A
primary focus of SEI’s work is conducting original research on various aspects
of the sustainability issue, with particular emphasis on the financial
implications of current and alternative management of environmental and social
issues in corporations. Topics of
interest ranges from examining corporate environmental/sustainability policies
in corporate America or other geographies or within particular sectors of the
economy, to evaluating and comparing the features and effectiveness of
alternative industry codes of conduct in inducing sustainable business
practices in member companies and their supply chains, to delineating the range
and depth of current sustainability reporting practices.
Generally,
our research activities involve one or more of the following techniques:
·
Survey development,
administration and analysis
·
Development and review
of management and performance data
·
Method and tool development
and testing
·
Financial and economic
analysis
·
Evaluation of environmental
claims, standards and reports
·
Policy analysis
and formulation of recommendations
Education and Professional
Development
Understanding and effectively
pursuing sustainability at an organizational level requires knowledge of
several distinct disciplines, and integration of new perspectives and ways of
doing things. In most cases,
organizations pursuing this path will need to form multi-disciplinary teams,
the members of which may not have had occasion to work together previously, and
whose formal education, on-the-job responsibilities, professional experiences,
and perspectives on important business issues differ markedly. In other cases, important external
stakeholders (e.g., investors, analysts, regulators, rating agencies,
suppliers) may have significant unmet needs for a better understanding of how
the sustainability issue affects a particular enterprise or industry, and few
apparent options for gaining the necessary background information and
perspective in an efficient and cost-effective manner. In either case, people are required to
broaden their knowledge bases, perspectives, and skill sets. SEI conducts an array of activities to address
these needs, which may involve the following:
·
General or/or
focused sustainability-related training
·
Tailored
organizational development workshops
·
Industry and/or
stakeholder roundtables
·
Customized
experiential learning
Support Services
We work with our partners and
supporters to promote the adoption and uptake of sustainable business practices
within their operations and those of their stakeholders. Because these practices are still emerging
and, in many cases, involve an internal cultural change to be fully
implemented, we provide a number of support services to ease and accelerate
this transition. Such services include
but are not limited to the following:
·
Facilitation
·
Environmental, legal,
financial and/or market analysis
·
Organizational assessment
and development
·
Development of
new policies, systems, procedures, and work practices
Property Restoration
Our fourth program and the
original focus of the organization is our site restoration program. As is widely known, there are several hundred
thousand sites across the U.S. that are contaminated but amenable to site
cleanup using known technologies and at a cost that can be estimated with
reasonable accuracy. These sites are
commonly referred to as “brownfields.”
SEI operates a program, the Phoenix Realty Fund, which offers a means by
which property owners can donate their contaminated sites to the Fund, which
will arrange for cleanup and redevelopment in collaboration with the
surrounding community. In connection
with this program, SEI conducts the following activities:
·
Site Evaluation
·
Property Transfer
·
Stakeholder Engagement
·
Property
Restoration & Redevelopment
