DANZER BLOG

Danzer Sustainability Report 2016

Danzer Sustainability Report 2016

A marathon of data, texts and coffee

The second Danzer Sustainability Report was sent to the printer on 12 June 2017 and I celebrated with a glass of champagne. Why celebrate the publication of yet another fact-filled documentation of Danzer’s commitment to sustainability in all of its facets? Well, I was celebrating the end of an 18-month-long process, the cooperation of no less than thirty-five Danzer colleagues, the enthusiastic involvement of stakeholders, the many feedback loops with other sustainability professionals, and of course, lots of coffee. It was only a shame we could not organize the logistics to share the champagne as we all crossed the finish line together.

Our sustainability reporting process technically began in March of 2016, but the inspiration for the new report came when, in September 2015, the UN approved the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) just as we were (finally) publishing the first Danzer Sustainability Report for 2014. I too needed to set goals: (1) publish the next report within six months of the year end, (2) make the next report even more reader-friendly, and (3) make the UN SDGs relevant at ground-level for Danzer. I knew I needed an intern.

Luck struck with the first applicant and first interview: Pietro Brussich, an environmental engineer, joined Danzer in Dornbirn to collect data for the 2015 and 2016 Danzer Sustainability Report. After four months of compiling spreadsheets, analyzing numbers, explaining anomalies, and gently pushing people to meet deadlines, Pietro decided to stay on with Danzer. He is now coordinating an upgrade to the Danzer Environmental and Safety Management System from his new office in Kesselsdorf, Germany.

Sustainability Compliance Team web

The Danzer Sustainability and Compliance Team: Cathy Lynn Danzer, Hans-Lutz Scharff, Pietro Brussich, Tom van Loon, Kami Ervin

 

Once the data was in at the end of March, the writing of the stories to accompany the data began: writing, re-writing, correcting grammar and spelling, discussing English vs. German capitalization or English vs. American English usage and spelling, encouraging reviewers to send comments by deadlines, re-writing, getting permission for quotations, correcting data, adding colorful stories, and finding pictures. This process was exhausting and I may need to have my reading glasses adjusted as a result, but it was made easier by the keen eyes of Pietro and the Marketing Team at Danzer. The result met all three of my personal goals for this project in a way that I think readers will appreciate.

At the champagne toast at a marathon finish line, I am inevitably asked, “would I do it again?” The training process is long and hard, the coordination of family needs around runs tricky, and the run itself grueling, but my answer is always, “I hope so,” because the end result is very much worth it.

Read the result of our work here: Danzer Sustainability Report 2016

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About the Author

Cathy Lynn Danzer

Sustainability and Compliance Counsel

Cathy Lynn Danzer has been working with Danzer since 1994. With her degrees in Environmental Engineering and Law, she developed Environmental and Safety Management Systems according to the ISO14001 standard for all of Danzer’s manufacturing operations. In her role as Sustainability and Compliance Counsel for Danzer, she focuses on sustainability reporting, advises international standards bodies, and conducts risk assessment and mitigation programs. She lives with her husband and three children in the European Alps and enjoys reading, creative writing, hiking and running, and all family activities