Conference in October 2010:  Economics of Sustainability – Health, Safety, and the Environment

Call for Papers

Location:  Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio
Dates: October 28-29, 2010

Sponsors:  Xavier University Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the Campbell Institute are sponsoring the Economics of Sustainability - Health, Safety and the Environment Conference of 2010. Presenters at the conference will include researchers and practitioners. The event sessions promote the ideas of R2P: "Research to Practice" initiated through NIOSH programs.

Background: 
According to Andrew Savitz (author of The Triple Bottom Line: How Today’s Best-Run Companies are Achieving Economic, Social, and Environmental Success – And How You Can Too, 2006) “a sustainable corporation is one that creates profit for its shareholders while protecting the environment and improving the lives of those with whom it interacts.”  Michael Porter and Mark Kramer (Strategy and Society: The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility, HBR 2006), explain the significant positive correlation between a company’s attention to the triple bottom line and sustainable success.     

The concept of sustainability in the business sense has been evolving since 1987 when introduced by the Brundtland Commission of the UN.  Today, when working to achieve organizational sustainability, companies are faced with the challenge of how to measure each triple bottom line (TBL) component:  people, planet, and profit.  The SEC and accounting regulations provide guidance for measuring accounting profit, but how do we define and report metrics for human capital and natural capital – both vital to the sustainability of every company. 

During the Economics of Sustainability – Health, Safety, and the Environment Conference 2010, participants will come away with: 

1. Increased cognizance of the importance of focusing on organizational sustainability
2. Knowledge of the current research and trends in sustainability;
3. Interaction and connections with industry leaders;
4. Accessibility to tested sustainability models and metrics;
5. Realization of ways to put industry research into practice (R2P) when designing and implementing TBL measurements;
6. Most effective methods of reporting TBL information to stakeholders and consumers
7. Cognizance of the value-added importance of product safety from the prevention-through-design brand development stage through the distribution and market-driven product modification stages

More information will follow on conference registration and the call for papers. Contact Ginny W. Frings, Ph. D. at fringsv@xavier.edu.