On Tuesday, November 9, 2021, the CSR Conference 2021 entitled "Social responsibility and sustainability in universities" took place. The conference was held in the Auditorium of the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague.
To meet the needs of the present and using today's resources so that they remain available to future generations is a difficult goal. In order to achieve this goal, it is essential that universities, which are responsible for the healthy development of society, set an example not only with their values and approach, but also with a management system whose operation should be environmentally friendly, socially and culturally just and economically viable.
The world's top universities have been actively dealing with the topic of sustainability for a long time in science, research, teaching and operation, and they publicly declare their knowledge and experience. The concept of sustainable development in the Czech education environment does not have such a long tradition, yet we can observe significant progress in its development. The strategic intentions of universities are increasingly aimed at maintaining a balance between economic, social and ecological interests.
The goal of the conference was to open the topic of implementation of the CSR agenda and sustainability management in the environment of universities. The speeches of the individual speakers covered the topics of the general implementation of CSR in the environment of Czech universities, sustainability measurement, the issue of responsible public procurement and legislative amendments to EU standards for non-financial reporting. The lectures were followed by a panel discussion on the topic of non-financial reporting standards and the future development of CSR and sustainability in the academic environment. The conference concluded with a joint walk through the CZU campus with an explanation of sustainable elements.