Peace Prize Winner will speak
A peace prize winner and several other sustainability experts are expected to speak next month at Business Beyond Tomorrow, an event open to students and professionalsheld at Concordia University.
“We want to promote sustainability to students and businesses,” says Srikanth Sekar, Graduate President of the John Molson Sustainable Business Group. “We hope to achieve this by bringing in some speakers from different sectors.”
Last year’s Sydney Peace Prize Winner Vandana Shiva is expected to speak at the conference alongside author Bob Willard; president of Capital Institute, John Fullerton; and senior vice-president and general manager of InterfaceFLOR, Claude Ouimet.
“People think that sustainability is just green,” Sekar says, “For this event, we want to concentrate on different subjects such as the social, economical and environmental aspects of business while discussing sustainability.”
This is the first time three of Montreal’s business schools – the HEC, McGill and Concordia – will act as co-hosts for the annual conference on sustainability. Each school was planning its own conference next month on the same issue. After much discussion, organizers decided to hold a bigger joint conference in the hopes of reaching wider audiences.
The conference starts Friday, March 11 at Concordia’s BMO Amphitheatre in the John Molson Building, with the HEC hosting related case competitions on Saturday. For each day of the conference, students and professionals will be given time for networking.
The first day of the conference will tackle several topics, such as renewable energy, green marketing and building, sustainable consulting, innovation and entrepreneurship within eight different panels.
Sustainability is an issue that will greatly serve businesses in the future, Sekar says. The green movement is picking up speed and businesses are taking notice. After sending many invitations to over 50 companies in the Montreal area, Sekar expects a good turnout.
Sekar says companies are increasingly interested in sustainability. He also hopes that professionals and students will finally sit down and talk about what sustainability truly means beyond the jargon. The conference itself can even be a step to long-lasting measures, he says.
In accordance with the event’s theme, everything will be environmentally friendly. The food will be local and organic, and all attendees will be given reusable stainless steel water bottles.
Places are limited with only 400 tickets available. Registration is $25 for students and $50 for professionals.
Related links:
• Business Beyond Tomorrow: http://www.businessbeyondtomorrow.com/ • John Molson Sustainable Business Group: http://www.jsg-jmsb.ca/jsg/ • Concordia's John Molson School of Business: http://johnmolson.concordia.ca/