The DHV Group is the first consultancy and engineering firm in the world to produce a Corporate Responsibility report that complies with the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). "Contributing to the sustainable development of our living environment is directly connected to our core activities and is central to the mission of the DHV Group," says Marga Donehoo, Director Corporate Initiatives since September 2007 and who has the task of bringing Corporate Responsibility (CR) to a higher level across the Group. "That’s why we strive for a business culture in which CR is embedded in our way of thinking and working. This includes being transparent in our sustainability policy, performance, and objectives."
Sustainability in projects and innovations
The concern for people, environment, and society is most strongly expressed in our selection of projects and in our approach. Innovation plays an essential role here. Take two examples:

Nereda®: an innovative DHV water treatment technology which saves on space, energy, and cost;
Park4All: a dismountable parking garage that can be erected without piling, has less environmental impact and can be re-used.
Sustainable operations
Internally, DHV aspires to sustainability in our manner of thinking and working. This includes focusing, among other things, on energy-saving offices, sustainable transport, sustainable procurement, and diversity. Thus, in 2007 98% of our management was local. Recently, DHV also signed the "Talent to the Top" Charter to promote a greater flow of women into top positions.
Our CO2 footprint per FTE amounted to 3,780 kg in 2007. This figure provides an indication of our impact on the environment and, specifically, on climate change – it takes into account automobile and air kilometers traveled, electricity usage, and other building-related energy costs.

Integrity
Our key values are integrity, respect, and freedom. These are anchored by our Business Integrity Management System. Further, in 2007 DHV joined the Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI) of the World Economic Forum.

Community involvement
Our involvement in the community is demonstrated in our projects, but also in other contexts. For example, in 2007 the DHV Group supported the following:

The BiD Network, which is an international market place for business plans aimed at reducing poverty;
The Aqua4All Foundation and the WNF, through contributing our sustainable development expertise;
Students, through scholarships, apprenticeship positions, and study-projects; and disadvantaged high-school students through "Saturday schools".
Objectives
Our objectives for the next 3-5 years include the following:

Stimulating sustainable innovations;
Improving environmental data-reporting worldwide;
Lowering CO2 footprint;
Further anchoring sustainable operations in the organization.
You can access the DHV Group’s Corporate Responsibility report at www.dhv.com/cr-report. The report was drafted following the G3 Guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The report’s GRI application level is B+, which means that it meets the information requirements established by the GRI and that it has been assessed by an independent party – in this case PricewaterhouseCoopers Accountants, Utrecht, the Netherlands.