Approximately 60 business leaders and faculty discussed corporate sustainability issues at the Winter Meeting of the U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD), held at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business in January 2017. The two-day meeting covered a wide range of topics under the theme of “Making Markets, Moving Markets.”
US BCSD is a nonprofit business association whose members include large corporations like Shell, Ingersoll Rand, Alcoa, and GM. The organization’s aim is to foster collaborative projects and partnerships between companies to develop solutions to sustainability challenges like materials, energy, and water management.
“It was an exciting opportunity for us to host the US BCSD meeting this year,” said EDGE executive director and Fuqua professor Dan Vermeer. “In my experience–both in the practitioner world and in academia–one of the most important steps in developing sustainability solutions is in bringing diverse industry stakeholders together.”
Dr. Vermeer gave a presentation at the meeting on “Tackling Wicked Problems.” Other presentations by both faculty and industry executives covered topics like “Structuring Innovative Partnerships,” “Moving Markets on Climate,” and “Transforming Supply Chains.”
EDGE and US BCSD are discussing plans to further their partnership. “I’d like to see us develop a joint research project that can draw from our respective strengths and networks,” said Dr. Vermeer. Look for more announcements on that front in the future.
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