Through a series of workshops, to which key local stakeholders are invited to join, the main project topics are defined, responsibilities assigned and a timeline is set. This method gives voice to community members who define the priority projects, realize how to cooperate and where to search for support. It promotes ownership and helps guaranteeing its sustainability without having to rely on one or two main sponsors, after investment time is over. Case: Ortopolis Barroso
In order to decide on which project to invest or to request and apply for the appropriate interventions, development aid organizations and private investors in the Third Sector need highly structured cases to show the plausibility of their plans and interventions. The project and investment impact assessment tool aims at the development and implementation of management processes to systemize the monitoring, steering and evaluation of the sponsor/donor contribution towards achieving project`s main objective. Our method brings in four dimensions: economic (purchase power increase and impact on local economy); social (how the project is perceived by the community and project members); ethical (from the perspective of being perceived as fair); and emotional (how community and project members feel about it). These dimensions are checked with benefited groups and includes how the project outcomes get reflected in the context it is embedded, from a network added value perspective. Case: Coffee cooperative Alto Palomar (Peru)
Several times, managers and coordinators of existing social or environmental projects contact team members of Ecoetico to request support to bring in new partners/sponsors. Or, along the visits to communities and producers organizations or during training sessions through partner schools, we luckily learn about projects that could be enhanced by establishing extra-network connections. Based on a methodology which evaluates in each project: a) community involvement and ownership; b) current partners; c) link to local and external networks; d) timeline; e) and both action and investment plan, Ecoetico endorses and includes them in a Projects for Partnership portfolio.
Build-up brands for environmental businesses and bio/fair trade products - brand essence model based on: stakeholders` insights; positioning; brand personality - functional and emotional benefits; visual identity, packaging and key messages.
- Search for prospective customers and support as a commercial deal facilitator.
- Moderation and tools for strategic plan (economic, environmental and social) structuring. Support during plan implementation.
Prospective suppliers sourcing and producer groups development: identification of new products for commercialization (conventional, functional food, tropical fruits, seeds and ethnic handicraft).
- Build-up brands for environmental businesses and bio/fair trade products - brand essence model based on: stakeholders` insights; positioning; brand personality - functional and emotional benefits; visual identity, packaging and key messages.
Case: Tropical fruits producers sourcing in Brazil
Build-up brands for environmental businesses and bio/fair trade products - brand essence model based on: stakeholders` insights; positioning; brand personality - functional and emotional benefits; visual identity, packaging and key messages.
We support companies developing their Sustainable Development Reports following the UN-GRI - Global Reporting Initiative.
Assuming that privately owned Foundations and Institutes should be a reflection of the mother-company socio-environmental vocation as well as the main channel through which their social investment is strategically managed, we offer solutions to all phases involved in building up such organizations.
Environmental Business Brand Development
Case: Environmental Business Brand Development and Positioning
Sustainable Development Report
Stakeholder Engagement
Community Relations
Build-up Institutes and Foundations
The process includes: legal entity definition (Institute or Foundation), brand development (identity and core messages), management and key-employees involvement, participative definition about the main topic and target group to be supported by the organizations, getting front-line people involved, and action planning. We also prepare internal teams for the Institute/Foundation launch and management.
see Instituto Holcim case
International Volunteering
Company inclusion in the Community
Ortopolis Barroso
Coffee Cooperative Alto Palomar (Peru)
Tropical fruits producers sourcing in Brazil
Environmental Business Brand and Positioning.
Sustainability strengthens communications
Instituto Holcim
Experience, Presence, Passion, Ecoetico is the result of a joint effort of professionals with complementary backgrounds and personal and professional experience in the areas of private investment in the third sector, grass roots development, communication as both a media to report performance and as an inclusive tool through ICTs/ social media, and inclusive trade
One of our strongest differentials is our capability of navigating between cultures. We are effectively in the spot, be it the communities, producers cooperatives or consumer markets. In many cases we act as bridging actors, facilitating the intermediation between groups different needs and priorities understanding in South America and Europe.
We apply a methodology based on integrative thinking and systemic management, which produce out of the box ideas - be it for the project main topic or the network behind it - and transformative results. By constantly comparing the business culture and the socio-environmental reason-to-be with the sort of supported project, and promoting the dialogue between them, there is alignment among the investment, the business focus and society`s engagement.
As part of a learning process, the results and experiences acquired in the projects can be linked back to leadership training, as a competency. We partner with international and local universities and bring a solid mix of professional with academic background.
Bridging networks between Europe and Latin America, Angelica Rotondaro`s main focus is the positioning of environmental products and the (re)-structuring of distribution channels, and product/brand development for fair and organic products.
As a senior branding consultant for a Swiss company, she developed an environmental business brand (concept, design, positioning) - Geocycle - and coordinated its implementation in Asia, Spain and the USA.
Previously she worked in marketing/communications for companies like Kodak, Bayer, ABB, Bechtel and Holcim, in Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Switzerland.
She was the co-founder and executive vice-president of an Institute for private investment in the third sector (Instituto Holcim), and coordinated the first round of a Sustainable Construction Awards for Latin America.
Angélica works as a facilitator in establishing commercial relationships between Brazil, Mercosur and Europe, as a result of a typical Brazilian melting pot, the family background in the agribusiness (coffee farm), with a passion for bio and fair trade products and her experience in branding.
Angélica is a doctoral candidate at the University of St.Gallen, with the research topic `Cultural relativism in the commercial relationship between small agricultural producer organizations in Brazil and their Swiss buyers`. She is also the director of the University representation office for South America, based in São Paulo.
Wally Hannemann is a technology affectionate very well prepared to help and support any customer need for design, definition, and implementation of : Social Media Tools and Strategy; Conventional and new technologies for Webpages; SEO; Network Design; Performance Optimization; Wireless; WI-FI; WIMAX implementation and requirements analysis.
From 2000 to 2004 Wally was Telecom Manager for Latin America Region for Eastman Kodak, when he had under his management LA 13 countries engineers with telecom. duties like: Voice Network, Data Network, VMX (voice messaging) Video Conference, LAN, WAN, MAN,, etc.. During all this period Wally had received training and specialization in the various I.T.C. areas including all technical information related to his role as well as all management processes related to is position.
Before that, in 1995, he was assigned by Eastman Kodak to act as Telecommunication Site Network Coordinator for Rochester`s sites in US. Had the opportunity to deal with projects, groups of engineers, deal with vendors like CISCO, Nortel, IBM, AT&T as many others to setup cost effective and optimum IT environment for US Kodak users.
Wally has been involved and acting in the Information Technology arena for more than 35 years. Initiate in the yearly IBM Mainframe days, had learned many mainframe most common programming languages like, assembler, RPG, Fortran, Cobol, PL/I and others.
He was involved with the implementation of one of the first BSC synchronous connections links inter-cities in Brazil, studying, configuring, analyzing and implementing solutions for Eastman Kodak.
Before Kodak, he was dealing with the first Apple PC (Personal Computer) importation process in Brazil. Had to deal with vendor, brokers, importation process and all Government departments due to importation restriction applied to Brazil at that time. Had the opportunity to follow all the Personal Computers technology grow from the old Z80 microprocessor until current available models. Is very much familiar with the PC`s operating systems like: DOS, Apple OS, Windows, Unix, Linux, Android and all the Mobile OS as well.
Wally is an ICT (Information and Communications Technology) and Social Media evangelist ready to help, orient and point customers to a right and better solution.
Address Info:
Rua Breves, 263
São Paulo –SP
04645-000 - Brazil
Tel:+55 11 2476 4212
Email:contact@ecoetico.com.br
Although the city of Barroso is located on the historic touristic route from Barbacena to São João del Rey (in Minas Gerais), it is the only industrial town in that region, as a result of some governmental initiatives in the 1950s.
The city of Barroso, 2003
Envisioning the future: exercise outcomes
Representatives from different groups of interest attended the first future planning Workshop in Barroso in Oct 2003
Interviewing coffee producer during harvest time in the Central Peruvian Amazon
Meeting with Alto Palomar Cooperative Steering Committee
Prof. Dr. Urs Jaeger with producers from Valle de Cunas
In May 2011 we were approached by a group of European buyers who would like to strengthen their relationship with existing producer groups and to develop new tropical fruits groups, formed by small producers, for tropical fruits juices.
A two months project was developed and involved: identification of new producer groups; production potential in five different Brazilian sub-regions; identification of key current players; visit to producing sites and next steps strategy recommendation.
In the 1990s, an international company started in the industrial waste management services as a complementary activity to its core business. The professionals involved took a leading position in terms of promoting the technology of co-processing, developed several researches with top universities, and participated in national groups for policy definitions about solid waste management.
By 2006, this business had grown increasingly and several of these environmental services business units had already developed their own brands, which were the face to the market without the connection to the mother-company.
The company had to decide how to position this environmental services business both internally and in terms of its business/brand portfolio.
After several meetings among steering committee members, the solution was to develop a brand specifically for this business, which would then be endorsed by the mother-company.
The applied process involved the analysis of this service`s triple bottom-line, workshops for the brand positioning and promise, a naming process including its meaning and pronunciation in different languages as well as the possibility of applying for the trade mark and web domain registration in 80 countries.
The next step involved the visual identity development (logo and brand directives), and a jointly implementation in Asia, Europe, USA and some countries in Central America. For more information about this brand look&feel and positioning, please access: www.geocycle.com
Instituto Holcim
Although the company had been investing in socio-environmental projects since the 70`s, this activity was developed on occasional basis, without a systematic control or clear focus.
In 2002, Holcim Brasil top management team decided to form an organization which would be the umbrella for all its investment in socio-environmental projects in the communities where the company was located.
The process involved several steps: a) identify the corporate vocation to define the main target groups and topics; b) define the most appropriate legal entity (Institute, Foundation, etc); c) analyze past investment and consolidate budget (from the regional units to the new organization); d) develop Community Advisory Boards and promote workshops to refine investment focus and validate changes; e) hire professional people for the newly established Institute; f) search for partnerships with local authorities; g) define key performance indicators; i) start projects implementation.
As a result of such process, the decision was for forming an Institute, focused on grass roots development, in the communities where the company was located, and that projects should be defined and built-up together with community members. This was, for example, the case of Ortopolis Barroso Program
Program name
Family farming - self-sustainability and generation transfer through connectivity, better financial capital management and innovation.
Program Objective
This educational program aims at supporting the young generation of small agricultural producers to develop the skills to improve their bargaining power in the value chain by better positioning themselves towards customers and financing institutions or searching for complementary activities and products.
It has got three main focus areas:
Family-farming sustainability by supporting them to develop the commercial capabilities to increase their power in the supply chain;
Next generation transfer (keep the youngsters as managers of their families properties)
Environmental - preserving the Pantanal biome through its macro-region (preventing it follows the same type of devastation going on in the Amazon)
Target group
The next generation of the small-holder property managers - teenagers attending the local technical school or a graduation program in Agroecology.
Graduate Students of Agroecology
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The starting point is to analyze how the family perceives and values the profession of agricultural producer. To be an agricultural producer today is something rewarding or a frustrated choice?
Is the current curriculum being implemented by the technical schools and universities in the country side enough to support the young generations to get their projects structured and to succeed in the country side?
Ideally, the family should get the youngster involved in the farm management, because when it is only the father that coordinates the financial revenue, the children lose interest.
Olacio Komori, Aug. 2011 (elected executive director of EcoJus and APOMS, and a family farmer with an organic coffee plantation) |
Know some of our sponsors and Partners:
We collaborate with the University of St.Gallen Cooperative-Lab Platform by opening positions for young entrepreneurs in our projects with SMEs and in the development of new projects, always in coordination with local groups. Link to the HSG CooperativeLab
Ecoetico supports pro bono the group GRIFE (Feminine Inspiration Group) in the development of new customers in Europe and in the identification of volunteers and supporters for design workshops related to customer preference and fashion tendencies in Europe.
GRIFE is formed by a group of women from Alagoinhas, Bahia, which in 2000 got together to discuss and define how their artistic capabilities could be turned into artwork to be sold to the internal market. The main objective was to develop a commercial activity which would bring women empowerment through income generation.
In 2009, with the support of Instituto Marista de Solidariedade (IMS), the group attended several training sessions about organizational planning. As a result, in 2010 GRIFE was legally institutionalized as an association.
GRIFE`s members have a high environmental consciousness and their products include several of the local nature-based materials like banana straw and coconut blanket. They also produce textile colored with a hot-sugar method, with very vivid colors.
Contact:
Neide Alves (General Coordinator)
neidedagrif@gmail.com
+55 75 9933 0160
Or
contact@ecoetico.com.br
Cases
Contact
Read more...
In the 1970s, with the implementation of a cement company by a national group, the dream job was to work in this industry. It was a family type of business and the relationship with the community followed a hierarchic and paternalistic style.Due to the plant acquisition by an international group in 1996, technology changes and a decreasing market demand, in 2003, there were 420 workers (among direct and indirect positions) out of the 1,500 job positions of the 1980s.
Even being aware of the changes, the population still waited for the company`s answers to its ever-increasing problems. "Everybody watched as things happened; nobody accepted the changes and started to work. Those few who did it were distrusted. The city did not accept local businessmen very well", explains Celio Reis, "and did not believe initiatives might succeed".
The company, through is Institute, was the starter of a process for the re-definition of other economic activities that could be developed by Barroso citizens. At the beginning a series of workshops named "Encounters to build the future of Barroso" were organized, and all main opinion leaders were invited to join.
Several exercises about future perspectives, together with a needs assessment, as pointed by community members, were performed, applying participative planning methodology. Out of these, nine priority topics were defined and organized in the form of sub-programs, for each the key local opinion leaders were selected to coordinate.
Ortopolis (orto=correct + polis= city) Barroso started as a project from the Instituto Holcim and counted on the support of an external agent, who brought the method of systemic planning, but also the needed and true neutrality to promote the so needed free and open discussions about how the community members could take the lead of their own future.
The first planning workshop took place in Barroso in October 2003. Right now, after 9 years, the Institute and the cement company have become one of the supporting partners, but what by then was a project, has turned into the town main management system, what is a proof of its self-sustainability and can be checked in the link http://www.ortopolisbarroso.org.br
class="current">Case Study Ortopolis Barroso Program_Global Compact Report.