Sustainability at KATE
Sustainable Quality Improvement
(Extract from our mission statement)
As a team, we pursue a common route
We are an interdisciplinary team from different countries and cultures, distinctive for our collaborative professionalism, creativity and commitment. In this team we work innovatively and on our own responsibility. We help to shape our own tasks and fields of work, maintain an atmosphere of open communication, and see learning & activism as two sides of the same coin. This is the guiding vision shared by all staff and colleagues.
Likewise we maintain constant dialogue with our project partners and clients throughout development and implementation.
We make environmentally sustainable choices
We make continuous efforts to prevent and reduce environmental pollution and risks. We particularly emphasise the prudent use of raw materials and energy. We go beyond compliance with legal requirements to install the best available environmentally-sound technology, wherever this is economically justifiable. We give preference to environmentally friendly and fairly traded products and services. In choosing our business partners, we take environmental and development policy criteria into consideration.
We are committed to high quality standards
Only continuous improvement of quality will enable us to survive as an organisation in future. By quality we mean professional competence, public effectiveness and meeting the justified expectations of our partners, our staff and the members of our association to the best of our ability, for the benefit of wider society and the environment.
We systematically integrate sustainability management
We are introducing a sustainability management system (EMAS; ISO 14001; ISO 9000:2000) which ensures the constant improvement of our environmental, economic and social performance. We assess our quality by being sensitive to our partners’ requirements, which we enquire about systematically. We record and evaluate our environmental impacts on a regular basis. We agree on improvement projects, nominate coordinators and document our results in terms of their implications for sustainability. We review these findings regularly.
We facilitate dialogues within society on sustainability issues
We carry on active intercultural dialogue with our partners and are open to their suggestions and criticisms. We raise the level of public discourse on sustainability issues and provide information on global linkages and the future outlook for the South.
Internal Qualitiy Management System
