All of us at The Natural Step Canada are very pleased to have been recognized recently for our approaches to addressing complex social and environmental challenges. Last week, we received a 2012 Corporate & Community Social Responsibility (CCSR) Award in the "Social Innovation Enterprise" category as an entrepreneurial charitable organization that deploys creative social processes to drive innovation toward sustainable outcomes.

The term "social innovation" refers to both social processes that are innovative, but also to innovations that serve a social purpose. Our colleagues at Social Innovation Generation are a collaborative partnership that does pioneering work in this space in Canada, fostering a wide variety of initiatives to address social and ecological challenges.

A decade of offering sustainability-literacy programs and advisory services for businesses and municipalities in Canada has enabled us to develop effective social processes that lead to more sustainable strategies and outcomes. These processes encourage our partners to take a systemic perspective, create ambitious sustainability visions, and chart a methodical course to move toward desired futures. In doing so, they create real value for their organizations and communities. 

More recently, we have turned our attention to how we can use these skills to heighten our impact through collaborative projects across industry sectors, regions, or other multi-stakeholder systems, facilitating collaboration to address challenges that no single organization can manage alone. This focus will require a step-change in our approach as we explore more complex issues, engage more organizations, establish common ground, and articulate shared interests that diverse stakeholders will partner on. 

The CCSR Award is a welcome assurance that we are on the right track, but we humbly recognize that our work is only just beginning. 

Learn more about our approach to collaborative projects here, or email Brendan Seale at bseale(at)naturalstep.ca for more information.

The CCSR Awards, each sponsored by an academic institution, recognize "outstanding contributions and excellence by individuals and corporations in carrying out and following the core values of social responsibility" and highlight organizations that display "ongoing and unwavering commitment to the achievement and creation of shared value for their organizations and the community".