Kevin Brady’s “Sustainability Status Report” and the Trends for 2016
What’s the pulse of the sustainability movement?
Kevin Brady, a respected sustainability pioneer and a member of Canada’s Clean 16 has just completed a major report on the status of the sustainability movement in North America. Join us on Wednesday November 25th as he shares his findings on the status of the CSR movement and where he sees it going in 2016 and beyond. (Kevin’s paper will be made available to all event attendees.)
During the event we will explore some of the following:
* Is the corporate sustainability movement on the right path AND IF NOT, what do we need to do differently?
* Why doesn’t business do more to address the global challenges that we collectively face?
* Is it business culture or the system itself that impedes more rapid change?
* How can we tackle the imbalance of power away from corporations and towards civil society?
* How is wealth inequality at the centre of the problem?
* Is this the year that the Canadian government finally takes a leadership role in sustainability?
* What can we expect from the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21)?
* Are trends like the sharing economy and the circular economy game changers?
DATE: Wednesday, November 25, 2015 (registration closes November 24th)
TIME: 4:30-7:30 EST (snacks & networking from 6:30-7:30)
LOCATION: Loyalty One, 438 University Ave., 12th Floor, Toronto (use elevators on the left in the lobby)
(Tickets must be purchased in advance)
Agenda
4:30 – 5:00 pm: Registration, snacks and networking
5:00 – 5:10 pm: Introductions and special announcements
5:10 – 5:40 pm: Presentation by Kevin Brady
5:40 – 6:00 pm: Small group discussion/breakout session
6:00 – 6:40 pm: Groups report back to main audience and general Q and A
6:40 – 7:30 pm: Networking and snacks
BREAKOUT SESSION:
Each group will be asked to discuss what they see as the biggest triumphs and failures for the sustainability movement and what needs to happen in 2016 for meaningful change to occur.
Kevin Brady has a long and distinguished career in corporate sustainability. He is currently the Director of Sustainable Enterprise Consulting.
Helping create more sustainable organizations and products has been the primary focus of my work for the last twenty years. I have had the good fortune to learn from, and work with, some of the greatest thinkers in the world in my field. From these thought leaders I have come to understand what a sustainable industrial system looks like. It is a cyclical system, a fair system, an engaging system, one that supports better design and which optimizes function and uses energy and materials wisely. It is a system that mimics nature where possible and it has supply chains that share benefits and minimize impacts.
A sustainable industrial system produces affordable products that have the utility and functionality we want. It is a system that understands that products are needed for all of humanity – people like me as well as the 2 billion people who are off grid and living a much more challenging life. It is a system we trust and we feel good about. A system we all want to be part of and one that will support future generations. It is a system that produces products we need and sometimes just products we want – like chocolate.
What I find challenging, and what I work on every day, is defining how to get from here to there – what is the pathway, what are the steps, how do we know we are making the right choices? How do we align our organizations, how do we direct our innovation and creativity? In my view it is not the revolutionary idea that is the challenge it is the transition – changing the incentives, the systems of governance, the behaviours and mindset of individuals, the business processes, the regulatory framework, the economic models this is where the heavy lifting is. These are the challenges I like taking on – it is what I do.
