The role of companies in the construction of sustainable cities


The workshop “Contribution of Companies to the Development of Sustainable Cities”, held at the 2008 Ethos International Conference, was inspired by the work developed by the Our São Paulo Movement, a NGO gathering over 400 civil society organizations aimed at contributing to turn São Paulo into a safer, healthier, more attractive, solidary and democratic city.

“Based on the lessons learned by companies participating in the Our São Paulo Movement, the idea is to develop sustainability and role models”, explains the creator of the Our São Paulo Movement, Oded Grajew. Tereza Cristina Rosa, the workshop coordinator, says that “the movement’s main objective is to build a set of proposals for regulation, self-regulation and government actions for the benefit of fair and sustainable cities”.

Tereza lists what a city should have to be considered sustainable: social equity, work for all with fair income distribution, good urban mobility, adequate level of safety, and good environmental quality.

The workshop was attended by 250 participants who had to devise proposals in eleven theme areas: social work; environment; work and income; transportation and urban mobility; safety; health; budget; culture; education; sports; and housing. The proposals presented will be available at the Ethos Institute for reference. See some of the workshop participants’ suggestions for how the companies can contribute to the development of sustainable cities:

 

Education:

·   Developing a “Company that Educates” certification

 

Environment:

·   Assessing the environmental impacts of their products and production processes.

 

Work and Income:

·   Training employees, their dependants and the surrounding community to generate income.

 

Transportation and Urban Mobility:

·   Providing collaborators with public transportation;

·   Encouraging car pooling among employees;

·   Implementing bike parking lots in the company.

 

Source: Ethos Institute

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