Page 23 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE VOL11

CHANGINGTHE WORLDTHROUGHTHE NEW CSRinnovative“Corporate initiatives such as book donations for pupils in the South provide some positivity for the futureIn August 2014, people were stunned to watch celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Cristiano Ronaldo and former US president George W Bush have buckets of ice water dumped over their heads on social media. They may have had different motivations, but viral videos of these public figures getting soaked encouraged people to donate US$115 million in six weeks. Part of an initiative to promote awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neurological disease that can cause death in two to five years after diagnosis, the “Ice Bucket Challenge” was seen as “slacktivism” by sceptics but contributed much money for medical research and services for patients – a victory for the new CSR.corporate social responsibilityThe last issue of Elite+ introduced the concept of eco-social enterprise. Beset by rampant consumerism, the world is looking for a new business paradigm to help lead the way out of crisis. From the Ice Bucket Challenge to “Made with Code”, an effort by Google to encourage women to be more involved in technological development, innovative corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaigns are emerging every day, giving some reassurance that humans are still striving towards a better society and corporations are not always the bad guy.While most governments are too bureaucratic to implement urgent alternative solutions, the private sector is equipped with technology and efficient management. Professor Prawase Wasi, a Thai activist, proposes an approach that would support more private sector involvement is social issues: “the triangle that moves the mountain”. Likening the long-term difficulties of the nation to a mountain, the approach links government, civil society and business, three parties who must play a key role in saving the nation and the world.(CSR) campaigns are emerging every day, giving some reassurance that humans are still striving towardsa better so”cietyElite+ 21