GRI, Catalan Chambers of Commerce & Catalan Government have initiated the tRanSparÈncia program

GANTSCh Status

About the General Council of the Catalan Chambers of Commerce

GRI and the General Council of the Catalan Chambers of Commerce in collaboration with the Department of Enterprise and Employment of the Generalitat of Catalonia have initiated the tRanSparÈncia program. Modeled on GRI’s Global Action Network for Transparency in the Supply Chain (GANTSCh) Program, the Project aims to implement sustainability management and reporting among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) within the supply chains of large multinational companies.

This is a pioneering project designed to foster greater competitiveness of SMEs in Catalonia. Fostering a new model of relationship between multinational companies based in Catalonia and their SME suppliers, which promotes responsible management practices along the supply chain.

The tRanSparÈncia project provides support to Catalan SMEs by conducting GRI Certified SME training and providing workshops and consultancy to SMEs to start and continue sustainability reporting. SMEs learn how to leverage management systems to measure and manage their sustainability performance, and how to report that performance to their stakeholders through GRI’s Reporting Framework.

Eleven large companies in Catalonia have stepped up to the challenge to mentor their SME suppliers in this project. Throughout 2011, 65 participating suppliers will receive support from sustainability consultants to evaluate and diagnose their practices, to establish improvement plans, management systems and report their progress.

The project and specifically the process the suppliers go through will allow all organizations involved to consolidate the trade relations between SMEs and multinationals, and improve the existing relations between Catalan SMEs through learning and collaboration.

This project is funded by the Catalan Occupation Service (Servei d'Ocupacio de Catalunya, SOC) and the European Social Fund.

Companies participating:

Source: GRI
Note: Josep Maria Canyelles (expert on CSR & promoter of Responsabilitat Global) led the process to get the 11 large companies commited, and now is one of the six experts giving consultancy to the 65 SMEs.