For an organisations that wish to practice sustainability, it is important to be aware of its stakeholders. Stakeholders are all types of groups that represent their own interests as well as the interests of other people or conservation groups in relation to the way an enterprise operates. The stakeholders of an organisation, also known as interested parties, have a vested interest in the operations of that organisation. By dealing with the interests of major stakeholders an organisation attains an insight into risks and opportunities. An organisation can reinforce its continuity in the long run by managing these risks and exploiting the opportunities.

A stakeholder consultation offers an insight into the image and the expectations that others have of your organisation. A stakeholder consultation is one of the tools of BECO’s sustainability scans (SSS, P4-Scan and the Municipal Sustainability Scan), but can also be implemented separately by BECO. By mapping the stakeholders BECO can help an organisation define all its stakeholders and to establish priorities accordingly. After stakeholders are defined, they are consulted about their interests and how they view the organisation. We accomplish this by means of interviews. Based on the results of the stakeholder consultation, the “satisfaction agenda” can finally be set up. Examples of a stakeholder consultation are customer satisfaction studies or employee satisfaction studies.

The stakeholder consultation is divided into three parts:

1. Mapping the stakeholders
2. Carrying out a stakeholder consultation and analysis
3. Setting up a satisfaction agenda

Examples

• Customer Satisfaction Survey in the Province of South Holland. An important aspect of corporate social responsibility is taking into account the interests of others, of course without losing perspective of your own interests. In the following example the Province of South Holland provides an interpretation of this concept by striving as far as possible to meet the needs of businesses and citizens.



• Stakeholder analysis inserted in the SAFE-method. In May 2004 several sustainability projects in the Dutch metal-electro industry started. For the project, the “Sustainability Assessment for Enterprises” (SAFE) method, developed by Wuppertal Institute is extended with the SAM method which provides information on environmental and social impact in relation to law and regulation, resource saving options and best available techniques in the sector.