LocalGrounds: Reimagining CSR Through a Community-Rooted Impact platform

AI Quick Summary

LocalGrounds revolutionizes corporate social responsibility (CSR) by creating authentic partnerships between Swiss corporations and hyperlocal community initiatives right in their neighborhoods. We replace traditional CSR model of distant, disconnected donations by building collaborations with urban farming and climate adaptation projects within walking distance of corporate offices. Our "Community CSR Certificate" represents a paradigm shift—a voluntary yet binding framework that places community at the center, ensuring mutual accountability and measurable impact. Through participatory co-design, we transform into genuine collaboration. This approach not only reduces carbon emissions from employee commuting but also creates a powerful feedback loop where companies learn from community-led climate solutions while communities gain resources to scale their initiatives. The result is authentic impact that strengthens neighborhoods, empowers communities, and delivers meaningful corporate engagement. What fundamental problem are you addressing? Every day, thousands of employees in Swiss cities commute past struggling community initiatives—urban gardens, restoration projects, and local food networks—that could transform neighborhoods but lack resources and support. Meanwhile, their employers allocate CSR budgets to distant, disconnected projects that prioritize reports over real impact. LocalGrounds tackles this systemic disconnect by fundamentally reimagining CSR, inverting traditional power dynamics to place community needs and leadership at the core—a radical shift from the corporate-centric models that dominate today. For the first time a "Community CSR Certificate" grants local communities and company employees with unprecedented power, responsibility, and accountability in shaping corporate partnerships. This voluntary but binding framework ensures that corporations and communities work as equal partners towards shared goals, with measurable impact and mutual accountability—no more "impact washing." This approach addresses:Wasted potential: Thousands of employees commute daily past struggling local initiatives that could benefit from their skills and time.Increased emissions: Employees often travel long distances for CSR volunteering, undermining corporate climate goals.Shallow impact: Current CSR approaches often prioritize reporting over long-term, community-rooted engagement. Our certification requires ongoing commitment, impact measurement, and community-led governance.What systemic problem hypotheses are the starting point for your mainstreaming approach?Our approach is grounded in these hypotheses:The current CSR model is not just misaligned but inherently flawed due to its top-down structure, which limit community innovation and perpetuates dependency rather than empowerment.A lack of intermediary infrastructure prevents systemic connections between corporations and hyperlocal initiatives, hindering the potential for transformative impact.Inefficient resource flows lead to distant, disconnected volunteering that reduces impact, employee motivation, and community trust.Our Systemic Approach:This initial phase will validate a scalable platform model that mediates replicable, community-led partnerships, enabling sustainable, low-carbon lifestyles across Swiss cities through hyperlocal collaboration. Central to this is the "Community CSR Certificate," a radical innovation that provides a structured framework for voluntary but binding commitments. This certificate reshapes power dynamics by giving local communities unprecedented authority in defining partnership goals, allocating resources, and measuring impact, while holding corporations accountable to community-defined standards. If successful, this validation will establish a baseline for a platform with the potential to transform CSR across Switzerland, setting a new standard for corporate-community collaboration.Which habits do you want to change or mainstream through which approach?We aim to mainstream CSR practices that are decentralized, embedded in neighborhoods, and community-led, replacing:One-off CSR donations ➝ with multi-year, co-designed community partnerships where local initiatives hold decision-making powerDistant volunteering ➝ with hyperlocal, low-emissions engagement that strengthens community ties and reduces carbon footprintsTop-down decision making ➝ with community-led planning where local voices shape corporate contributionsIsolated corporate projects ➝ with inter-corporate community clusters that amplify collective impactApproach Enhancements for Scale:Tech-Enabled Matching & Measurement Platform: A scalable digital tool to connect corporations and initiatives, track impact (e.g., CO2 savings, community resilience), and share stories, with community input on design and metrics.Toolkit & Certification: The "Community CSR certificate" is an innovation that involves a voluntary but binding commitment between companies and local projects to achieve their goals. LocalGrounds acts as a neutral intermediary to verify overall commitment, employee engagement, skills transfers, and governance, ensuring partnerships are equitable and impact-driven.Public Sector Engagement: Collaborate with municipalities to align with local sustainability plans, ensuring systemic embedding into urban governance and amplifying the platform's reach and legitimacy.Who will benefit from mainstreaming and how?Local Initiatives (e.g., urban agriculture, circular economy, climate adaptation)Access multi-year funding, corporate skills, and wider audiencesProfessionalize without losing grassroots identityGain visibility and legitimacy within urban systems via the certificationCorporationsMeet ESG targets with local relevance and employee engagementReduce scope 3 emissions from employee travelIncrease employee retention through certified meaningful CSR experiencesUrban NeighborhoodsReceive tangible climate and resilience investmentsFoster intergenerational, intercultural community cohesionBuild hyperlocal green economies and food securitySwiss Cities and SocietyOperationalize 20-minute city and urban resilience goalsCreate models for scaling community-corporate collaborationBuild cross-sector trust and innovation networks for climate transitionWhich people/organizations are in your team and what is their role?Implementation Partner —Eric Pinto (Terrabiom): Project Leader. Experience managing multi-stakeholder sustainability initiatives including ecosystem restoration, and urban tourism. Role: Stakeholder workshops, coordination, impact measurement.Scientific Partner —Anton Fedosov (FHNW): Professor of Digital Experience Design. Specializes in participatory design and community engagement tools. Role: Impact measurement blueprint and tool development.Partners: Alessandro Inversini (EHL): Academic expert in sustainable tourism and stakeholder collaboration. Role: Research methodology and workshop development.Adriana Puente (WWF Corporate Volunteering): Hands-on corporate volunteering experience, expert in regenerative approaches. Role: Consultant to develop impact metrics focused on regeneration and community empowerment.Maximiliano Espejo (Betreat): Tourism event coordinator and marketing specialist. Role: Connect with destination management organizations (DMOs) to promote the project and ensure community voices are amplified.Community Voices: Representatives from Communauté Intercommunale de Lavaux (CIL), bringing lived experience and community leadership. Role: Co-design and governance of pilot initiatives.Diversity and Inclusivity: We are actively recruiting an urban policy expert with experience in equitable development and a team member from an underrepresented community to ensure diverse perspectives shape the platform's design and implementation.Has the idea (or variants) already been tested? If so, with what findings?Initial validation came from informal discussions with 3 corporations, 2 NGOs, and 3 small social organizations:Corporate feedback: Interest in local, visible impact; enthusiasm for short-commute volunteering; positive response to the idea of a certification for commitment and impact.Community feedback: Desire for sustained support and corporate expertise; preference for respectful, participatory relationships.Additional findings: Need for neutral facilitation; community interest in capacity building; corporate value in employee engagement.Gaps: Impact measurement framework and formal pilot partnerships need development.What would you like to work on during the booster? Community-Centred Engagement Toolkit: Design a process that prioritizes community leadership and decision-making, directly addressing the lack of intermediary infrastructure and empowering local initiatives to shape partnerships.Partnership Framework: Develop matching processes that ensure efficient resource flows and integrate the "Community CSR Certificate" requirements, testing the hypothesis that current resource allocation is inefficient and disempowering.Impact Measurement System: Create hybrid evaluations that combine corporate metrics with community-defined indicators and storytelling, ensuring impact is measured through a community lens.Certification Process Development: Establish a robust framework for the "Community CSR Certificate," including the voluntary but binding commitment mechanism, with clear roles for LocalGrounds as the neutral intermediary ensuring accountability and equity.What do you hope you will have achieved specifically at the end of the booster?A replicable model piloted with at least 2 corporations and 4 community initiatives within the first year, reducing CO₂ emissions by reducing transport and establishing a baseline for scaling to 20 corporations and 40 initiatives within three years.Governance templates that enshrine community leadership and equitable decision-making, serving as a blueprint for future partnerships.A validated toolkit for community-led co-design processes, co-created with local initiatives and ready for adaptation across diverse urban contexts.What do you hope for from the booster?Network Development:Connections with corporations seeking authentic, community-led CSR partnerships.Relationships with community development organizations and hyperlocal initiatives across Swiss urban areas.Access to complementary projects in urban agriculture, circular economy, community resilience, and sustainable tourism.Expert Support:Community development and participatory process facilitation expertise to ensure equitable power dynamics.Impact measurement methodology for complex multi-stakeholder initiatives that honors both corporate reporting needs and community values.Legal and regulatory guidance for corporate-community partnership structures.Learning and Validation Opportunities:Structured feedback on participatory design processes from community organizers and corporate partnership specialists.Testing opportunities with corporations and communities willing to pilot new collaboration approaches.Connections to academic and policy networks interested in documenting and scaling hyperlocal sustainability models.Who do you need as an expert to further advance the idea?Community Development/Participatory Process Expert: Specialist in community-led development, participatory governance, and power dynamics in corporate-community partnerships. Need: Process design ensuring community autonomy while creating meaningful corporate engagement opportunities.Corporate Social Partnership Specialist: Experience in corporate sustainability partnerships, stakeholder engagement, and CSR innovation. Need: Framework development for corporate-community partnerships that meet both business objectives and community development goals.How much budget do you require from us for what (maximum CHF 22,500 including expert vouchers)?Impact Framework Development (CHF 5,000)Systematic review of CSR effectiveness in urban contexts, with a focus on community-led development and power dynamics.Analysis of existing impact measurement frameworks (B-Corp, GRI, SDGs) through a community empowerment lens.Development of hybrid evaluation tools that prioritize community-defined metrics and storytelling, ensuring impact is measured meaningfully.Partnership Mapping & Framework Development (CHF 6’000)Systematic mapping of community initiatives across 2 Swiss urban areas, using participatory methods to ensure community ownership.In-depth community stakeholder interviews to co-create partnership criteria.Creation of adaptable partnership development frameworks that embed the "Community CSR Certificate" and community leadership.Co-Design Workshop Series (CHF 8,000)2 corporate stakeholder workshops, including immersive community site visits to build empathy and understanding.2 mixed stakeholder co-design sessions, facilitated to ensure community voices lead the process.Expert Vouchers (CHF 3,500)Community development/participatory process expertise: CHF 1,000 to ensure community empowerment is central.Corporate social partnership specialist: CHF 1,000 to align corporate incentives with community needs.FUS team: CHF 1,500 to support platform development and scalability

Project Idea Metadata

• Project Idea Name: LocalGrounds: Reimagining CSR Through a Community-Rooted Impact platform
• Date: 5/25/2025 4:05:35 PM
• Administrators:
  • Eric Pinto-Figueroa

Project Idea Description

What fundamental problem are you addressing?

Every day, thousands of employees in Swiss cities commute past struggling community initiatives—urban gardens, restoration projects, and local food networks—that could transform neighborhoods but lack resources and support. Meanwhile, their employers allocate CSR budgets to distant, disconnected projects that prioritize reports over real impact. LocalGrounds tackles this systemic disconnect by fundamentally reimagining CSR, inverting traditional power dynamics to place community needs and leadership at the core—a radical shift from the corporate-centric models that dominate today. For the first time a "Community CSR Certificate" grants local communities and company employees with unprecedented power, responsibility, and accountability in shaping corporate partnerships. This voluntary but binding framework ensures that corporations and communities work as equal partners towards shared goals, with measurable impact and mutual accountability—no more "impact washing." This approach addresses:

• Wasted potential: Thousands of employees commute daily past struggling local initiatives that could benefit from their skills and time.
• Increased emissions: Employees often travel long distances for CSR volunteering, undermining corporate climate goals.
• Shallow impact: Current CSR approaches often prioritize reporting over long-term, community-rooted engagement. Our certification requires ongoing commitment, impact measurement, and community-led governance.

What systemic problem hypotheses are the starting point for your mainstreaming approach?

Our approach is grounded in these hypotheses:

• The current CSR model is not just misaligned but inherently flawed due to its top-down structure, which limit community innovation and perpetuates dependency rather than empowerment.
• A lack of intermediary infrastructure prevents systemic connections between corporations and hyperlocal initiatives, hindering the potential for transformative impact.
• Inefficient resource flows lead to distant, disconnected volunteering that reduces impact, employee motivation, and community trust.

Our Systemic Approach:

This initial phase will validate a scalable platform model that mediates replicable, community-led partnerships, enabling sustainable, low-carbon lifestyles across Swiss cities through hyperlocal collaboration. Central to this is the "Community CSR Certificate," a radical innovation that provides a structured framework for voluntary but binding commitments. This certificate reshapes power dynamics by giving local communities unprecedented authority in defining partnership goals, allocating resources, and measuring impact, while holding corporations accountable to community-defined standards. If successful, this validation will establish a baseline for a platform with the potential to transform CSR across Switzerland, setting a new standard for corporate-community collaboration.

Which habits do you want to change or mainstream through which approach?

We aim to mainstream CSR practices that are decentralized, embedded in neighborhoods, and community-led, replacing:

• One-off CSR donations ➝ with multi-year, co-designed community partnerships where local initiatives hold decision-making power
• Distant volunteering ➝ with hyperlocal, low-emissions engagement that strengthens community ties and reduces carbon footprints
• Top-down decision making ➝ with community-led planning where local voices shape corporate contributions
• Isolated corporate projects ➝ with inter-corporate community clusters that amplify collective impact

Approach Enhancements for Scale:

• Tech-Enabled Matching & Measurement Platform: A scalable digital tool to connect corporations and initiatives, track impact (e.g., CO2 savings, community resilience), and share stories, with community input on design and metrics.
• Toolkit & Certification: The "Community CSR certificate" is an innovation that involves a voluntary but binding commitment between companies and local projects to achieve their goals. LocalGrounds acts as a neutral intermediary to verify overall commitment, employee engagement, skills transfers, and governance, ensuring partnerships are equitable and impact-driven.
• Public Sector Engagement: Collaborate with municipalities to align with local sustainability plans, ensuring systemic embedding into urban governance and amplifying the platform's reach and legitimacy.

Who will benefit from mainstreaming and how?

Local Initiatives (e.g., urban agriculture, circular economy, climate adaptation)

• Access multi-year funding, corporate skills, and wider audiences
• Professionalize without losing grassroots identity
• Gain visibility and legitimacy within urban systems via the certification

Corporations

• Meet ESG targets with local relevance and employee engagement
• Reduce scope 3 emissions from employee travel
• Increase employee retention through certified meaningful CSR experiences

Urban Neighborhoods

• Receive tangible climate and resilience investments
• Foster intergenerational, intercultural community cohesion
• Build hyperlocal green economies and food security

Swiss Cities and Society

• Operationalize 20-minute city and urban resilience goals
• Create models for scaling community-corporate collaboration
• Build cross-sector trust and innovation networks for climate transition

Which people/organizations are in your team and what is their role?

Implementation Partner —Eric Pinto (Terrabiom): Project Leader. Experience managing multi-stakeholder sustainability initiatives including ecosystem restoration, and urban tourism. Role: Stakeholder workshops, coordination, impact measurement.

Scientific Partner —Anton Fedosov (FHNW): Professor of Digital Experience Design. Specializes in participatory design and community engagement tools. Role: Impact measurement blueprint and tool development.

Partners:

Alessandro Inversini (EHL): Academic expert in sustainable tourism and stakeholder collaboration. Role: Research methodology and workshop development.

Adriana Puente (WWF Corporate Volunteering): Hands-on corporate volunteering experience, expert in regenerative approaches. Role: Consultant to develop impact metrics focused on regeneration and community empowerment.

Maximiliano Espejo (Betreat): Tourism event coordinator and marketing specialist. Role: Connect with destination management organizations (DMOs) to promote the project and ensure community voices are amplified.

Community Voices: Representatives from Communauté Intercommunale de Lavaux (CIL), bringing lived experience and community leadership. Role: Co-design and governance of pilot initiatives.

Diversity and Inclusivity: We are actively recruiting an urban policy expert with experience in equitable development and a team member from an underrepresented community to ensure diverse perspectives shape the platform's design and implementation.

Has the idea (or variants) already been tested? If so, with what findings?

Initial validation came from informal discussions with 3 corporations, 2 NGOs, and 3 small social organizations:

• Corporate feedback: Interest in local, visible impact; enthusiasm for short-commute volunteering; positive response to the idea of a certification for commitment and impact.
• Community feedback: Desire for sustained support and corporate expertise; preference for respectful, participatory relationships.
• Additional findings: Need for neutral facilitation; community interest in capacity building; corporate value in employee engagement.
• Gaps: Impact measurement framework and formal pilot partnerships need development.

What would you like to work on during the booster?

1. Community-Centred Engagement Toolkit: Design a process that prioritizes community leadership and decision-making, directly addressing the lack of intermediary infrastructure and empowering local initiatives to shape partnerships.
2. Partnership Framework: Develop matching processes that ensure efficient resource flows and integrate the "Community CSR Certificate" requirements, testing the hypothesis that current resource allocation is inefficient and disempowering.
3. Impact Measurement System: Create hybrid evaluations that combine corporate metrics with community-defined indicators and storytelling, ensuring impact is measured through a community lens.
4. Certification Process Development: Establish a robust framework for the "Community CSR Certificate," including the voluntary but binding commitment mechanism, with clear roles for LocalGrounds as the neutral intermediary ensuring accountability and equity.

What do you hope you will have achieved specifically at the end of the booster?

• A replicable model piloted with at least 2 corporations and 4 community initiatives within the first year, reducing CO₂ emissions by reducing transport and establishing a baseline for scaling to 20 corporations and 40 initiatives within three years.
• Governance templates that enshrine community leadership and equitable decision-making, serving as a blueprint for future partnerships.
• A validated toolkit for community-led co-design processes, co-created with local initiatives and ready for adaptation across diverse urban contexts.

What do you hope for from the booster?

• Network Development:
  • Connections with corporations seeking authentic, community-led CSR partnerships.
  • Relationships with community development organizations and hyperlocal initiatives across Swiss urban areas.
  • Access to complementary projects in urban agriculture, circular economy, community resilience, and sustainable tourism.
• Expert Support:
  • Community development and participatory process facilitation expertise to ensure equitable power dynamics.
  • Impact measurement methodology for complex multi-stakeholder initiatives that honors both corporate reporting needs and community values.
  • Legal and regulatory guidance for corporate-community partnership structures.
• Learning and Validation Opportunities:
  • Structured feedback on participatory design processes from community organizers and corporate partnership specialists.
  • Testing opportunities with corporations and communities willing to pilot new collaboration approaches.
  • Connections to academic and policy networks interested in documenting and scaling hyperlocal sustainability models.

Who do you need as an expert to further advance the idea?

• Community Development/Participatory Process Expert: Specialist in community-led development, participatory governance, and power dynamics in corporate-community partnerships. Need: Process design ensuring community autonomy while creating meaningful corporate engagement opportunities.
• Corporate Social Partnership Specialist: Experience in corporate sustainability partnerships, stakeholder engagement, and CSR innovation. Need: Framework development for corporate-community partnerships that meet both business objectives and community development goals.

How much budget do you require from us for what (maximum CHF 22,500 including expert vouchers)?

Impact Framework Development (CHF 5,000)

• Systematic review of CSR effectiveness in urban contexts, with a focus on community-led development and power dynamics.
• Analysis of existing impact measurement frameworks (B-Corp, GRI, SDGs) through a community empowerment lens.
• Development of hybrid evaluation tools that prioritize community-defined metrics and storytelling, ensuring impact is measured meaningfully.

Partnership Mapping & Framework Development (CHF 6’000)

• Systematic mapping of community initiatives across 2 Swiss urban areas, using participatory methods to ensure community ownership.
• In-depth community stakeholder interviews to co-create partnership criteria.
• Creation of adaptable partnership development frameworks that embed the "Community CSR Certificate" and community leadership.

Co-Design Workshop Series (CHF 8,000)

• 2 corporate stakeholder workshops, including immersive community site visits to build empathy and understanding.
• 2 mixed stakeholder co-design sessions, facilitated to ensure community voices lead the process.

Expert Vouchers (CHF 3,500)

• Community development/participatory process expertise: CHF 1,000 to ensure community empowerment is central.
• Corporate social partnership specialist: CHF 1,000 to align corporate incentives with community needs.
• FUS team: CHF 1,500 to support platform development and scalability

LocalGrounds revolutionizes corporate social responsibility (CSR) by creating authentic partnerships between Swiss corporations and hyperlocal community initiatives right in their neighborhoods. We replace traditional CSR model of distant, disconnected donations by building collaborations with urban farming and climate adaptation projects within walking distance of corporate offices. Our "Community CSR Certificate" represents a paradigm shift—a voluntary yet binding framework that places community at the center, ensuring mutual accountability and measurable impact. Through participatory co-design, we transform into genuine collaboration. This approach not only reduces carbon emissions from employee commuting but also creates a powerful feedback loop where companies learn from community-led climate solutions while communities gain resources to scale their initiatives. The result is authentic impact that strengthens neighborhoods, empowers communities, and delivers meaningful corporate engagement.