Program

Final as of April 28, 2005

Critical Issues in Sustainable Development

Agenda for Research and Action

An International Conference of the Greening of Industry Network

April 28-29, 2005

University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Location: Country Hotel De Broeierd, Enschede

14.30-15.30h

Registration and coffee

15.30-17.00h

Welcome

Prof.dr. Lieteke van Vucht Tijssen

Dean, School of Business, Public Administration and Technology; University of Twente

Introduction to the Conference Program

Critical Issues in Sustainable Development: Agenda for Research and Action

Theo de Bruijn, GIN-Europe Coordinator

Kurt Fischer, GIN-Americas Coordinator

Keynote

From Confrontation to Collaboration

Hans Muileman, SNM - Policy for Sustainable Production and Consumption.

We will hear from one of the largest environmental NGOs in the Netherlands, SNM - Policy for Sustainable Production and Consumption. For the past two years SNM has been actively collaborating with business firms to stimulate them toward sustainable production and to create a network of CSR leaders. Hans Muileman, SNM program manager, will present his experiences and discuss the dilemmas he faces when switching from confrontation to collaboration. Marc van den Eijnden, from De Hoeve, one of the companies SNM is collaborating with, will join in the session presenting his experiences as well.

17.00-18.00h

Reception

Evening free. Dinner on your own.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday, April 29, 2005

Location: Spiegel Campus, University of Twente, Enschede

8.30-9.00h

Coffee and registration

9.00-9.15h

Opening, Challenge, and Workplan

Theo de Bruijn, GIN-Europe Coordinator

Kurt Fischer, GIN-Americas Coordinator

Trudy Heller, Executive Education for the Environment, USA

Session Plan:

We will take stock of the results of working on sustainable development for over a decade. We have asked our presenters to focus on two questions based on their experience:
1. What is the main message that comes out of your work with regard to sustainable development, and what elements of sustainable development do we now understand better or more fully?
2. What is the main challenge that you see? Based on your experience, what is a critical element of sustainable development that is still poorly developed or understood?
We will focus on what the findings mean for the GIN Sustainability Survey research project that we are constructing based on the conference. Presentations will be brief, with 10 minutes maximum per person, as we aim for dialogue.

9.15-10.45h

Session I: Changing Roles and Identities

Chair: Trudy Heller, Executive Education for the Environment, USA.

Rapporteur: Arno Mathis, University of Twente.

• Looking through the eyes of others; Business-NGO collaboration.

- André Nijhof, University of Twente, The Netherlands.

• The quest for sustainability; Insights from Swiss industry.

- Volker Hoffman, ETH Zurich, Switzerland.

• An institutional perspective of organizational sustainability: The case of LA21 in Spain.

- Rocio Llamas-Sanchez, Universidad de Granada, Spain.
• Standards and compliance inspections are the biggest hindrance for development of sustainable production.

- Jens Peter Mortensen, Association of Environmental Inspectors in Municipalities, Denmark.
• Is sustainability research distorted? The fallacy of focusing on big and powerful.

- Monica Macquet, Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden.

10.45-11.15h

Break

11.15-12.15h

Panel

Dogma and Dilemmas

Chair: Theo de Bruijn, GIN-Europe Coordinator, University of Twente.

Graham Daborn, Acadia University, Canada.
Jan van Wijngaarden, Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment-VROM, The Netherlands.

Alfons Wispels, Raedthuys Holding, The Netherlands.

12.15-13.30h

Luncheon

Location: Faculty Club, University of Twente, Enschede

13.30-15.00h (2 parallel sessions)
Session IIa: Production and Consumption Systems

Chair: Harrie van Bommel, Saxion University of Professional Education, The Netherlands.

Rapporteur: Wilbert Grevers, University of Twente.

• Towards a typology of sustainable chain management.
- Johan Piet, TranspaRAbility B.V., The Netherlands.
• Product-service systems research for sustainable development.
- Oksana Mont, Lund University, Sweden.
• The rise and fall of product-oriented environmental policy.
- Arne Remmen, Aalborg University, Denmark.
• Accounting for sustainable development or for the environment?
- Robert Cairns, McGill University, Canada.
• Empowering shareholders.
- Tsjalle van der Burg, University of Twente, The Netherlands.
• Marshalling creativity, entrepreneurship, and timing for more sustainable production-consumption systems.
- Peter Hofman, University of Twente, The Netherlands.

Session IIb: Sustainability Strategies

Chair: André Nijhof, University of Twente, The Netherlands.

Rapporteur: Agni Kalfagianni, University of Twente.

• A Triple I strategy for the future of Europe.
- Raymond Bleischwitz, College of Europe, Belgium.
• Reflections on sustainable development: The need for accelerating complex decision-making, flexibility, and regional perspectives.
- Kjell-Erik Bugge, Saxion University, The Netherlands.
• An integrated policy approach to trans-boundary pollution and sustainable development around the globe
- Christina Olivecrona, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden.
• Exploration of the arena for social steering with particular emphasis on corporate environmental strategies.
- Geerten Schrama, University of Twente, The Netherlands.
• Sustainable entrepreneurship.
- Sieuwert Haverhoek, Chr. Hogeschool Windesheim, The Netherlands.
• Moving sustainable development to the forefront: The contribution of networks between public authorities and private companies.
- Martin Lehman, Aalborg University, Denmark.
• The sustainability of Mexican industry.
- María Laura Franco García, Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey y de Estudios Superiores, Mexico.

15.00-15.30h
Break

15.30-16.30h

Action plans, team building, next steps.

Chair: Steve McCauley, Environment Canada/Government of Canada.

16.30h

Adjourn, farewell coffee/drink.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~