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CSR 2016 – Boskalis
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At the same time at micro level, at the site of the actual intervention,
you can come up against specific social consequences that might be
negative if no measures are taken. In other words, it’s nearly always
about the general, common interest versus the individual interest.”
Responsibility
Berdowski: “The social impact of a project depends on the
location. Many of our projects take place in regions that
are virtually uninhabited, meaning that local community
engagement does not play a major role. But sometimes we
carry out dredging work in traditional fishing areas, and on
some of these projects we are asked to manage the local
social risks, for example by informing and consulting the
local stakeholders or seeing to it that the fishermen receive
reasonable and adequate compensation if this is appropriate.
Projects where we are able to handle such compensation
ourselves, in accordance with our own standards and in
line with international guidelines, generally go smoothly.
However, it does also happen that clients or local authorities
assume this role, in which case our influence is limited.”
Muller: “The question is always: who holds responsibility for the
social impact of a project? Is Boskalis given the space to get
involved? And so it is crucial to determine and clarify for each
individual project what our role is and what our responsibilities
are. This can be contractually agreed with the client, but may also
Considerations
Berdowski: “This program emphasizes the importance Boskalis
attaches to the impact our projects can have on the environment,
and local communities in particular. This in itself is nothing new
for Boskalis. The program is the culmination of a process of many
years and reflects how we have developed and how we respond
to changing circumstances. For many years our dredging and
infrastructural projects have involved interventions in existing
environments. Two aspects come into play here: the impact on
the environment and the social impact. Consideration for the
environment is a feature that has become deeply embedded in our
organization, and something that we take into account right from
the initial design of a project. One of the results of our focus on
the environment is our successful Building with Nature program,
which involves us adopting the natural system as a basic design
principle. Our environmental experts at Hydronamic assess the
ecological aspects of a project and devise groundbreaking
solutions, such as coral relocation. But in addition to this the
realization has gradually grown – both among ourselves and
among financiers, credit insurers, governments, NGOs and other
stakeholders – that these interventions can also have a major
impact on the social environment. If you look at the social
component of projects you can conclude that the impact of our
projects at macro and at meso-level is almost always positive:
our interventions generally enhance the safety and prosperity
of the surrounding area.
In 2016 Boskalis launched a social impact program.
The main objectives of this initiative are:
To increase awareness of our social impact and the
applicable international frameworks within the company.
To develop a standard evaluation mechanism to identify
projects in the tender phase that have a (potential)
higher risk profile.
Consistent application of our social impact principles
and procedures on projects.
CEO Peter Berdowski and Lara Muller, director of Public
Affairs, talk about the how and why of the approach.
SOCIAL ENGINEERING
IS CONSISTENT WITH THE
BOSKALIS TRADITION