Large Businesses
Through our Sustainable Business Network we work with over 100 of Ireland’s top businesses across all sectors: from financial services and IT to pharmaceutical and FMCG. We support our members with one-to-one advisory services on environmental and social sustainability and also provide the only peer to peer network for sustainability professionals in Ireland.
Small to Medium Businesses
The backbone of this economy, we offer online resources to companies of all sizes in Ireland and we partner with organisations to support them with their sustainability.
Business Associations
We partner with many other business networks to promote sustainability and share best practice. They include: Chambers Ireland, Cork Chambers, IBEC, NSAI, The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SFA and ISME.
International Organisations
We are the official Irish Global Partner of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
This partnership helps us maintain our proactive leadership position on sustainability and keep our members ahead of the curve. WBCS is a CEO-led organisation of forward-thinking companies that galvanizes the global business community to create a sustainable future for business, society and the environment.
We represent Ireland at CSR Europe, the largest corporate responsibility network in Europe.
In addition to our representation in Europe, we also have sister Business in the Community organisations in Northern Ireland and in the UK.
Government Agencies
We have been central in the development of Ireland’s National Action Plan on CSR, This is under the auspices of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. This CSR Plan represents a milestone in raising the profile of CSR in Ireland. A CSR Stakeholder Forum was established under the objectives of the Plan. A key objective of the Forum is to raise awareness of the benefits of CSR to business and to all stakeholders in society. BITCI are a key member of the Forum and the dedicated website is www.csrhub.ie.
In addition our Employment and Education programmes are partially funded by government agencies so we work closely with them on sharing impacts of our work.
Community engagement and participation is an intrinsic element of being a responsible business. Through our core advisory services, we support our BITCI member companies to maximise their positive impact on the community and voluntary sector which includes engaging with community organisations for various partnerships.
Therefore we in BITCI engage with charities and NGOs to identify community needs which can be supported through corporate partnerships. The partnerships can range from one-off engagements related to volunteering – both skilled and practical needs (see below)* – to longer term partnerships with significant resources to tackle a social issue. If you have a suitable project or opportunity that you would like to discuss, we would be delighted to hear from you.
We hold a quarterly community clinic in our offices in Phibsborough (you can dial in remotely if unable to attend) where we give a presentation on best practice corporate community partnerships and also allow time to discuss your corporate engagement opportunity on a one-to-one basis.
The next clinic will take place on Tuesday April 28th 2020 from 9:30am and you can register here.
In advance of the clinic it would be preferred if you have a specific project in mind and a high level draft proposal that we can use as the basis of our discussion.
*Skills based volunteering- such as HR, Marketing, Finance, Information Technology, Legal and Strategic/Business planning.
Practical Help – such as improving the environment through clean-ups, gardening and maintenance, sorting donations in warehouse, spring cleaning, preparing packs and other work associated with an event, painting and decorating of buildings.
Business Action on Education is our initiative aimed at matching schools with businesses around Ireland.
Our Business Action on Education is delivered to schools under the name, The Schools’ Business Partnership.
We have two primary school initiatives and five for post primary schools. Our primary school programme is called Time to Read & Time to Count and post primary programmes are World of Work, Mentoring, Management Excellence for Principals,Management Excellence for Teachers and STEM- Seeing is Believing
Once a school is matched with a local company, a dedicated programme coordinator works with both parties to ensure an efficient and impactful programme.
Visit Business Action on Education for more detailed information.
We also work with third level institutions all over the country and offer guest lectures, research opportunities and access to our materials.
Through our Business Action on Employment programmes, EPIC and Ready for Work, we help people to find jobs utilising the powerful reach of businesses to help with job preparation skills and work placements.
Business Action on Employment is our initiative for workplace diversity and inclusion.
Business Action on Employment is delivered via our three programmes, EPIC, Ready for Work and RISE which work with immigrants, refugees and people with high barriers to employment and help them to find jobs and access training and education.
EPIC works with immigrants and refugees and features specific training on English for Employment, IT Skills and information sessions on a variety of themes to facilitate networking, understanding of the Irish system and to promote social integration. Topics covered include employment rights and entitlements, social welfare, access to health and equality and diversity in the work place. Job seekers can contact us directly to avail of the service.
RISE works with refugees helping them to understand, appreciate and integrate successfully into Irish society and to facilitate language acquisition. A longer term goal is to support the participants progress to education or employment.
Ready for Work helps people with high barriers to employment and guarantees a supported work experience in a company. Referral agencies can refer clients to us to avail of the service.
Visit Business Action on Employment to find out more.