships, what challenges they may encounter and how to overcome them, as well as what the potential is for further partnerships in the future. NGOs, brands, and foundations were all very engaged during the NGO fair and panel discussion. The participants provided positive feedback after the event and expressed their willingness in having further discussions to find opportunities for collaboration or directly forming partnerships.
BSR’s CiYuan initiative will continue to arrange similar activities and encourages NGOs and brands looking to foster partnerships to download the materials (click "Corporate-NGO Partnerships") from the event and contact the CiYuan team. CiYuan is also planning to carry out a series of round tables on a variety of topics between NGOs and brands on supply chain issues in the future.
