Director’s Message

Dear readers:

 The special edition of the bulletin “Exito Empresarial” presents CEGESTI´s main projects and contributions to sustainable development during 2011 in Central and South America, as well as in other parts of the world.

Throughout the year 2011, CEGESTI focused particularly on generating capacities in the region in five core areas: businesses and responsible investments, solid waste management, climate change, renewable energy and integrated certifications.

The work developed in these core topics enabled us to assist the regional productive sector, creating capacities in a wide variety of small and medium enterprises which achieved concrete results in the improvement of their economic, environmental and social performance.

The work with government institutions and non-profit organizations enabled us to have an impact on key areas for their productive development.

As a result of these actions, we have generated web conferences, articles and manuals on good practices which are available in our renewed website.

I wish to take this opportunity to thank you for your growing interest in our bulletin, and we hope to continue meeting your expectations during this new year 2012.

Daira Gómez,
Executive Director

HUMAN RIGHTS AND DECENT WORK IN CENTRAL AMERICA

Strengthening Human Rights and Decent Work in Central America

With the purpose of pursuing its contribution to sustainable development, CEGESTI promotes the project “Strengthening Human Rights and Decent Work in Central America”, with the financial support of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The general objective of the project is to promote the improvement of the regional capacities to ensure respect for human rights and decent work, particularly in the productive sector. The project is being developed in four components with specific objectives: 1. Responsible Business Practices. 2. Sustainable Public Procurement. 3. Communication Strategy. 4. Dialogue Generation.

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CLIMATE CHANGE

Carbon Footprint

The Regional Oikocredit Office for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean was able to determine its carbon footprint by measuring the volume of carbon dioxide and by identifying the main emission sources generated by its operations in these countries.

Climate Change Partnership Program

Through the Climate Change Partnership Program (Programa de Aliados Cambio Climático), the companies GlaxoSmithKline and Compañía Nacional de Chocolates (National Chocolate Company) were able to determine the carbon footprint of their respective productive processes in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica´s Third National Communication on Climate Change

The Meteorological Institute of Costa Rica and UNDP conducted a national consultation process through which the project proposal for the Third National Communication was prepared, and in which the priority actions for the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Costa Rica were identified and validated.

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SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

Studies on the generation and composition of solid waste

The municipalities of Desamparados in the province of San José, Belén in the province of Heredia and San Carlos in the province of Alajuela, Costa Rica, conducted the planning and implementation of their respective studies on the generation and composition of ordinary solid waste in the communities they serve.

Good practice study on impact for solid waste management in Central America

A technical revision of the Best Practices Guide for Impact on Solid Waste Management Policies in Central America was conducted during 2011. This revision was made by the Impact Fund of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), together with CEGESTI’s technical assistance.

Study on solid waste categorization for Central Canton of Heredia

The Municipality of Heredia carried out a categorization study of their solid wastes, in order to update their rates based on the weight generated by commercial activity.

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RENEWABLE ENERGY

Observatory for Renewable Energy in Latin America and the Caribbean. Phase 2

In 2011, a research project was conducted by the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE) on renewable energy facilities and existing information on the potential of renewable energy resources in Costa Rica. Environmental specialists from CEGESTI participated in this research project.

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SUSTAINABLE MARKETS AND BUSINESSES

Promotion of social and environmental business opportunities in Central America and Dominican Republic

In the framework of the project “Promotion of social and environmental business opportunities in Central America and Dominican Republic”, funded by SCHOKLAND-SME CA&DR Fund, through The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, CEGESTI provided technical assistance in 2011 to the following companies from the agribusiness sector: Proagroin (Costa Rica), Tecnoagro (Nicaragua) and Banamiel (Dominican Republic). Through the obtained assistance, the companies achieved important results in the environmental, economic and social dimensions. Among these achievements are: 1. Definition of strategic frameworks aimed to sustainability. 2. Implementation of efficiency improvements in the use and consumption of water, electricity and fuels. 3. Recording and control of CO2 emissions. 4. Solid waste and sewage management. 5. Implementation of environmental management practices in administrative offices (Green Office). 6. Establishment of health and occupational safety programs. 7. Development and implementation of tools for an adequate human resource management. 8. Preparation and implementation of community outreach programs. 9. Creation of corporate governance codes.

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SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE

Model for the Environmental Performance Evaluation process

A group of companies from different sectors in Guatemala received training and tools to evaluate and monitor the environmental performance of management systems. This training program was supported by Centrarse and CEGESTI, and was financed by The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Social and environmental evaluation (Due Diligence)

At present, the Nicaraguan company Melonicsa can measure the level of compliance of the requirements established in IFC standards, ILO agreements, SA 8000 standards, Sedex, ISO 14000 and OHSAS 18001, after performing a socio-environmental evaluation in the company facilities with the technical assistance of CEGESTI specialists.

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RESULTS-BASED MANAGEMENT (RBM) SYSTEMS

Development of a results-based system

CEGESTI supported International IDEA completing the design of its RBM System. Under this frame, new processes were introduced including research and innovation; instruments for human resource management were implemented, as well as actions to strengthening the organizational model. IDEA interested in improving its environmental impact, was supported by CEGESTI to determine the carbon foot brint of its Headquartes in Stockholm.

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INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS- BASED MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Implementation of an ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and INTE/OHSAS 18001 integrated management system

In 2011, the Electricity Production UEN of the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE) summed up to six electric power generation stations that have achieved the implementation and certification of their integrated management systems under the ISO 9001-2008, ISO 14001-2004 and OHSAS 18001-2007 standards. These stations are: Barranca, Sandillal, Miguel Dengo, Peñas Blancas and Boca Pozo. Currently, ICE has 12 generation stations with duly certified integrated management systems. CEGESTI provided expert advice for the implementation of these management systems.

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STRATEGIC PLANNING

Strategic Planning in Companies

With CEGESTI’s support, Prodex Costa Rica prepared the design of the corporate governance model and the strategic plan for a new company in the group, Isolant, Isoplast and Prodex in Peru.

Tecnova Soluciones and Tecnova Asesores (TCA), both from the Costa Rican Information Technology (IT) sector, managed to prepare and provide follow-up to their strategic plans, essential processes for the strengthening of their business.

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AGREEMENTS

In the framework of the project “Promotion of social and environmental business opportunities in Central America and Dominican Republic” SCHOKLAND-SME CA & DR Fund, CEGESTI and Sumarse (Panama) signed an agreement to carry out formation activities for consultants and firms affiliated with Sumarse, with the objective to disclose concepts related to corporate social responsibility, to build awareness and encourage the adoption of best practices in Panamanian companies.

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WEBCONFERENCES

During the year 2011, webconferences were provided in a variety of sustainable development-related topics. People from different countries and sectors participated in these webconferences.

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MANUALS

Manual Sobre el Manejo de Contaminantes Orgánicos Persistentes. Colección Gestión Organizacional ; 4. San José, Costa Rica: CEGESTI, 2011. ISBN 978-9930-9401-2-9.

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PARTICIPATION IN COMMITTEES AND OTHER

Durante el año 2011 CEGESTI consolidó su participación activa en diversos grupos de trabajo en Costa Rica. Entre ellos:  1. Asociación de Vecinos de Barrio Escalante. Cámara de Industrias de Costa Rica, 2. Comisión de Ambiente. Cámara Nacional de Ecoturismo (CANADECO), 3. Colegio de Ingenieros Civiles, Comisión de Construcción Sostenible, 4. Comité Internacional de ONG (ISO 26000), 5- Consejo Consultivo Nacional de Responsabilidad Social, 6. Comité de Buenas Prácticas y de Desarrollo Económico INTE/ISO CTN RS, 7. Comité Técnico Nacional de Responsabilidad Social Inteco, 8.  INTE CTN 176 SC 03. Comité Técnico Nacional Tecnologías de Soporte Inteco, 9.  INTE-ISO-CTN 176. Comité Técnico Nacional de Gestión de Calidad Inteco, 10.  INTE-ISO-CTN 176/SC 02, 11. Comité Técnico Nacional Sistemas de Calidad INTE-ISO-CTN 207, 12. Comité Técnico Nacional Gestión Ambiental Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, 13. Comisión Premio Nacional de Tecnología Clodomiro Picado, 14. ECA. Advisory Committee of the Accreditation Secretariat of GHG Validators and Verifiers, 15. Ministerio de Economía, Industrica y Comercio (MEIC), 16. Red de Apoyo a Pymes, 17. Red Nacional de Pacto Global (UN Global Compact) de Naciones Unidas, 18. UCCAEP. Executive Committee for Integral Management of Electronic Waste.

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