Symposia
Fourth and Fifth International Environmental Management Leadership Symposia Scheduled for May 11-12, 2009 at RIT in Rochester, New York and June 8-9, 2009 at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy.
The fourth Environmental Management Leadership Symposium at RIT will kick off the 2009 symposium season! The symposium team is busy putting the finishing touches on the agenda. Please click AGENDA to view the latest draft. Admission will be free to invited guests — so, if you are interested in receiving an invitation, please contact john.morelli@rit.edu to let us know.
The fifth Environmental Management Leadership Symposium has been scheduled for the 8th & 9th of June 2009 and will be sponsored by Bocconi University in Milano, Italy. More information will be posted as it becomes available.
In early May of 2008, approximately 65 environmental managers came together in Rochester for the first Environmental Management Leadership Symposium in a three-year series of symposia that will be held in the US, EU and Asia. The event included 12 topical workshops that began to identify, define, and develop consensus opinions on the roles, goals, positions, and underlying assumptions of the profession. To view the agenda for this event, please click here: AGENDA.
The second Environmental Management Leadership Symposium was held on the 23 & 24 of June 2008 at Corvinus University in Budapest, Hungary. The workshops in Budapest built upon the accomplishments of the previous symposium in Rochester and introduced and developed new topics and issues faced by professional environmental managers. To view the agenda for this event, please click here: AGENDA.
The third Environmental Management Leadership Symposium was held on October 3 & 4, 2008 at the American College for Management and Technology in Dubrovnik, Croatia! Building on the outcomes of the first two symposia and adding local issues, the event in ACMT continued to define and develop the role of the environmental manager. To view the agenda for this event, please click here: AGENDA
February 5, 2009 by
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John Morelli | Filed under: News,Symposia
May 11 & 12, 2009 RIT will again host the Environmental Management Leadership Symposium. Since the 2008 RIT Symposium, we have held these events in Budapest, Hungary and Dubrovnik, Croatia. The 2009 RIT Symposium will bring the topics, findings, and conclusions from these events abroad back to the U.S. and will kick off a new year of international environmental management leadership symposia. You can view this year’s program by clicking on: AGENDA. Some of the highlights planned for the upcoming symposium include: three concluding workshops on the goals, roles and competencies of the environmental manager – these topics have been pursued in three countries for a full year and are now ready to be presented as potential standards of the profession; a workshop for credentialing organizations to explore the possibilities of creating a unified credential for the environmental professional; and workshops for environmental managers on influencing supply chain management, fostering organizational excellence as a strategy for improving environmental performance, engaging in sustainability and social responsibility, and much more.
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June 10, 2008 by
John Morelli | Filed under: Collaboratory,Symposia
Comments and suggestions from the RIT Symposium were collected and are presented below.
Consolidation and Overview of Symposium Suggestions/Critiques
There seemed to be a general feeling among the moderators that most participants were quite receptive to the idea of environmental managers being more active players with their respective companies, however, the problem area tended to rest in the realm of leadership, as well as how exactly to accomplish what needed to be accomplished. This sentiment appeared in multiple workshop groups, and it was suggested by multiple moderators that perhaps at future symposia, there could be more focus on leadership techniques, as well as workshops outlining methods that environmental managers could employ in order to speak their company’s language so as to leverage for better environmental performance.
More than one moderator also mentioned the concept of “change agents”; this concept should be looked into more thoroughly and perhaps a future workshop should be included at upcoming symposia that will help to flesh out this idea. The use of case studies was heavily supported by moderators as a way to show specific, real-world examples of environmental managers successfully acting as “change agents”. In addition to case studies that explore “change agents”, some moderators also suggested case studies that show examples of companies that have employed greater CSR practices and been competitive.
Also mentioned by more than one moderator was the idea of including on the website a glossary of key terms relevant to the profession that would help to clear up confusion over certain concepts (i.e. “environmental sustainability”, “ecological balance”, etc.).
A suggestion was also made that we seek to get on the annual conference agendas of key organizations; it was estimated by one person that about 20% of the attendees at such conferences would be receptive to such explorations.
Consolidation of General Recommendations
It was mentioned more than once in our debriefing, as well as in the written suggestions from the moderators, that the website was too complicated to use and that perhaps a more intuitive format would facilitate greater online participation.
Overall, throughout the debriefing and the written summaries submitted by the moderators, the general consensus is that the intent of symposium is right on target and that the symposium provided motivation and inspiration, as well as social and professional networking. From a logistical perspective, the general feeling was that the typical workshop group at the symposium was just the right size (4-10 people) that allowed for the best results.
A few suggestions were made pertaining to the scheduling/format of the symposium; for instance, one moderator felt that the symposium needed an opening exercise to frame the workshop in order to get everyone on the same page; additionally, more specific guidance for workshop moderators was also mentioned. It was also brought to light that perhaps in future symposia, multiple workshops per room should be avoided, and that events should be more spread out so as to avoid overloading the participants (one moderator felt that there was too much scheduled for the first day).
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