Are you going to the Responsible Business Summit?
It’s next week, so you’ve not got long to clear your diary, but it does look good. (See the agenda).
Key topics for discussion include:
- Collaboration
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Trust
- Supply Chain
- Resource Constraints
I’m particularly looking forward to the discussions on resource scarcity. This is a growing area of interest for companies; for example, water usage is increasingly monitored and reductions sought as part of the CSR programme, particularly for companies where water usage is necessarily high. Food scarcity is another topic; and energy is a third.
Examples of companies who discuss these issues on the corporate website—and, indeed, go further than just discussion—include:
- SABMiller on the nexus between water, food and energy: they host online debates, bringing together academics, thinkers and businesses.
- Unilever have an extensive section on Water Use, and discuss the Water Footprint Network, of which they were a founding member.
- Dupont on Food Security, discussing the index developed with the Economist Intelligence Unit, to help measure risk and the factors that drive food scarcity.
This subject will be covered in a couple of sessions, and there are lots of other fascinating topics, so if you haven’t already, book your ticket soon*, and prepare to get involved! There’s going to be lots of audience participation this year, with small round-table discussions of particular topics, speaker pitches and polling, question and answer sessions and real-life dilemma discussions.
Maybe meet you there?
(*And for the first time Ethical Corporation is offering special rate tickets to businesses with fewer than 250 employees – down to £350 +VAT for a one-day ticket or £750 +VAT for both days – a fifth of the normal price.)
Lucy is Editor at Corporate Eye