Investing in a Good Life in Wuppertal: CSCP in Cooperation with the Stadtsparkasse Wuppertal Digitalisation and continuously low interest rates are already changing Banks’ business models. Meanwhile, sustainability is moving up people’s agenda. So how can a leading regional bank systematically strengthen its role as a driver of positive impact while continuing to improve its competitiveness? At a time when organisations are focused on reducing costs, streamlining processes and the need to invest in a digital future, how can sustainability be integrated into their core strategy? The repercussions of the financial crisis are still present and persistent, putting traditional business models of banks at serious risk. Digitalisation enables new competitors, more efficient processes, new partnerships, and new services. Adding to this need for change, the new European CSR Directive is requiring large and publicly-owned companies to report on sustainability issues, starting with data from 2017. While the Stadtsparkasse Wuppertal has always been driven by its mission to do “good for Wuppertal”, they teamed up with the CSCP in 2016 to translate this into more strategic actions. One important step was to find out what relevant stakeholders think about how a local full-service bank can support a good life and local wellbeing. CSCP started a dialogue with key stakeholders and customers through structured interviews and a large-scale online survey where they could voice their perceptions, expectations, and ideas. Discussing the results with multiple experts on diverse hierarchy levels significantly helped not only to derive hands-on measures but also to gather views on how to best integrate sustainability-related actions in times of significant transition and change. As one workshop participant put it: “In everything we do, we need to ask ourselves: Can it be done more sustainably? How can this contribute to a good life?” This idea was already reflected upfront in the decision to not define sustainability as an add-on, but to make it an integral part of the business strategy. Using this approach, “we identified a number of great opportunities”, says Constanze Klee, in charge of coordinating the process at the Stadtsparkasse. She goes on to say: “The struggle for resources is a given and may keep us from implementing all the good ideas in the first year. However, we now have a clear focus on core topics and colleagues that feel very motivated by making them happen. We work on the good life in Wuppertal!” Please contact Stephan Schaller if you have any questions. © wk1003mike / Shutterstock.com