On the 17th September 2024, Convene hosted the September edition of our monthly webinar series, this session focusing on navigating the SRS and the lessons learned on that journey. This specific webinar was also the first session of our User group, looking at bringing together users of the SRS to discuss their triumphs and challenges when reporting.
The session aimed to encourage conversations surrounding SRS readiness and how to get there, and provide ‘top tips’ from fellow sustainability professionals in the social housing sector.
This webinar was less of the typical presentation, and more of a group discussion surrounding the SRS and ESG reporting. Arturo Dell chaired the session, bringing forward people to speak about their SRS experience, asking questions and promoting the discussion.
It started with attendees introducing themselves and what they hoped to gain from the webinar. There was an overarching thread of people wanting to share and compare experiences with the SRS, as well as those who were just starting on their ESG journey who wanted to know more.
Then, Arturo asked people to come forward and share their different approaches to the SRS so far. First we heard from Russell Smith, from Orbit Housing Group, who talked about how they have been using the SRS, and gathering the necessary data, but were also struggling with what having this data actually means.
He spoke about how their ESG journey started more on the social side and then environmental practices were built in. He also discussed the limits of the SRS, and how Orbit does sustainability reports that demonstrate their impact and social value outside of the SRS, as the SRS has limited metrics for demonstrating exactly what they’re doing in regards to ESG.
Then we heard from Katie Lees, from the Sovini Group, who talked about how they have reported with the SRS for years. She discussed how they don’t have an ESG strategy as of yet, but rather that a lot of the other strategies used in the company link to ESG. This highlights the flexibility that can be found when ESG reporting, as sometimes it’s occurring without it being labelled as such.
She also spoke about how ESG is on the radar now and is much more auditable, and that Boards are interested in how Housing associations are helping socially, and environmentally. She also mentioned the growing importance of case studies, and how they can be used to get the ESG messaging across.
We next heard from Andy Jack, from Link Group Ltd, who discussed how ESG and SRS reporting has become business as usual for them. He talked encouragingly about how the first time reporting is always really challenging, but as time goes on people become more aware of what ESG is and it gets easier. When ESG is built into processes and systems it becomes a lot less of a challenge, and although there is always more to do as the sustainability landscape changes it becomes a lot less disorientating. He spoke about how they use Convene ESG for RITTERWALD and how helpful it is, but with the SRS they report on that through their annual ESG report.
Arturo asked Andy about how to get leadership to buy-in with ESG, and for Link Group it was partly due to having a chief executive who was already very aware of ESG. Also having a sustainability sub-committee helped get the ESG message through. He stated that having organisational and operational groups involved, as well as Board level governance, really helped to get the ball rolling.
Finally we heard briefly from Henry Smith, Phoenix Community Housing Association, who spoke about how they are still in the early stages of reporting, but have a working group established and are looking to bring the necessary people together with the help of the SRS to put ESG firmly on the agenda.
We’d like to thank everyone who attended our User Group Webinar for discussing their crucial experience with SRS, both the lessons learned and the challenges faced. We hope this was useful to anyone starting on their ESG journey, and that we’ll see you again soon at our next webinar.
