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Corporate Social Responsibility

BarentsKrans’ activities are rooted in the conviction that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) helps everyone who works for and with us to find more pleasure in what they do. We are aware of our role in both business and society, and we do business while considering the world around us. We shoulder our responsibility and share the organisation’s knowledge and success. We call this dedicated to society.

We are committed to creating a better world together, step by step. Our CSR policy is founded on three cornerstones:

  1. Ecological footprint
  2. Social impact
  3. Diversity and inclusion

Contact

Ecological footprint Social impact Diversity and inclusion

Ecological footprint

Seeking to reduce its ecological footprint, BarentsKrans is introducing sustainability measures in its practice and making conscious choices. Our focus areas include:

  • Reducing energy and water consumption.
  • Sustainable waste processing aimed at recycling raw materials.
  • Sustainable procurement of materials and consumables.
  • Transportation of people and resources that is as sustainable as possible.

We have made progress in these areas in the past few years, as both our buildings now have the BREEAM international sustainability certificate and we are making conscious choices when purchasing our catering, for example. Our Amsterdam building has been designed to meet the latest standards and is fitted with solar panels and green roofs. In The Hague, we have switched to green electricity and are reducing energy consumption wherever possible: LED lighting, motion detectors and time switches have been installed to maximise energy efficiency. We are also aiming for digital working to become the norm, trying to reduce our use of paper even further. Finally, we encourage the use of public transport and have introduced hybrid working, which minimises the need to travel.

Sustainability is firmly embedded in our organisation. We clearly communicate our impact on the planet by measuring our carbon footprint; we have this measurement carried out once every two years. BarentsKrans aims to reduce its ecological footprint by 5% every two years.

Social impact

We encourage both business development and personal development, which is not just limited to our colleagues and clients. We believe in sharing knowledge, and this extends beyond the legal field.

BarentsKrans hasbeen a sponsor of JINC since 2019. This organisation works with businesses and schools to empower young, socio-economically deprived people to give them a good start and to reduce the inequality of opportunity in the employment market. In addition to our role as sponsor, we actively contribute to JINC’s goals by organising workshops and other activities.

As we operate with consideration for society and since we have the people and resources to help others, every year we organise a team activity for a good cause.

CSR

Diversity and inclusion

BarentsKrans is committed to providing a safe, inclusive working environment where employees can be themselves – a place where everyone is welcome and feels at home irrespective of their cultural background, gender, sexual orientation, personal beliefs or disabilities.

We embrace influences from different cultures and subcultures. This creates the best environment, not only for our people but also for our clients, as it broadens our view, adds to our job satisfaction and has a positive impact on our collaboration.

We focus on three aspects of diversity and inclusion: (i) gender equality, (ii) room for cultural diversity, and (iii) organisation-wide support for the LGBTIQA+ community.

We train our colleagues to recognise unconscious bias, which creates awareness in both our recruitment policy and our performance reviews. Our office is also a partner of Bridges Network, a network that gives bicultural law students easy access to our lawyers.

Contact

BarentsKrans has a CSR Committee; Cosima Stroeve is the point of contact for this committee. Questions and suggestions on the BarentsKrans CSR policy can be addressed to mvo@barentskrans.nl.