Columbia University’s Earth Institute and the Master of Science program in Sustainability Management invite you to Bringing Sustainability into Routine Management Decisions, a panel event to be held on March 2, 2011, from 5:00-7:00 pm.
With the recent focus on the "greening" of the economy and promoting environmentally-friendly business practices, organizations today face sustainability challenges on all fronts. Managers of organizations in both the public and private sector are looking to improve efficiency, use fewer resources and less energy, and produce less waste, all while keeping the bottom line in mind. A balance must be struck between the long-term benefits of developing sustainable business practices and the current mindset of short-term management- managing on a quarterly or annual basis, at best.
The panel, will be moderated by Steve Cohen, Executive Director of the Earth Institute, Columbia University and Director, M.S. Sustainability Management. Included on the panel will be experts from both the public and private sectors. The panel’s participants will discuss the current role of sustainability initiatives in business, which range from issues of public perception and preferences to financial issues that require large up-front capital for long-term gain. Speakers will discuss concepts like green accounting and other ways in which everyday production, operation, and communication within organizations are affected by a transition to sustainable business. While it is easy to imagine that science and technology will engineer solutions to many sustainability problems, it is harder to believe that organizations and businesses can evolve this way as well. How can we facilitate this process?
We invite you to join us for this discussion and the reception to follow. If you have questions or would like to RSVP, please contact Andrea Schecter at aschecter@ei.columbia.edu or 212-851-0772. The event will be held in the Faculty House at Columbia University, located at 64 Morningside Drive.
