In the framework of this project, CEGESTI provided advice and training to eight companies of the Central American region and the Dominican Republic. The project’s objective was to strengthen the competitive capabilities of the participating companies through the implementation of actions leading to their improvement in the social and environmental dimensions. Some of the companies that were offered advising during 2010 were: 1. Unión de Cooperativas Agroforestales de la Biosfera del Río Plátano (UNICAF-BRP) (Honduras), 2. Lácteos Foremost S. A. de C. V. (El Salvador), 3. Grupo Banamiel (Dominican Rep.), 4. Coonaprosal (Costa Rica), 5. Corporación Monteverde (Costa Rica), 6. Tecnoagro (Guatemala), 7. Coco S. A. (Guatemala) y 8. Proagroin (Costa Rica). This project was funded by SCHOKLAND-SME CA&DR Fund (Schokland Fund) and ICCO, in conjunction with Oikocredit.

With this project, CEGESTI seeks to facilitate the development of social and environmental business opportunities in the Asomobi and Acetusama associations located in the buffer zone at the park “Parque Internacional La Amistad”, in Costa Rica’s Pacific sector. The objective of this project is to generate the necessary capabilities in these associations to effectively implement an integrated strategy addressing both financial and environmental issues, providing each project with a sustainable identity and high local and international presence. The project is funded by the Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives and the CRUSA Foundation.

With the support of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, CEGESTI trained a group of participants on the carbon footprint and how to determine it in companies and organizations. Representatives from companies of diverse sectors, such as government, private organizations, banking and the Guatemalan productive sector attended the training program.

With funding from the GEF Small Grants Programme, UNDP (Costa Rica), CEGESTI prepared a manual on the management of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), with the purpose of raising awareness regarding the importance of eliminating their use and strive for the enforcement of the existing legislation related to this type of substances. As a result of this project, approximately 130 participants proceeding from different groups and networks benefited from the GEF Program, public and private employees and the Costa Rican society in general were provided an awareness-building process through virtual (e-learning) and on-site training.

CEGESTI conducted a study on renewable energy in Costa Rica for the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE, abbreviated in Spanish) and UNIDO. The study generated three important products: 1. Baseline report on energy technologies in Costa Rica; 2. Report on state of the art of the energy sector in Costa Rica; and 3. Report on the financial mechanisms for the renewable energies sector in the country.

CEGESTI provided support to OIKOCREDIT in the evaluation and identification of opportunities for improvement in the social and environmental and corporate governance variables in eight coffee farms located in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, through an evaluation of their current situation and the identification of improvement options in these aspects.

CEGESTI, in conjunction with the Consejo Consultivo Nacional de Responsabilidad Social (CCNRS – National Social Responsibility Council), provided supoort to the PROMES Project in the generation of capabilities on social responsibility among the technicians of institutions and businesses of the rural tourism sector in Sarapiquí, Caño Negro and Guatuso, located in the Northern zone of Costa Rica.

This project consisted of the design and implementation of an integrated management system in accordance with the ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and INTE/OHSAS 18001 standards in six production plants of the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE UENPE – Costa Rican Institute of Electricity). The plants included in the project were: Cachí, Arenal, San Antonio, Río Macho, Cariblanco and Miravalles V. These companies obtained the certification in their respective systems.

Based on IFC social and environmental standards, ILO fundamental rights, as well as the guidelines of standards such as SA 8000, OHSAS 18001, ISO 14001, FLA and ETI-Sedex, CEGESTI has conducted a number of projects in the Central American region and Colombia, with the purpose of determining the performance of organizations in these subject matters as a previous requirement to accessing financial resources aimed at operation extension projects. These evaluations have further included the development of the respective plans of action. The sectors included are: agro-industrial, industrial and manufacturing.

In this project, CEGESTI implemented incidence actions to promote the approval of a regional policy on sustainable consumption in Central America, which would translate into institutional policies on sustainable procurement and instruments for its implementation.