235 Web 2.0 for sustainability reporting: Approach to refining communication on sustainability Daniel Süpke 1 , Jorge Marx Gómez 1 , Ralf Isenmann 2 1 Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg Ammerländer Heerstraße 114-118, D-26129 Oldenburg suepke@wi-ol.de jorge.marx.gomez@uni-oldenburg.de 2 Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research Breslauer Straße 48, D-76139 Karlsruhe ralf.isenmann@isi.fraunhofer.de Abstract Making use of web 2.0 principles for sustainability reporting provides a promising digital approach of sustainability online communication using the principles of current web 2.0 applications. Web 2.0 inspired sustainability reporting may overcome the limitations of orthodox reporting methods as it provides an array of specific capabilities to im- prove the way of communicating sustainability issues both, for companies (reporters), and their various stakeholders (report readers), e.g. along interactivity, customisation, reporting à la carte, stakeholder dialogue, and participation. This paper gives an outline on this up-and-coming sustainability reporting approach along two perspectives: (i) Me- dia-specific trends in sustainability reporting are observed. (ii) New opportunities web 2.0 applications are offering for sustainability reporting are identified. Finally, web 2.0 inspired sustainability reporting represents a promising approach as is has the potential to elevate sustainability reporting from a rather managerial closed-shop and one-way company controlled exercise to a more stakeholder-driven process providing a variety of mechanism for dialogue, feedback, interactivity, and customization. Keywords: Customisation, online communication, stakeholder dialogue, sustainability report, web 2.0 technologies 1. Introduction Corporate sustainability reporting has its roots in environmental respectively in non-financial reporting (DTTI et al., 1993). It follows a development path towards a concept of balanced reporting, usually com- municating the three pillars of environmental, social, and economic performance and mutual interrela- tions, in business terms often called the triple bottom line approach. Sometimes, this approach is put in popular terms like “making values count” (ACCA, 1998), or “linking values with value” (KPMG, 2000), or described as “creating value and optimizing prosperity according to the Triple P bottom line” (DCCA, 2006). The latter is understood as combining shareholder value, eco-efficiency, and corporate citizenship, or being part of corporate social responsibility (CSR Europe, 2000). In the 10 years since sustainability reporting first became a topic of broader interest in academia, business, and government, it has rapidly grown to a field of research with increasing relevance for companies (Kolk, 2004) and capital markets (Hesse, 2007), even in the eyes of investors (BSR, 2008). At present, sustaina- bility reporting seems to become part of companies’ daily affairs, even entering (to a certain extent) the business mainstream. Hence, for a growing number, not just for some pioneering companies, the question is now how to report on sustainability issues, and no longer whether to report at all (Marshall and Brown, 2003). In parallel, a solid and powerful institutional infrastructure for corporate sustainability has been built, with various initiatives and organizations active world-wide, in particular with a centre in Europe (Waddock, 2008). EnviroInfo 2009 (Berlin) Environmental Informatics and Industrial Environmental Protection: Concepts, Methods and Tools Copyright © Shaker Verlag 2009. ISBN: 978-3-8322-8397-1