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FROM aims at contributing to the multimedia research on Social Responsibility (SR) of different organisations: companies, public agencies/bodies and non profit institutions. Merging the pre-existing Observatory on…

FROM aims at contributing to the multimedia research on Social Responsibility (SR) of different organisations: companies, public agencies/bodies and non profit institutions. Merging the pre-existing Observatory on Social and Environmental Communication (ESCO) with the most recent database on self-regulation instruments (codes of ethics/conduct), FROM allows cross-cutting research in the SR field identifying best practices and general trends. 

The choice of focusing on two specific instruments (sustainability reports and codes voluntarily drawn up and published by some organisations) allows the analysis of different issues related to Social Responsibility, ranging from value-sharing to stakeholders’ mapping and engagement and from corporate culture to accountability. 

The website offers a collection of documents evaluated using a specific check list created by FEEM and revised through the years to keep up to date with the latest trends in reporting. Since the corporate social responsibility communication has evolved so much during the last few years, the website is currently undergoing a phase of re-thinking in order to create a unique check list for different business sectors.

The main output is represented by the launch of the website in May 2007. From July 2007 to July 2008 the website had more than 24.000 visitors and more than 250.000 accesses to the database including about 230 documents and useful information related to corporate social responsibility and sustainability. In February 2007 FROM was invited to participate in a workshop hold by an important European insurance company to provide scientific recommendations oriented to improve its sustainability report. Other relevant past results were the participation in the international working group set up by the Global Reporting Initiative, which elaborated the GRI Public Agencies Supplement to the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines and the contribution to the project: "Accountability and social reporting in public authorities" promoted by the Italian Public Affairs Department (2004).