Social responsibility (SR) is a complex area of activity, understood and addressed in many ways by different sectors of society. As such, there is no single, broadly adopted definition. The document Social Responsibility in Spanish Universities, prepared by the University of Burgos, offers the following:

The term SR refers to the legal and ethical obligations and commitments at a national and international level that arise from the impacts produced by organisations in social, occupational and environmental areas and in human rights. Currently, the concept of SR is viewed as a set of non-compulsory guidelines or soft law (without the force of law) and it has given rise to different perceptions across sectors (such as Corporate/Business Social Responsibility and University Social Responsibility) as well as to new proposals regarding the institutional implications of the concept […] In the broadest terms, social responsibility can be defined as the voluntary commitment of companies to take an active role in efforts to bring about social, economic and environmental improvement, generally with a view to gaining competitive advantage and increasing their added value.

Additional definitions that we believe are relevant have been proposed by the International Labour Organization and by the Commission of the European Communities. The first states that “CSR reflects the way in which enterprises give consideration to the impact of their operations on society and affirm their principles and values both in their own internal methods and processes and in their interaction with other actors”.

In a 2001 Green Paper, the Commission of the European Communities defines SR as “a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with stakeholders on a voluntary basis”.

No. It is true that the origins of social responsibility are closely linked to large multinational corporations. Gradually, however, the concept has spread to smaller companies and is now becoming important in the public sector. The values of social responsibility can be applied to all organizations, regardless of size or whether they are public or private.

The virtues of adopting social responsibility in the public sector have often been undermined by claims that the practice is already implicit in public institutions by their very nature and activity. In other words, the mere fact of working on behalf of the public showed that public institutions exercised social responsibility. This view, however, makes the mistake of confusing the terms “public service” and “social responsibility”.

By contrast, our view at the UB is that it is even more crucial to adopt social responsibility in the public sector, because we have an obligation to manage public resources with the greatest efficiency and effectiveness.

Again, there is no single definition of social responsibility in the context of a university and its activities. Most descriptions, however, agree that the term should not be confused with philanthropy. Philanthropy is an individual or permanent decision taken by an organization apart from its functions, while social responsibility is a management theory that requires the organization to position and commitment itself socially within and through the exercise of its basic functions. The Engineering and Responsible Management Group at the University of Burgos defines university social responsibility (USR) as “the ability of the University to apply a set of principles and values, stated in its management philosophy, in the practice of its basic functions: management, teaching, research and production, and outreach, with views to respond to the demands of stakeholders in its environment".

The principles of university social responsibility entail accountability to society for positive or negative progress in the social, environmental and economic areas.

In the social area, the UB has many opportunities for actions of social responsibility. Examples include building relationships between the University and society, promoting and increasing non-formal training programmes and university extension courses to meet social needs, and encouraging participation by students from disadvantaged parts of society.

In the economic area, social responsibility goes beyond merely meeting legal obligations, establishing internal control mechanisms for the evaluation of management, and improving efficiency in the distribution of economic resources. In our case, for example, we have a commitment to providing clear information on the management of the University of Barcelona, issuing an annual management report and improving management through our internal control unit.

In the environmental area, which is often the most highly publicized area of social responsibility, particularly in large corporations, our actions are linked to sustainability and the promotion of energy savings and recycling.