Creating Sustainable Value

Business Adaptation to Climate Change

Milena — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:07:14 +0000

Blog Action Day is the right moment to share the findings of recent research on climate change!

The Network for Business Sustainability has looked at over 200 studies since 1997 on climate change adaptation.The research project’s findings are structured in four reports: concepts&theories, current practices, case studies and tools, knowledge gaps&future research and I will present some of the most important research findings and their implications for managers.

• As there is no agreed definition of business adaptation to climate change and theories on adaptation are still underdeveloped, the research study emphasizes the need to develop shared definitions which should be the result of a collaborative effort between firms, academia, government and NGO’s. The adaptation discussion should also become mainstream within the firm, the sector, and in multi-sectoral platforms.

• Business adaptation to climate change differs across sectors in terms of risks, opportunities, strategies and tools. Several sectors are leaders in adaptation to climate change: the insurance sector is a leader in risk assessment, the agriculture and tourism sector are leaders in their awareness of climate impact. Consequently, the Network for Business Sustainability advises managers, especially from leading organizations to collaborate within/across sectors in order to share knowledge and develop solutions.

• Unfortunately, the third report clearly states that :”In general, business is taking a ‘wait-and-see’ approach, with adapters being the exception rather than the rule.” but the researchers warn that such an approach comes with great risks.

• Existing tools deal mostly with risk management (risk frameworks, scenario tools, decision trees, costing tools, computer simulation tools) but there is a need to develop tools for risk modelling and opportunity assessment. Moreover, there is a need to undertake real adaptation measures and strategies beyond short-term measurements and GHG (Green House Gas) mitigation.

More about climate change:

COP15 , the United Nations Climate Change Conference,December 2009.

Interview with the Danish Minister, Connie Hedegaard

What can you do?(the European Union’s website on climate action)

Posted in research Tagged: blogactionday, climate change, network for business sustainability

Blog Action Day on Climate Change, October 15

Milena — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 07:37:52 +0000

Posted in events

ICCSR 7TH ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM – CALL FOR PAPERS

Milena — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:59:03 +0000

The Seventh Annual ICCSR Symposium is intended to discuss corporate innovation as it relates to poverty alleviation in local communities in developing countries.

We are interested in conceptual, theoretical or empirical papers that present new research insights, ideas on business models, strategies and stakeholder engagement processes that a) respond to factors contributing to poverty; and b) advance sustainable community development in developing countries.

We are inviting multidisciplinary papers which contribute knowledge on how companies are transforming value chain activities to benefit local communities. The papers can cover, but not limited to, the following areas:

• Corporations and community (and, or social) enterprise development

• Corporations and community asset-building

• Business approaches towards community empowerment and capacity building

• Social partnerships and Stakeholder engagement.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for presentation at the symposium should submit an abstract of 1,000 words to judy.muthuri@nottingham.ac.uk by Friday, 11th December 2009.

The ICCSR will also be preparing a special issue of Business & Society on this topic, to be edited by Prof. Jeremy Moon, Dr. Judy Muthuri and Dr Uwafiokun Idemudia. Papers presented at the symposium would be considered along with those responding to the journal’s own call for papers.

A more extensive outline is now available to download from www.nottingham.ac.uk/business/iccsr

International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (ICCSR)

Nottingham University Business School

Jubilee Campus

Wollaton Road

Nottingham NG8 1BB

Tel: +44 (0) 115 846 6976

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Posted in law

“Your world, your business”

Milena — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:14:41 +0000

From the DG Enterprise and Industry website:

YOUR WORLD, YOUR BUSINESS is a collaborative partnership between the European Commission and Junior Achievement-Young Enterprise. It promotes European policy objectives in the areas of corporate social responsibility and entrepreneurship education.

YOUR WORLD, YOUR BUSINESS initiative aims to inspire young people “to become the kind of entrepreneurs our society increasingly needs: creative, dynamic, and determined to make the world a better place.”

The main audience are young people aged 16-19, and their teachers, too.

The teacher’s guide and the accompanying videos are available in 24 different languages and can be downloaded from the site.

For more info write at: entr-csr@ec.europa.eu

Posted in news Tagged: csr, enterprise, entrepreneurship education, european commission

Responsibility Across Borders

Milena — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 15:34:20 +0000

Global Dialogue Conference 2009 www.globaldialogueconference.org
Responsibility—climate change as challenge for intercultural inquiry on values
Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

An international conference that will bring together the world’s leading experts on responsible investments, corporate responsibility, intercultural ethics and political theory, environmental journalism, and intercultural education for sustainability.

Climate change requires globally concerted actions, but our moral principles of action are local: They are tied to a culture or religion, and often in conflict with each other.
Can we develop a notion of joint global ecological responsibility? This is the most important question in the debate about climate protection, since motivation is the key to change and responsibility across borders is the key to global change.
Here is why this conference stands out and might be of extra importance to you:

Cross-cultural differences in value commitments and models of responsibility matter for intercultural marketing, management, and negotiation in transcultural contexts.
The conference will present cutting edge research on socially responsible investment networks and corporate social and ecological responsibility.
The conference will offer practitioners a forum for critical discussion of problematic aspects of the implementation of corporate responsibility in transcultural contexts of communication and organization.
In praxis report sessions practitioners may showcase successful implementations of corporate social or ecological responsibility.
Conference sponsors (silver and gold sponsors) may participate in a broadcasted panel discussion with journalists, business research experts, and activists, to discuss whether businesses are merely ‘green-washing’ their interests or aim for genuinely responsible actions.

For more information visit www.globaldialogueconference.org or contact the conference manager: Jacob Bock, filbock@hum.au.dk

Posted in events

Save the Date – International CSR-Conferences 2009 and 2010 in Beijing and Berlin

Milena — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 06:52:41 +0000

4th International Conference on
Corporate Social Responsibility
September 22-24, 2010

Save the Date

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Please SAVE THE DATE for the 4th International Conference on CSR at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin scheduled for September 22 – 24, 2010. This highly successful conference has now become a bi-annual event and attracts leading scholars and practitioners. A Call-for-Papers will be made available soon as well as early registration and hotel bookings via the conference homepage: www.csr-hu-berlin.org.

We are pleased to make available a DVD about the plenary sessions from the last CSR-conference in 2008. These include presentations, for instance by A. Michael Spence (Stanford), Jagdish Bhagwati (Columbia), Pietra Rivoli (Georgetown), Bradley K. Googins & Sandra Waddock (Boston College), Edward R. Freeman (Virginia), Dirk Matten (York) as well as a number of corporate speakers. For orders go to www.csr-hu-berlin.org.

1st Peking-Humboldt-University Conference on
Corporate Social Responsibility
October 23-25, 2009
Peking University, Guanghua School of Management

You might also be interested in attending the regional CSR-conference in Beijing (China), October 23-25, 2009, jointly organized by the Peking University, Guanghua School of Management and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Management. For details see www.csr-hu-berlin.org or contact us directly.

For more information and questions regarding both conferences contact us at info@csr-hu-berlin.org.

Looking forward to seeing you again.

Joachim Schwalbach & Anja Schwerk

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Institute of Management
schwal@wiwi.hu-berlin.de
schwerk@wiwi.hu-berlin.de

Posted in law

Books on CSR

Milena — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:50:11 +0000

1.Professionals´ Perspectives of Corporate Social Responsibility edited by Idowu, Samuel O. and Leal Filho, Walter, Springer.

Due: September 17, 2009

2.“Corporate Social Responsibility In Europe.Rhetoric and Realities.” Edited by Regine Barth and Franziska Wolff from the Environmental Law and Governance Division, Öko-Institut, Germany, Edward Elgar, 2009.

Posted in research

Guest post

Milena — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 11:03:31 +0000

Green Living: Improving Health Today and Tomorrow

Much attention has been paid in recent years to what seems to be a growing environmental conscience in the United States. Going green used to be considered expensive and a luxury for those who could afford the trend. Now it appears that we are learning that not only is adopting more environmentally conscious attitudes good for our economic situation, but also our….health? Yes, if we dig a bit deeper we can see that dirty industries and backwards policy is actually harming the health of the earth for our children and the health of her inhabitants today.

How Does Environmental Policy Affect Public Health?

There are two levels of health consequences associated with dirty industry, both direct and indirect. The direct consequences are examples like increased asthma rates in areas with high smog indices. Chlorofluorocarbon release into the atmosphere has shown to decrease the filter of direct sunlight on the planet, resulting in more concentrated ultraviolet light reaching the surface of the earth. Perhaps it is no surprise then that in countries with depleted atmospheric gas, skin cancer rates are among the highest in the world.

The indirect health consequences are harder to see immediately, but closer examination reveals that these are, in fact, perhaps the most hazardous. Bi-products of dirty and backwards industries, such as coal and oil processing, include cancer causing substances like asbestos and benzene. A U.K. study conducted in 2002 indicated that coal and oil industry workers are at a much higher risk of developing mesothelioma (associated with asbestos exposure) and leukemia (traced to benzene and heavy-metal exposure). Dr. Valerie Rusch among many other doctors who specialize in this area understand that these are substances that can be directly traced to antiquated pre-regulation equipment in industries whose environmental hazards are even more inherent.

Can we really afford to continue on the path we were on before? Investment in clean industry means not a healthier planet for our children and grandchildren, but also a healthier place for us to live today.

–June 18, 2009 Written by Bill Hawthorne with the maacenter

Posted in news

Globe Award Nominees for Sustainability Research.

Milena — Tue, 12 May 2009 03:38:43 +0000

The Globe Forum has published the Nominees for the 2009 Globe Award for Sustainability Research. Globe Award’s Sustainability Research Award is given to original research which successfully contributes to increased knowledge on sustainability.

The 2009 Nominees are:

1.Bengt Sture Ershag, Scandinavian Enviro Systems AB for an Innovation called Carbonizing by Forced Convection, a technology that thermally breaks down any organic material in a controllable environmental friendly closed system.

2. Dr. Candice Stevens, Sustainable Development Advisor at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for research focusing on “governance practices for sustainable development, identifying good practices in National Sustainable Development Strategies and approaches for Institutionalising Sustainable Development.”

3.Lisbeth Segerlund, Stockholm University, Dept. of Economic History, Section of International Relations for research focusing on the development of corporate social responsibility understood as a new international norm and how this norm has become an issue on the international agenda.”

4. Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) for developing a light source which runs on locally produced fuel, is environmentally friendly and produces bright light equivalent to that from a 100 W electric bulb.

5. PhD Susanne Arvidsson, School of Economics and Management, Lund for a research project focusing on “how companies work with Environmental, Social and Ethical responsibility and corporate Governance issues, how they communicate their achievements to stakeholders and how these issues can be worked more efficiently on.”

The Nominees for the Sustainability Innovation Award and Sustainability Reporting Award can be found here.

Posted in research Tagged: globe award, reporting, research, sustainability

Grants for CSR research

Milena — Sun, 10 May 2009 08:53:34 +0000

1. EASY ECO Conference 2009

“Stakeholder Perspectives in Evaluating Sustainable Development”, Budapest, 16-18 October, 2009.

EU-Grants are available for young researchers (with less than ten years research experience) to cover all costs (travel expenses, participation fees, accommodation and living allowance).The presentation of a paper increases the chance of getting a grant, however, it is not mandatory.

The current Call for Papers, together with the application for EU-Grants, will be open until 15 May 2009. Details on the application process can be found at http://www.sustainability.eu/easy/?k=apply.

Submission deadline: 15 May 2009.

2. 4th. CORE Conference 2009

“The potential of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to support the integration of core EU strategies”, 15-16 June 2009, Berlin.

Grants are still available for papers addressing issues covered under theme-tracks 1-3 as described in the Call for Papers. Abstracts addressing theme track 3 will receive preferential treatment.

Submission deadline: 18 May 2009.
For more details refer to the call for papers at http://www.core-conferences.net/attach/CORE_Call-for-Papers_2009.pdf or visit CORE’s website at: http://www.core-conferences.net/

3. EABIS Colloquium 2009

“The Role and Purpose of Business in Society: Challenges and Issues for Global and Corporate Governance”, Barcelona, 21-22 September 2009.

For more details refer to the Call of Papers.

Submission deadline: 29 May 2009.

Posted in research Tagged: conference, CORE, csr, EABIS, grants, research