SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

“Social responsibility is the responsibility of an organisation for the impacts of its decisions and activities on society and the environment, through transparent and ethical behaviour”

(Guidance Standard on Social Responsibility, ISO 26000)

Kakou is dedicated to creating world-class ethical solutions to enable the disabled to participate on equal terms in mainstream activities. At the heart of our mission is a commitment to conducting ethically sound research and to behave in a socially responsible manner. We extend this commitment to all of our stakeholders – our staff and others within the research and engineering community that we collaborate with, the people who participate in the research and outreach activities we undertake, and those that we conduct research for. This is demonstrated through our governing principles which include:

  • actively enabling the participation of marginalised and vulnerable members of the community in our research
  • encouraging and supporting our people to reach their full potential
  • working to the highest ethical standards, and
  • Undertaking research that has a positive social impact.

The governing principles highlight our commitment towards being socially responsible and our efforts to conduct our business appropriately so that we have a positive impact on the community, the environment and our people. We believe that this is critical to the success of Kakou.

Our responsibilities cover three broad areas: our staff, our community and the environment.

We are a group of volunteers made up of professionals who have worked in all aspects of engineering and the audio/music industry.
Our community encompasses a wide range of groups, including our clients, our research partners and collaborators, the individuals and organisations who participate in our research and outreach activities, others in the social research community and the wider community itself.

Kakou has taken an active decision not to participate in research projects for organisations which could have a detrimental impact on our community and for this reason we do not undertake research for military, defence, tobacco, or alcohol companies. Our research portfolio instead focuses on areas that are for the greater good of society, such as population health (for example, early childhood development, supporting people with a disability, increasing understanding of mental health); social policy reform (for example, tackling racism, discrimination, violence against women, gambling, crime, long-term unemployment, low income and other factors that can lead to disadvantage). We strive to ensure that our research is as inclusive as possible, through adopting flexible approaches (the use of translators and translation services, for example), undertaking ethically sound research, and full compliance with all relevant professional standards.

In addition to the orientation of our research, we are also developing a community outreach programme which will see our staff members facilitate inclusive workshops and events within the community promoting the sciences and the creative arts. We also encourage, recognise and support our staff members to participate in individual charitable/volunteer activities and showcase these through our internal communications.

At Kakou, we believe that it is everyone’s responsibility to contribute to sustainable, environmentally-friendly practices. We understand that even the smallest changes can go towards making a big difference in our growing organisation. As a result, we actively recycle, including used coffee pods, batteries and reducing paper waste. Where possible, we source and use carbon-neutral paper. We take simple steps to save energy, cut costs and reduce greenhouse emissions. Lights and equipment are switched off in rooms that are not in use as well as at the end of every work day. Staff members are encouraged to either take public transport or cycle to and from work. Where it is necessary for our staff to travel by air, we ensure where possible that we make the appropriate contribution to offset the carbon emissions.

Regarding our sustainable product design, please read our Environmental Statement.

As a Communities Interest Company (Limited by Guarantee) all profits from Kakou flow back to the core business of research & development, manufacturing and educational outreach activities.