The practices include two long-established activities, already presented in previous editions of the Report, a programme which was implemented ten years ago, as well as four brand new activities, initiated by Kraków Airport in 2016.
This year’s edition of the report was the fourth in which the airport participated. It premièred on the 30th March at a conference held at Centrum Kreatywności Targowa conference centre in Warsaw.
Apart from the activities implemented by Kraków Airport, the Report also contains a practice carried out by its subsidiary – Kraków Airport Hotel Sp. z. o. o. – within the Local community involvement and development area, namely the Dom Ronalda McDonalda foundation.
Distinguished practices of Kraków Airport
Kraków Airport’s activities within the scope of social responsibility and sustainable development as included in the 15th edition of the Report were classified into three areas:
1. Local community involvement and development: “Supporting our Neighbours” grant competition, “Need Help” training programme;
2. Labour practices: “Help your Colleague”, “Support for Volunteers” grant competition;
3. Consumer issues: Kraków Airport mobile app, amenities for families travelling with children, animal relief area.
Local community involvement and development
“Supporting our Neighbours” grant competition is Kraków Airport’s flagship project. It was first mentioned in “Responsible Business in Poland. Good practices” in 2013. Since then, it has been included in the report each year within the area of long-established local community involvement and development practices. The purpose of the competition is to support local initiatives in the communes directly bordering Kraków Airport in order to raise the living standard of the local communities. So far, there have been 8 editions of the competition, financing the total of over 120 local initiatives. The 9th edition of the competition is soon to be announced.
Another practice in this area, this time under the Employment creation and skills development category, is the “Need Help” training programme, which was first implemented by the airport ten years ago. Within this month-long training, students work as Need Help staff, whose task is to assist passengers and visitors to Kraków Airport. This way the trainees become familiar with the complexity of the airport’s activity in a relatively short period of time. During the four months of the training, the students learn the topography of the airport, safety rules, tasks performed by the services, as well as the day-to-day operations of the airport, among others. Once they gain this basic knowledge, the participants move on to its practical application. The “Need Help” programme is highly popular among students, as evidenced by the statistics – as many as 436 trainees have taken part in the programme to date. Having completed the training, the best students are offered jobs. Out of all participants, approximately 120 have taken up a job in the aviation industry. The experience and skills of the trainees have been appreciated by Kraków Airport and the airport’s partners, including airlines. The students have been employed by handling companies, subsidiaries, airlines such as easyJet, Emirates Airlines and Qatar Airways, as well as the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency.
Labour practices
For the second time, “Responsible Business in Poland. Good Practices” mentions an initiative suggested by the employees who wish to support their struggling co-workers. The “Help your Colleague” practice has been carried out by the airport for two years and its popularity is constantly growing. The presence of the practice in the Report is an appreciation of the employees involvement, as well as an additional motivation to participate actively in the life of the airport in the upcoming years. Proposed in 2015, the initiative was a spontaneous modification of an annual Christmas initiative, which resulted in changing its form to address the needs of the airport’s staff. The activity is carried out in cooperation with the Company Employee Benefit Committee, which selects families that need immediate support. In order to maintain confidentiality, only the age and sex of the children who send their Christmas wishes are publicly disclosed. In the 2nd edition of the initiative, each family was supported by a different division of the company. The raised funds were spent on necessities such as everyday items, furniture and equipment.
The second activity of the airport showcased in the Report in the Labour practices area (Corporate volunteering category) is “Support for Volunteers” grant competition, whose first edition was initiated in 2016. The aim of the competition is to support pro-social activities of Kraków Airport employees who devote their time, energy and skills to helping others. Six projects were implemented in the first edition of the competition, involving 51 volunteers.
Consumer issues
This year, Kraków Airport was appreciated for the first time in the Consumer issues area. From 42 practices enlisted in that area, 3 belong to Kraków Airport: Kraków Airport mobile application, amenities for families travelling with children and animal relief area.
In July 2016, Kraków Airport was the first airport in Poland to launch a free airport mobile application that was fully integrated with the airport information system. The application is available in two languages: Polish and English. This intuitive application contains all the information directly associated with the airport’s information system and the check-in procedure, significantly aiding passengers in finding their way around the airport. The application also provides additional data, from public transport and various services to amenities available on the premises of the airport, such as parking lots, playgrounds and food services. The features of the application include: a 3D interactive airport plan, a flight status changes notification system, car localisation and an ability to create postcards. Although most popular in Western Europe, the application is also downloaded in such remote countries as: India, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, the Dominican Republic or Somalia.
The practice included in the 15th edition of the report under the name “amenities for families travelling with children” is a result of the expansion and modernisation of the passenger terminal, which was completed in December 2016. Each terminal zone contains intimate and children-friendly family rooms, where babies can be fed in comfortable armchairs. The rooms are equipped with baby-changing tables and bins for used diapers. Moreover, the rooms contain microwaves, where food for children may be reheated. The terminal also features a baby vending machine. Additional baby-changing tables are available in the Ladies and Gents toilettes. Parents travelling without strollers or those who left their strollers in the cargo hold can use the airport’s free pushchairs. The pushchairs are available after passing the security check. Women in advanced pregnancy and families travelling with children up to three years of age may use an additional security passage called “Special Service Line”. The passage shortens security check waiting times, improving the comfort of passengers who require special care. Several play areas are also located in the terminal in order to keep children occupied when waiting for a flight.
Kraków Airport is the first airport in Poland to introduce an amenity in the form of an animal relief area dedicated to travelling pets. The enclosure is located by the non-paved car park just outside the passenger terminal. The area is equipped with benches for the owners, special drinking dispensers and a set of appliances that can be used to play with pets. The enclosure is planned to be equipped with more appliances in the near future.
About “Responsible Business in Poland 2016. Good Practices”
The 15th edition of the report published by the Responsible Business Forum, entitled “Responsible Business in Poland. Good Practices”, presents data for the year 2016 and contains 880 examples of socially responsible practices, submitted by 180 companies from all over Poland. The Report classifies activities carried out by companies in 7 areas according to the ISO 26000 standard: Organisational governance, Human rights, Labour practices, Environment, Fair operating practices, Consumer issues, Community involvement and development
This year, for the first time in its history, “Responsible Business in Poland. Good Practices” was coupled with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), established by the UN in 2015. Apart from traditional classification to a given area of the ISO 26000 standard, the practices are also grouped according to the SDG objectives they aspire to implement. By doing this, the authors of the Report intend to draw the reader’s attention to the challenges of globally defined sustainable development.
Published annually since 2002, “Responsible Business in Poland. Good Practices” is the most important recurrent publication of the Responsible Business Forum. The report is an overview of the activities carried out by the companies that submitted their CSR practices, summarising the most significant issues pertaining to responsible business in a given year in Poland. The introductory part contains articles and comments written by experts. Each publication also features a review of selected press articles and a calendar of CSR-related events.
More information on the Report and the Responsible Business Forum is available at Odpowiedzialny Biznes.
More information: Kraków Airport
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