May 12, 2020
Interdependence Agreements
Our way to amplify the positive impact
Written by Irene Brambilla with the contribution of Anna Vullo, Francesco Mondora, Lucia Longoni and Alice Simonetta.
The recent situation created by the spread of COVID 19 enlightened a very important concept: interdependence.
Now we clearly see that our destiny is linked to other people's actions and that we can do very little on our own if we want to change our environment and our society.
Regarding the impact creation, in mondora we are aware that to achieve consistent results we need allies.
This means developing collaboration with other companies and organizations with our same goals, such as the B Corporation network, but also finding new partners, raising awareness on the issues we care about.
To do so, we use a contractual instrument, the Interdependence Agreement, a practice conceived by our co-CEO Francesco Mondora and presented at the B Corp Summit in 2017.
It is not the similarity or dissimilarity of individuals that constitutes a group, but interdependence of fate. — Kurt Lewin
These documents describe projects in which mondora and its customers are committed by common agreement in order to generate a positive impact on the environment, people, or society.
Customers receive, in exchange for this commitment, a discount on the services offered by mondora.
How it works
When signing an economic agreement with a partner company, mondora offers a discount if the company commits itself to reinvest it in an ethical or sustainable project in favor of third parties. The company also commits to measuring the project’s impact over time. The same is offered to suppliers in exchange for collaboration with mondora.
The Interdependence Agreement may be integrated into the contract or may consist of a letter signed by both parties. This document describes the activity and indicates the report that the customer/supplier must provide.
The actions generated by the agreement are aimed to create a positive impact on the environment or on the social community. They are based on the SDGs, the goals set by the United Nations to build an ethical and sustainable future.
The purpose
With these agreements, we try to establish a cooperative relationship in order to serve our environment and amplify the perception of brotherhood among human beings.
As for the results, beyond the impact produced by individual interdependence agreements, we believe that this model helps to create a culture and to raise awareness, allowing us to spread the values we believe in.
We have many customers/collaborators who share our values and would like to commit to creating a positive impact, but need a small “boost” to start doing so. The interdependence contract, which an economic incentive, pushes them to start a virtuous path that can go well beyond the agreement with us.
Some Interdependence Stories
Customer: Improving the quality of work
An agreement with one of our clients, a consulting company, was conceived around the Sub Goal of SDG 8.5, improving the quality of work.
This project consists of monitoring the level of stress and happiness of the employees. Stress and satisfaction levels are notified to an external platform every month.
The aim of the agreement is to generate awareness of employees' wellbeing.
Supplier: Meeting with schools
We hired an entrepreneur as a speaker to talk about what is being a woman in the field of artificial intelligence.
In exchange for her engagement as a speaker, she committed to meet some local schools, and talk to them about the role/impact of technologies.
In this case, the project was part of the objectives of SDG 4 — Quality education.
Customer: saving plastic and paper
One of our customers, an energy company based in Milan, has chosen a double engage in favor of the environment.
The first part was to remove all disposable plastic from Milan offices: from water bottles (replaced with dispensers), plastic cups (replaced by cups and bottles), coffee cups (replaced by compostable glasses) and so on.
The second part of the agreement (still in progress) states that the customer begins to use recycled paper and adopts a tool that keeps track of the paper saved.
SDGs impacted are: 12 — Responsible consumption and production — 13 — Climate action — 14 — Life below water — 15 — Life on land
What about the future?
There are many active agreements with partners that are committing to carry them out.
Since 2017, the Interdependence Agreement has become our “trademark”, we offer it every time we sign a contract with new customers and suppliers.
Recently other companies have also started to adopt it, generating a virtuous circle of commitment. Achieving the goal of interdependence.
