Spotlight on solar farms

Solar energy is the most abundant of all renewable energy sources, and the development pressures for solar farms have grown rapidly in the last 5 years within the UK. With this in mind, this paper outlines the characteristics of solar farms, describes their development within the UK, examines some of the issues raised by these developments and offers a concluding discussion of the contributions that public and media relations firms can make to the development of solar farms. The paper reveals that solar farms have been developed on both agricultural land and brownfield sites and that the development pressures are greatest in the South West and South East of England. The findings reveal that proposals to develop solar farms have generated a wide range of environmental, community and economic issues and that public relations companies have an important role to play in fostering the transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Managing materiality: a preliminary examination of the adoption of the new GRI G4 guidelines on materiality within the business community

The concept of materiality emerged as the most important element in the new G4 guideline on corporate sustainability reporting launched by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in 2013. This commentary paper offers a preliminary examination of the way in which these new guidelines are being adopted within the business community. The paper begins with a short discussion of the GRI guidelines and the enhanced emphasis on materiality, and the paper draws its empirical material from the first 10 companies listed on Google as having published their sustainability reports in accordance with the G4 guidelines. The findings reveal marked variations in the ways, and the extent to which, the selected companies have initially adopted the GR4 guidelines on materiality and that many of the high‐priority material issues identified by these companies are centred on business continuity rather than environmental sustainability issues. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Playing the game: corporate social responsibility and the games industry

This paper provides an exploratory review of both the corporate social responsibility (CSR) agendas and achievements being publicly addressed by the world's leading games companies, and offers some wider reflections on the ways these companies are constructing and pursuing CSR strategies. The paper begins with a short discussion of the origins and characteristics of CSR and a thumbnail sketch of games and the games industry. The empirical material for the paper is drawn from the CSR material posted on the Internet by the world's top 10 games companies. The findings reveal that although the majority of the top 10 games companies provide some information on their approach to CSR, only a minority claim to be integrating CSR into their core business activities. Although the companies emphasize their commitment to promoting responsible gaming, they offer little if any commentary on what many critics see as the potentially damaging human consequences of the irresponsible development and playing of games. The majority of the top 10 games companies also address a wide range of impacts within the marketplace, the workplace, the environment and communities in which they operate. Although the leading games companies generally adopt a positive stance towards CSR, the independent external assessment of the reporting process is limited. More generally, the paper offers some critical reflections on the CSR agenda currently being pursued by the games industry. The paper provides an overview and some reflections on the CSR agenda being pursued by some of the world's leading games companies, and as such, it will interest academics in business and management, and information systems and media departments, a range of people working in management positions within the games industry and those professionals who work with the industry. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

That's the spirit: exploring the approach of the world's leading spirits' producers to corporate social responsibility

The aims of this paper are to provide an exploratory review of both the corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda being publicly reported by the world's leading spirits' producers and the nature of their reporting CSR processes and to offer some wider reflections on the ways these producers are addressing and pursuing CSR strategies. The paper begins with a short discussion of the characteristics of CSR. It draws its empirical material from the most recent CSR reports posted on the Internet by the world's top 10 spirits' producers. The findings reveal that the leading spirits producers are moving towards integrating CSR into their core business; and while they particularly emphasise their commitment to promote responsible drinking, they also address a wide range of impacts within the marketplace, the communities in which they operate, the environment and the workplace. Although the leading spirits producers generally adopt a positive stance in their CSR reports, the independent external assessment of the reporting process is limited. More generally, the paper offers some critical reflections on the CSR agenda currently being by pursued by the leading spirits' producers. The paper provides an overview and some reflections on the CSR agenda being pursued by some of the world's leading spirits' producers; and as such, it will interest academics in business and management and hospitality departments, a range of people working in management positions within the drinks industry and those professionals who work with the industry. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Perceived Discrimination and Peer Victimization Among African American and Latino Youth

Perceptions of racial discrimination constitute significant risks to the psychological adjustment of minority youth. The present study examined the relationship between perceived racial discrimination and peer nominations of victimization among 173 (55 % female) African American, European American and Latino youth. All respondents completed peer nominations of victimization status whereas the African American and Latino youth completed subjective measures of racial discrimination. The results indicated that African American and Latino’s subjective perceptions of racial discrimination were linked to nominations of overt and relational victimization when rated by their European American peers. The results suggest that there is consistency between African American and Latino youth’s perceptions of racial discrimination and nominations of peer victimization by their European American peers.     

Bouncing back: A commentary on resilience in sustainability narratives

Resilience is an increasingly common element in the sustainability and sustainable growth narratives of a growing number of companies and organisations. At the same time, a number of meanings are claimed for resilience and the relationship between resilience and sustainability has been depicted in a number of ways. With these thoughts in mind, this short commentary paper outlines the characteristic features of the concept of resilience, provides some illustrations of how a number of companies and organisations are harnessing the concept as an integral part of their sustainability strategies and policies, offers some general reflections on the application of the concept, and concludes with some thoughts on how public relations and communications professionals can contribute to resilience planning.     

Winning hearts and minds: A commentary on circular cities

There is growing interest in the concept of the circular city, which looks to embed the principles of the circular economy across all urban functions. This commentary paper outlines the concept of the circular city, explores how 3 European cities, namely, Amsterdam, London, and Paris, are currently looking to develop a vision and an action plan for the transition to a circular city, and offers some general reflections on the role public relations and communications may play in the transition process. The findings reveal that each of the action plans has its own distinctive flavour but that a number of common elements can be identified. The paper suggests that public relations and communications will have an important role to play to in raising and building awareness and changing attitudes, with the ultimate goal of changing behaviour, within the corporate world and amongst public sector decision makers and policy makers and the general public.