Internet-Supported Sustainability Reporting in the Banking Sector

Development of a criteria catalogue for evaluating and comparing the quality of internet-supported sustainability reporting in German and Italian banks.

The goal of the cooperation with two Italian research institutes, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei/FEEM (Milan) and the Centre for Environmental Economics and Management/CEEM (Università Ca'Foscari di Venezia), was the development of a criteria catalogue for evaluating the internet-supported sustainability reporting of banks. The research group included German and Italian researchers as well as thesis students. The German project partner, the Centre for Sustainability Management & the Institute for Environmental Communication, Leuphana University Lüneburg, can draw on experience with the analysis of media-specific benefits of the internet for sustainability reporting in Germany (cf. e.g. Herzig Godemann, 2010; Blanke et al., 2004 and 2007). The Italian project partners have considerable experience in analysing sustainability reporting in Italy and in particular in evaluating the contents of sustainability reports (e.g. indicators). Bringing together the two perspectives allows the evaluation and comparison of the sustainability websites of German and Italian banks. Furthermore the comparison of the German and Italian websites allows practitioners to profit from the experiences of other companies in the area of sustainability reporting.
Institute for Environmental Communication: Prof. Dr. Gerd Michelsen, Dr. Jasmin Godemann, Katharina Hetze
Italian project partners: Prof. Dr. Ignazio Musu, Dr. Federica Vigano, Maria Paola Marchello, Paolo Cominetti, Melania, Michetti, Angela Marigo
Acknowledgements: the research group was financially supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (Vigoni Programme 2008).