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Global
Shifts and Regional Development:
Innovating
for Sustainable Agriculture,
Energy, and Finance
•••
An
International Conference of the Greening of Industry Network
October 20-22, 2005
Arthur
Irving Academy for the Environment
Acadia University
Wolfville, Nova Scotia,
Canada
•••
Go
to Conference Home Page at Acadia University
•••
GIN2005-2
Conference Themes
In this international
conference we will examine the intertwined issues of agriculture, energy,
and finance as an example of creating regional sustainable development
in a globalized society. These issues are often pursued in isolation,
for example, as sustainable energy, as sustainable agriculture, and as
socially responsible investment or, more likely, as “the market.”
Energy, agriculture, and finance operate on increasingly global scales:
what place is there for development of sustainable energy and agriculture
on a regional basis? How do we finance regional sustainable development?
How can we promote sustainable finance that maximizes social and environmental
returns along with financial returns? How can we include finance in discussions
of sustainable agriculture and energy without falling back on the traditional
assumption that sustainability always adds cost?
Intertwined
Issues
We will explore agriculture, energy, and finance, focusing on their relevance
in the Canadian Maritime Provinces and the wider Eastern seaboard of North
America, with the aim of drawing out transferable knowledge and lessons.
-
Agriculture
From aquaculture to tree farming, this region has had a strong historical
dependence on working the land and sea for sustenance and profit. This
industry, in turn, is highly dependent upon the energy sector, not only
for transportation of food, but for the production of product - running
farm equipment, food processing, and the vast majority of pesticides and
fertilizers are petroleum based. As energy prices continue to rise, what
will happen to the cost of production? How long could small and large
farms continue to finance their activities in face of rising energy prices?
What types of investments make sense with respect to these realities?
-
Energy
Moving beyond only agriculture, this region of the world is also highly
dependant upon imports. The ability to import products from around the
world is largely dependant upon energy prices. As energy prices rise,
what types of investments will be prudent? Will it make sense to continue
to finance large, centrally located producers who then distribute far
and wide, or will decentralization make more sense?
-
Finance
Finance often signs to the tune of maximizing returns. However, if our
objective is not necessarily to make the most money, but to ensure sustainable
agriculture and energy sources on into the future, we must begin to consider
what type of returns we are looking for (financial, environmental, social,
etc.) and in what time frame. Considering our regional dependence
on agriculture and energy, will a focus on maximizing financial return
lead us to a sustainable regional economy, ecology, and culture? If not,
what is the role of financiers? What sort of returns or metrics should
they use to assess performance?
We will
create strategies and actions for sustainable regional development by
featuring speakers, panels, workshops, and diverse international presentations.
Through discussion, debate, and dialogue, we will focus on global product
and value chains in a regional context and how sustainable development
changes chains. In all GIN meetings and activities, we go beyond current
buzzwords to create an original conversation that leads to new
strategies, alliances, and actions for sustainable development.
Crucial
Issues to be addressed include:
- Global
product value chains in a regional context and how sustainable
development changes chains.
- Collaboration
within the chain beyond public-private partnerships only.
- Level
of action and influence: What roles for local, regional and
national actors (civil society organizations, individual companies,
governments from local to national, trade associations, citizens) with
global shifts creating increasingly international chains?
- Power
in the chain.
Specific
Questions that will frame the conference discussions include:
- Can communities
determine where their food and energy come from?
- Is regional
sustainable development an option? What would it look like?
- How do
business values relate to sustainable development?
- Is zero
economic growth a viable option?
- How much
growth is enough?
- How
do we underwrite sustainability: Who pays?
Sector
focus
Collaboration and partnerships are longstanding themes within the GIN
debate. By looking more closely at specific sectors and product value
chains, this debate will gain depth, relevance, and applicability. For
this conference we will focus specifically on integrating topical areas
of Environment & Finance with Energy & Agriculture. We will aim
to create an agenda and strategies for financing sustainable energy and
agriculture for regional development in a global society.
Geographic
focus
Cases from any region will be sought for the conference program, with
Eastern Canada and Northeastern United States featured to draw out transferable
conclusions for international application. This region of North America
has a shared history of settlement, colonization, independence, and current
economic, social, and political interrelations; and supports a great diversity
of industries, such as agriculture and farming, forestry, pulp and paper,
mining, energy, fisheries, transport, R&D, education, high technology,
bio-technology, finance, light manufacturing, and aging, departing, and
departed shoe, textile, and heavy industries. This bio-region has a diverse
geography of seacoast, wetlands, farmlands, mountains; settled in varying
patterns of urban, suburban sprawl, small towns, and rural villages by
diverse populations of First Nations and more recent arrivals from all
over the world over the past 1,000 years.
Conference
Goals
There are three primary goals for the conference: 1) to facilitate making
new and useful contacts for participants, adding to their network of colleagues
working to make sense of the conference themes while also being productive
in their chosen fields; 2) to generate new ideas and enhanced understanding
of the interconnectedness of these issues and what we can do to intelligently
manage them now and in the long term; 3) to generate a new sense of purpose
among participants for each to make a personal commitment to take new
actions over the next year toward designing an ecologically, economically,
and socially sustainable future for our children.
GIN2005-2
will further the creation of knowledge and transformation of practice
for sustainable development with products including research and policy
agendas, publications, and new partnerships for change. We will continue
work on the GIN Sustainability Survey & Research Project begun at
GIN2005-1 in April 2005. In keeping with GIN goals and values, we will
continue to emphasize dialogue and outcomes over serial presentations.
Opportunity
to Publish
Presentations
will be reviewed for GIN publications, for example, in a special issue
of the international journal Business Strategy and the Environment
(Wiley), or in a book of case studies. Conference proceedings will be
added to our on-line searchable archive of GIN conferences, available
to GIN Members.
Call
for Presentations and Posters
You
are invited to submit brief proposals of 200-300 words responding to the
Conference Themes, Crucial Issues, Specific Questions, or Sector Focus.
Proposals that reflect your experiences or are based on analyses of the
specific sectors, or the interplay between the global and regional, or
international collaborative patterns along the value chain are most welcome.
Send
your proposal/summary of 200-300 words by email attachment. Please
include "GIN2005-2 Proposal" in the subject line of your message.
Include
your full name, affiliation, address, and contact information on the attachment
page, using this Proposal
Format. We encourage you to submit your summary early since proposals
will be reviewed as they are received and acceptances made on a continuing
basis. Proposals are not required for attendance, but if you are submitting
a proposal, you must also register for the conference.
Posters:
Send a 200-300 word proposal/summary (as above) by email attachment, using
the Proposal
Format. Poster specifications: poster display space is available
in two sizes, 48" high by 48" wide, or 48" high by 96"
wide (122cm by 122cm, or 122cm by 244cm). Specify which size you are requesting.
Posters may be attached to the display stands with push pins or Velcro
patches which will be provided. Please refer to these Poster
Guidelines when preparing your final poster for exhibit.
Full
papers (optional) may also be submitted using this Paper
Format.
Program:
The conference starts on Thursday afternoon, October 20, with registration,
a welcoming reception, and tours of the K.C. Irving Environmental Science
Centre and Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens. The conference will adjourn
on Saturday, October 22 at 4:00pm.
Rather than
having formal paper presentations, the dominant mode of the GIN2005-2
conference will be dialogue.
Oral presentations must be kept very brief, with one or two transparencies,
if any at all (no PPT, please), sticking to the main points
of results and questions that will contribute to a discussion of the central
issues and plans for next steps. Aim to get the session participants focusing
on you and what you are saying, not looking at text on a screen. Make
a brief presentation to provoke discussion and create some results out
of your session.
Once again this year, with thanks to G Winter, we offer these Dialogue
Guidelines. Further program information will be posted continuously.
Conference
Host: Acadia University
Acadia is one of the highest-rated universities in Canada and in 2005
inaugurates the Arthur
Irving Academy for the Environment. The Academy supports a
diverse, trans-disciplinary program of scholarly activity, education,
and community activities, focused on environmental issues of local, national,
and international scope.
The GIN2005-2
Conference Chair is Dr. Edith Callaghan, F.C. Manning School of Business
Administration, and Council Member of the Arthur Irving Academy for the
Environment, at Acadia University. Dr. Callaghan has been an active participant
in the Greening of Industry Network since 1992 and currently serves on
the GIN Steering Committee.
Registration
GIN Members receive a 20 percent reduction on registration. Registration
cost for the entire program is $300 CAD, reduced to $240 CAD for current
GIN members. Non-members can JOIN GIN! and get the reduced
price. Please note that registration is in Canadian dollars CAD. (As of
August 2, in US dollars, for example, the fees would be about $250, or
$200 for current GIN members. In Euros, about 203 EUR, or 162 EUR members.
In United Kingdom Pounds, about 140 GBP, or 112 GBP members. CLICK
for currency conversion rates.)
Not a member?
JOIN GIN! GIN membership includes a year's
subscription to the international journal Business
Strategy and the Environment (Wiley), and exclusive
on-line access to GIN conference proceedings since 1998. You may join
or renew your membership in one step when you register
for the conference. Conference participants are responsible for costs
of their registration, travel, and accommodations.
Location
- Travel - Hotel
Flying in?
Destination: Halifax International Airport (YHZ).
Travel
& Accommodations
NovaScotia.com
Since
1991
The GIN conferences,
24 events in 12 countries around the world since
1991, comprise a unique experience and record of bringing people and the
issues together for a big perspective on sustainable development, forging
productive connections among research, policy, and practice.
•••
Global
Shifts and Regional Development:
Innovating
for Sustainable Agriculture,
Energy, and Finance
An
International Conference of the Greening of Industry Network
October 20-22, 2005
Arthur
Irving Academy for the Environment
Acadia University
Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada
•••
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