Corporate social responsibility (CSR) minister, Stephen Timms today launched a new, dedicated academy to help CSR take a big leap forward.

The new CSR Academy, established through close Government, industry and key stakeholder co-operation, will be a new resource for organisations of any size and any sector wanting to develop their CSR skills. It will provide a central source of information for training and development with the aim of integrating CSR into day-to-day business practice. CSR Academy resources are available online at www.csracademy.org.uk.

The Academy provides the first ever dedicated CSR competency framework - a template designed to help managers integrate CSR within their organisations. The Framework consists of six core characteristics:

* understanding society - understanding the role of each player in society - government, business, trade unions, non-governmental organisations and civil society;

* building capacity - external partnerships and creating strategic networks and alliances;

* questioning 'business as usual' - openness to new ideas, challenging others to adopt new ways of thinking and questioning 'business as usual' attitudes;

* stakeholder relations - identifying stakeholders, building relations externally and internally, engaging in consultation and balancing demands;

* strategic view - taking a strategic view of the business environment;

* harnessing diversity - respecting diversity and adjusting the approach to different situations.

Timms said: "There is enormous enthusiasm among businesses for the development of responsible practice - to build competitiveness as well as to address social and environmental challenges. UK thinking leads the world.

"The CSR academy will enable businesses to embed CSR principles into the education, training and development of staff throughout an organisation. I am confident it will go a long way to help companies put into practice the core principles of corporate social responsibility and make it a reality."

The CSR framework sets out various levels of attainment for each of the six core characteristics, together with detailed behaviour patterns and case study examples. It was developed following research undertaken among over 400 individuals and organizations already active in CSR.