ISO standards are voluntary to use and ISO 26000 provides voluntary guidance on social responsibility to all organizations, regardless of type and size, private or public. Although the majority of use of ISO 26000 so far has been in private companies, there are many examples of use in public policy. Public policy makers can use/refer to ISO standards and thus ISO 26000 in their role as for example owners, in procurement, in regulation, as donors, as inspiration. Some examples are presented below, feel free to add information.
Mexican municipalities
Presentation at 2015 conference.
Egypt
The NSB EOS and other have facilitated use of ISO 26000 in the making of the new national constitution.
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Several public agencies used ISO 26000 in the SIDA funded ISO project.
Chile
ISO 26000 was used when developing the national CSR strategy.
The European Commission CSR policy
The European Commission (EC) communication on CSR sets the tone for companies on the large European market. EC participated throughout in the development of ISO 26000 and soon after publication of ISO 26000, EC issued a revised CSR policy in 2011. ISO 26000 is also mentioned by EC in relation to non-financial reporting.
Ireland, responsibility mark with local policy makers
Presentation at 2015 conference
Netherlands
Muncipal focus to catalyze SMEs use of ISO 26000. Presentation at 2015 conference
Tunisia
ISO 26000 has been used in the new national 2030 sustainable development strategy,
Sweden
The Swedish response to the EC CSR Policy is called “Sustainable business platform” and contains a clear reference to ISO 26000 as important tool.
Academia
Research and academic work often serve as important input to public policy, and there are many such publications available.