CSR360

Posted: Friday 10 July 09, 9.33am GMT

Of course, time spent in Buenos Aires is incomplete without a parillada on an estancia, and I was invited one Saturday for an amazing barbecue in the country. Lunch under the trees, challenged by the size of the steaks and the irresistible flow of Argentinean wine, was an unforgettable experience, although I suspect the wine may have blurred some of the finer detail.

We also spent time with the team at Amartya, a very bright and committed group and they are a great asset to CSR360. And I had the pleasure of meeting Alicia Rolando, Director of IARSE, again at the launch of a very fine piece of research on social entrepreneurship in the most disadvantaged communities.

Uruguayan partner Deres is just across the Rio de la Plata and it was a great opportunity to visit Eduardo Shaw, their CEO. Having flown to BA I felt it was time to limit the carbon footprint so I took the ferry across from BA to Colonia and a two hour bus ride down to Montevideo. We had lunch in a fine downtown restaurant and I discovered that the quickest way to please your host in Uruguay is to assert that their steaks are even better than in Argentina. I know Maria Jose, our very own Argentinean colleague will never forgive this.

Being on the continent, the opportunity to visit Chile was too good to miss. With Rafael Quiroga, CEO of CSR360 partner Accion RSE, we were able to meet with the Board of the Chilean British Chamber of Commerce and agree joint actions which will include participation in the Business Leaders’ Group on Climate Change, and the launch of the May Day programme, scheduled for September in Santiago. It is supported by a number of major enterprises, four of whom attended the May Day event in London last month.

We have an excellent group of partners in Santiago, and I met the staff of Gestion Social, and visited a number of companies with CEO Javier Zulueta, including Unilever, LAN Airlines, and Essbio, a major water company. Javier seems to have the idea that I am fond of pisco sours and I admit to doing nothing to disabuse him.

Then two excellent meetings with Maia Seeger, CEO of SustentaRSE, and her President, lawyer Juan Carlos Urquidi. The focus was principally environmental, covering glacier depletion and its social and commercial consequences, and the protection of native forests in Southern Chile.

Maia and an old friend, Mariela Vallejos, formerly Press Secretary to the British Embassy and now a full time journalist with weekly la Nacion del Domingo, were kind enough to accompany me in the bus to Valparaiso, a World Heritage site, and one of the most amazing towns I have visited. In addition to astonishing views, it has la Sebastiana, one of three museums dedicated to poet Pablo Neruda, and a Saturday flea market where abetted by my friends’ bargaining skills, I came away with some old iron implements of unclear usage but which make excellent found sculptures. I did pay for lunch…

Back from Valparaiso, a very good meeting and lunch (this time they paid) with Yanina Kowszyk and Damien Delfosse from Forum Empresa, our partner for the America’s region.

Then to Sao Paulo for very positive meetings with partners IDIS and Instituto Ethos. Marcia Woods, CEO of Ethos, organised a meeting with staff and companies where we were able to explore in detail how CSR360 works, and to look at ENGAGE in Brazil. At Ethos I met with Tabata Marchetti and Joao Gilberto and also had the pleasure of meeting Ethos Vice-President Ricardo Young, but nor for long, as he was moving office and seemed to be moving the desk himself. Real leadership!

Finally, before returning to the UK after 5 weeks away, the jewel in the crown – Maria Jose’s wedding to Rick back in Buenos Aires. An amazing event but I am sure she will have albums of pics to show everyone.

David.