Explanation Guide

Please complete the registration form by following the recommendations mentioned in this guide. These suggestions are not exhaustive. You may add other elements and documentary support within the conditions mentioned in the Rules. Please keep in mind that the members of the jury will read only your application form and will not take into account internet links or any other additional information beyond the information required in the following sections. The word count and the number of maximum documents allowed are essential elements to ensure a measure of fairness. 
You can refer to other sections of the registration form in order to avoid repeating the same information in several parts. Each section is numbered for easier reference. 

Whenever possible, back your statements with quantitative and/or qualitative data. 

The numbers indicated below match the referent sections to be completed.  

 

1. Details of the candidate organisation 

This section provides the possibility of recording general information on your organisation (Name, Address, Type of organisation, Description, Number of employees). This will give background information to your application. 
This section is not graded, but the jury will take it into account in assessing the following sections. Please make sure you also write the name of the contact person in charge of submitting the form for future exchanges - namely as regards the organisation of the Awards. 

 

2. Summary of your application 

In this section you must record the required elements relating to the practice that you wish to submit to the jury. Regarding the category of the application, you may only apply to one category per form. Should there be a mistake or if otherwise necessary the organisation of the Awards reserves the right to reclassify the category corresponding to the applicant form. If you are applying for several categories and/or for several projects, please keep in mind that you must complete as many forms as you are submitting applications. 

 

3. Description of your practice and of its objectives 

In this section you can introduce your practice, indicate the audience(s) it wishes to reach and how it meets clear, formalised and long-term objectives. 

This section accounts for 15% of the total grade. 

3.1 Presentation of your action promoting sustainability (maximum 3500 characters)

Present your practice including its main characteristics: 

  • Type of actions undertaken
  • Number of actions undertaken
  • Place where the actions take place
  • Duration
  • Number of staff involved 
  • Time spent on the action by staff
  • Involvement by the management 
  • Number and nature of the partners involved
  • Target beneficiary 
  • Action proposed during work or personal time 
  • Type of communication 

3.2 Target audience(s) (maximum 2000 characters)

Describe the target audience(s) of your organisation’s practice:

  • employees 
  • middle management 
  • senior leadership 
  • customers  
  • suppliers  
  • competitors 
  • shareholders 
  • associations / local communities / NGOs 
  • social economy actors (SSE) / social entrepreneurs 
  • schools / universities 
  • research centres  
  • public authorities  
  • general public 
  • regulator 
  • media   

3.3 Objectives of the practice (maximum 2500 characters, 5% of the final grade)

This section will highlight the objectives of your action.  
The objectives that you have determined can be of two kinds: objectives relating to issues that are specific to your company and more general objectives relating to society. 
Here you can indicate both short-term and long-term objectives. 
The objectives can be based on the following broad categories but should be detailed according to the company's context and as specific as possible (some examples):  

  • Moral/ethical reasons 
  • Attract talent
  • Improve working conditions
  • Better meet the expectations of a diverse client base 
  • Improve team innovativeness and creativity 
  • Improve company performance
  • Improve company image and reputation 
  • Respond to current issues

3.4 Sustainability of the approach (maximum 2500 characters, 10% of the final grade)

This section will enable you to show how your action is part of a long-term effort: the practice should be enshrined in a continuous improvement process and must not be a one-off, anecdotal event. It should be embedded sustainably in the organisation’s strategy.
Here you can show how your practice is an integral part of a more global strategy and cite other actions, if any, which are also part of this approach. 

 

4. Deployment of your action 

This section concerns the way you created, set up and directed this action. Please show how the resources that were gathered, the management of the project and its implementation have made it an innovative and replicable practice.  

This section accounts for 45% of the total grade.

4.1 Managing the action (maximum 3500 characters, 15% of the final grade)

This section pertains to the management aspect of the project, and gives you the opportunity to show how the action was initiated, then managed and monitored. The elements that you must communicate to us are the following: 

  • Who initiated the project? (Was your practice initiated by your organisation’s executive management or did the idea come from non decision-making employees?)
  • How involved and committed was the management/directors? 
  • What other departments were you in contact with (management, IT, facilities, HR, sustainable development, communication, etc.)?
  • Were the various stakeholders related to the issue identified and consulted before the start of the project? 
  • Was an initial study carried out? 
  • How were the objectives and action notified?  
  • How were the roles and responsibilities identified, assigned and developed? What departments were involved in implementing the programme? 
  • What were the steering methods and processes used to reach the objectives set out? 
  • How were the performance benchmarks for the project determined? 
  • How is the practice monitored, measured and assessed in relation to the set of key performance benchmarks and objectives?
  • Have you used external assistance (consultancy mission or other)? 

4.2 Resources (maximum 2000 characters)

This section serves to show how the appropriate resources were implemented in order to serve this diversity action. The means invested can be of the following nature:         

  • financial 
  • human (in time equivalent)
  • communications or other departments 

4.3 Scale and scope (maximum 2500 characters, 10% of the final grade)

This section provides the possibility of highlighting the extent and degree of implementation of your practice. 
The elements to input are the following: 

  • Has the project been led in steering mode in a particular department or did it concern several departments of your organisation? 
  • Internally, what share of your employees was made aware of the practice (as a percentage of the total number of employees for example) 
  • Did your action reach stakeholders that were external to your organisation? (suppliers, partners, clients, population…)

4.4 Exemplary and replicable nature (maximum 2500 characters, 10% of the final grade)

Describe how your sustainable development action could be replicated with adaptations in other organisations or in other areas because of its exemplary nature.  

For example, you can present here how your practice could be extended or adapted to other departments in your organisation.

4.5 Innovation (maximum 2500 characters, 10% of the final grade)

Describe how your practice is innovative, how it reflects a new approach to a problem in your sector. 
The concept of innovation is understood to mean any attempt to create something altogether new: invent a new approach, a new solution, a new type of partnership or mode of communication, in order to address a sustainable development issue. 

For example, importing an already existing practice from another activity sector can actually be completely innovative in your own field. Indeed, the context of the organisation can play an important part in the appreciation of the innovative nature of the practice. 

 

5. Results achieved 

This section concerns the impact of your sustainability practice and the perspectives identified as a result of it. The information and proof recorded here must prove the positive impact that the practice has had both specifically on the organisation and the societal impact.

Your application must prove that your initiative was not restricted to words and to a declaration of intent but has been transformed into concrete actions and has had measurable effects. 
The members of the jury will evaluate the quantitative results and the qualitative achievements of your action. Please include in this section all relevant performance benchmarks that you have used to evaluate your project. 
You can include the advantages as felt by all the stakeholders of the company through, for example, witness accounts, or in the second section describe the managerial impact of this programme on your organisation. You can also present the intermediate evaluations or future impact expected from your practice such as it has been implemented. 

This section accounts for 40% of the total grade. 

5.1 Impact on your company (maximum 3500 characters, 15% of the final grade)

Please describe how this practice has benefited your organisation. One of the objectives of the Sustainability Awards is to show that sustainability practices are beneficial to the development of the company.  
The main benefits of a CSR strategy that are usually mentioned are to:

  • Contribute to building a more innovative and sustainable society through the possible replicability of good practices;   
  • Strengthen your organisation's credibility in the field of sustainability;   
  • Confirm your leadership in the field of sustainable development and the recognition of your peers;   
  • Strengthen the competitiveness of your organisation and your employer brand both internally and externally;    
  • Guarantee a strong visibility as a sustainable development actor in Luxembourg;  
  • Enable networking to share and learn from best practices;   
  • Learn from the leaders in the sector;  
  • Advance the entire industry by sharing the best innovations. 

5.2 Societal Impact (maximum 3500 characters, 15% of the final grade)

To what extent has your action achieved its objectives in terms of societal impact? Societal impact means the impact on the beneficiaries, society in the broadest sense (the community, the environment, the working environment, the relationship with your suppliers, the management of Human Resources, etc.) as well as the partners you have worked with. Better economic performance of the company (developed capacity for innovation, better understanding of client expectations, opening to new networks and markets, improved relations with partners or suppliers). 

The elements you can include in this section are: 

  • What have been the impacts of the practice on the intended beneficiaries, both short and long term? 
  • What were the impacts on society at large? 
  • Did the action raise awareness of certain issues? 
  • After learning from the experience, have new approaches been developed?

5.3 Perspectives (maximum maximum 2500 characters, 10% of the final grade)

This section enables you to highlight the following elements: 

  • The lessons your organisation has learned through the implementation of your sustainability action 
  • If any, the best practices shared internally and externally as a result of your programme (have the benefits and results of the partnership been shared with the various actors involved?)  
  • The effect your CSR strategy on your overall strategy 
  • The follow-up that your organisation wishes to give (or has given) to this practice (development, focus on other targets, additional approaches, etc.) 

 

6. Approval 

In order for your application to be valid, it must be electronically signed by your organisation’s director and by the project manager and submitted via the online platform by midnight on June 14, 2024 at the latest.