News
Acciona launches Chronos e-learning programme
to raise managers’ awareness of sustainability issues
PRESS RELEASE
19 January 2009
Acciona, the Spanish energy, water and
infrastructure company, has recently launched Chronos as a
capacity-building training course on sustainability. 1,500 of its
directors, managers and future managers will have access to a
custom version of the Chronos e-learning tutorial that was
developed by the University of Cambridge Programme for
Sustainability Leadership, CPSL (formerly Cambridge Programme
for Industry, CPI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable
Development.
This initiative has been launched by Acciona
in order to strengthen its corporate and individual culture by
improving senior and executive level employees’ understanding of
the challenges of sustainable development. Chronos explores these
challenges and dilemmas through a variety of quizzes, role plays
and reflections, in order to provide users with a strategic vision
of the relation between sustainable development and business.
According to Juan Antonio Fernández Cerrato,
Manager at Acciona Corporate University, Chronos provides a guide
to how Sustainable Development challenges can be translated into
business opportunities by demonstrating how other companies have
had to face different problems.
"Chronos will provide our senior staff
with ways of reflecting how Sustainable Development influences the
value of the company, as well as criteria for assessing Acciona’s
own performance in both the medium and long term.”
Beatriz Aylagas García, Project Manager at
Fundación Entorno, the Spanish BCSD that assisted Acciona with the
implementation of Chronos commented:
"When they have completed this learning
programme, managers and future managers of ACCIONA will each have
their own plan of achievable actions which help them understand how
their individual contribution can make an impact.”
About Acciona
(www.acciona.es/en)
Acciona’s mission is to be a leader in
infrastructure management, services and renewable energy and to
contribute towards social wellbeing. With offices in 30 countries
across five continents and with three cutting-edge technology
centres, Acciona is leading the way in pioneering new sustainable
development technology. The company’s goal is to be true to the
three cornerstones of sustainability: the generation of shareholder
value, protection of the environment and contribution to social
wellbeing.
For further information please contact:
Sheila von Rimscha
Email: sheila.vonrimscha@cpsl.cam.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1223 342124
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Alcoa uses the Chronos e-learning tutorial to
teach employees in Brazil about sustainability
PRESS RELEASE
4 September 2008
The Brazilian subsidiary of Alcoa, the
leading international aluminium production company, has taken
delivery of a customised version of Chronos. The generic version of
Chronos in Brazilian Portuguese was customised by the
Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership working with
Alcoa staff, in order to make the tutorial relevant to
Alcoa.
Making the tutorial available to its Brazilian
leadership is part of the company’s goal of raising awareness of
sustainable development throughout the organisation. Alcoa is
also offering Chronos licences to some of its associates in other
companies. Newly added material includes a welcome message by the
President of Alcoa Latin America and Caribbean, links to Alcoa web
sites and information about Alcoa values and principles of
sustainable development.
Franklin L. Feder, President of Alcoa Latin
America and Caribbean, said that Chronos would be used to train
employees about issues of sustainable development as they relate to
business.
"Chronos will support us in aligning the
concepts of sustainable development amongst our senior executives.
The exercises in Chronos are very interesting and touch on
questions that are relevant to our business.”
Polly Courtice, Director of
the Cambridge Programme for
Sustainability Leadership commented:
“There are now over 37,000 people in
Brazil who have access to Chronos in Brazilian Portuguese,
including employees of Banco Real, Energias do Brasil and
Petrobras. We are delighted that Alcoa has chosen Chronos to
promote sustainability awareness amongst its staff.”
For further information please contact:
Sheila von Rimscha
Email: sheila.vonrimscha@cpsl.cam.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1223 342124
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Chronos adds Portuguese to the languages
supported
WBCSD and CPSL are pleased to announce the
availability of Chronos in
Portuguese. Thanks to the support of EDP and
Sonae Sierra, who jointly sponsored the translation, companies in
Portugal now have the opportunity to offer their employees the
Chronos sustainability e-learning tutorial in their own
language.
Both EDP and Sonae Sierra have already taken
delivery of customised versions of Chronos. Each customisation
includes a welcome message by the company’s CEO. As Sonae Sierra’s
CEO Álvaro Portela comments, Sonae Sierra aims to be the best
sustainable international shopping and leisure centre
specialist.
"The sustainability training programme
developed by CPI and WBCSD is a unique tutorial to help the company
and our staff to understand the concepts and challenges of
sustainability."
A major rollout of Chronos is underway in both
companies. EDP, which purchased 10,000 licences for its staff,
believes that companies should show leadership in
sustainability. According to EDP’s Environment Director
António Neves de Carvalho, EDP aims to be a sustainable company and
is very proactive in this area.
"EDP is ranked among the leading
operators worldwide in renewable energies. To walk the talk, we
have adopted Chronos as a valuable and proven tool that will allow
us to successfully introduce our staff to the concepts and
attitudes that sustainability involves."
Chronos is now available in English, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese and
Portuguese. Both EDP and Sonae have also
made their own customised version of Chronos available to staff in
all of these four languages so that staff can choose the language
with which they feel most comfortable.
The Chronos website has been completely
redesigned to coincide with the launch of the Portuguese version
and registration procedures have been improved. The English
language version has a new welcome message given by HRH The Prince
of Wales.
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ABN
AMRO rolls out Chronos world-wide
ABN AMRO staff around the world now
all have access to a customised version of the Chronos e-learning
tutorial. Making the e-learning tutorial available to all staff is
contributing to the Managing Board’s goal of raising awareness of
sustainable development throughout the bank.
A dedicated team of sustainability specialists
from various Business Units in ABN AMRO adapted the tutorial,
adding case studies and photographs, comments and videos from
managers and information about ABN AMRO’s own sustainable
development policies. ABN AMRO Chronos is available in English,
Dutch and Portuguese. The Portuguese version, written for Banco
Real, ABN AMRO’s subsidiary in Brazil, includes localised material
that make it relevant to a South American audience.
Managing Board member Huibert Boumeester
provided the foreword to ABM AMRO Chronos. He believes that Chronos
is a dynamic, insightful and highly relevant tool.
"Chronos demonstrates that integrating
sustainability into our business is not only feasible, but that it
actually increases our brand value, contributes to employee pride
and above all limits risks and creates new business
opportunities.”
ABN AMRO has bought 75,000 licences, making it
the largest multinational user of Chronos worldwide. Polly
Courtice, Director of CPSL (formerly CPI), noted that this was the
most recent of a number of projects around sustainable development
themes on which CPSL had worked with ABN AMRO.
"ABN AMRO has been a good friend of CPI
over a number of years now. We have been very grateful for their
sponsorship of the Business & the Environment Programme and,
more recently, our Business and Poverty Programme. We are really
delighted that they have chosen to use our e-learning tutorial to
build sustainability awareness across the company.”
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Employee engagement: Chronos webinar
presentation
WBCSD is holding a series of webinars to
explore how member companies are engaging their employees on
sustainable development and what tools and examples have been
successful. They have been designed for human resource
professionals, learning and development specialists, corporate
university executives and business professionals working in
sustainable development and corporate responsibility.
Read the presentation on Chronos, the subject of the
most recent of these webinars, on 30 August 2007.
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Rio Tinto customises Chronos e-learning
programme
Mining group Rio Tinto has just completed a
major customisation of the Chronos sustainability e-learning
programme. 10,000 Rio Tinto employees throughout the world will be
given access to this new version of Chronos, which builds in Rio
Tinto’s own material, in order to deepen their understanding of the
broad principles of sustainable development as they apply to their
business.
As part of the customisation process, case studies from the Group’s
business units around the world were added, as well as information
relating to Rio Tinto’s own sustainable development policies. Rio
Tinto’s version of Chronos asks employees to evaluate the company
using its own sustainable development decision-making criteria,
such as resource efficiency, quality of life and shareholder value
creation. Rio Tinto’s Chronos also includes a welcome message by
Preston Chiaro, Chief Executive of the company’s Energy Group and
head of the Sustainable Development Leadership Panel. According to
Mr Chiaro, Chronos will help employees learn how personal values
can translate into sustainable action for themselves as individuals
and for Rio Tinto.
"The world is under increasing pressure
from threats like climate destabilisation, growing populations,
growing social inequality, terrorism, loss of biodiversity, and
HIV/AIDS. These issues present serious risks to our societies,
including our businesses. I believe that by increasing our
understanding of sustainable development through tools like
Chronos, and by firming our commitment to society's transition to
sustainable development, Rio Tinto can be seen more as part of the
solution to these problems.”
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