We are the change we want to see in the world

SHA Wellness Clinic presents its 2021/22 Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy.

SHA Wellness Clinic is the perfect example of having a sustainable business model where everyone—both guests and employees—learns to take care of their health and the environment without sacrificing the highest standards of quality and cutting-edge treatments. As Juan Pablo Barassi, SHA Wellness Clinic’s chief operating officer, explains, ‘Sustainability is the driver of the change needed to continue building a responsible tourism model. The principles of the circular economy play a very important role in how we run our business and allow us to reduce our carbon footprint’. SHA’s Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy is aligned with the goals of the United Nations Strategic Plan for Sustainable Development and, among others, mainly focuses on three areas of impact:

1. The environment

Since SHA opened its doors in 2008, sustainability has been a part of everything it does, from the construction of its facility—which was adapted to the type of land to minimise the impact on the environment—to nutrition—with no meat and dairy products, two of the world’s most polluting industries. Its ongoing commitment to the environment has led it to receive Green Globe Certification, an exclusive symbol in the tourism industry that recognises companies that follow global standards for sustainable tourism. During the certification process, it was viewed very positively that 100% of the electricity used at SHA comes from renewable sources, 99% of its beverages and food are organic, it uses energy-saving technologies, it follows a zero-waste strategy, it supports biodynamic gardening with its organic garden, and it promotes electric mobility by having installed chargers. In addition, its high level of digitalisation has allowed it to reduce paper printing by 30%, its single-use containers have been replaced by dispensers, and the plastics in its amenities have been replaced by sustainable materials such as bamboo or stone paper.

2. Human capital

At SHA, we don’t have employees; we have talent. Their professionalism, passion, commitment, and warmth have made SHA a world leader in health and wellness. Our team is made up of 59.17% women and 40.83% men. With 31 different nationalities, it represents all the values ​​of equality, diversity, and inclusion that we would like to see in the rest of society. We aim to create the best workplace for them so that they can reach their full potential and properly carry out their work (there were 30 internal promotions in 2021) and learn healthy lifestyle habits while fostering and promoting a work-life balance. This is why we have created SHA Academy, an educational project for our talent to boost their careers, competencies, and skills through learning courses or our TalentsApp, a platform created for and by our team that helps to build and improve their relationship with the company. We also want to take care of our talent’s health the same way as we do with our guests. So we have created the weCare programme to pass on and share advice that will help them to develop healthy lifestyle habits.

3. The local community

For SHA, it is essential to be an inspiration to all people and to share the knowledge needed to encourage a healthy lifestyle and promote the protection of the wonderful environment where we are located. Starting with the local community, which welcomed us from the beginning and of which we are already a part. To this end, we have set up clean-up days in nature, collecting rubbish from nearby beaches and forests, and in December 2022, the first edition of the SHA Healthy Fest was held, a two-day event in which talks, workshops and healthy cooking classes were given and acupuncture and yoga sessions were held, among many other activities. In addition, SHA promotes trade with local suppliers, cares for and promotes the natural heritage, supports sports institutions and is committed to culture with exhibitions of emerging artists from the area. With these actions, we build a bond and a spirit of collaboration between our team members and the local community. Our donation of 240 kilos of food to the most vulnerable local families and six pallets of essential goods and medicines for victims of the conflict in Ukraine are just two examples.

However, although we are very proud of everything we have achieved, at SHA we believe that there is always room for improvement. That is why we never stop looking for innovative alternatives that allow us to continue to grow without negatively impacting our planet. We do so knowing that we are making a positive impact at all levels: economic, social and environmental. In short, we take responsibility for being the change we want to see in the world.