Organizational sustainability: from theory to practice

How can organizations contribute to sustainability? This article answers this question within innovative approach to Organizational Responsibility and Sustainability and seeks to address the impact of organizations actions as well as economic, social, environmental, and ethical issues that have affected the largest exclusively Brazilian River, the São Francisco. It aims to draw attention to ethical aspects of business actions and to contribute to the training of business students and future managers. It presents the action “How is Your Organization’s Social Responsibility?” as a result of activities developed through the University of Birmingham’s Visiting Fellowship Scheme which aimed to put learning skills into practice to promote interaction between students, researchers, and managers of corporations/ organizations, thus providing a collective teaching-learning environment to face challenges in this arena, through meetings, lectures, ecological walks, and discussion groups. From November 2015 to December 2017, actions were carried out, such as, for example, the observation of the black consciousness month, incorporation of CSR principles, Circular Economy, a commemoration of the 515th anniversary of the discovery of the São Francisco River, among others. In the end, the group chose the degradation of Sao Francisco River as the problem to be addressed; not only by CSR actions but also as an agenda for future research.