The University will host its fourth annual Sustainable Business Symposium today through Sunday with the hope of challenging businesses, government and private citizens to understand the impact of their daily routines on the environment.
Organizers hope the free event will create a forum for dialogue among business members, community members and students who are concerned with business practices and the effects of consumption on the environment.
Guest speakers, panel discussions and classes will provide venues for participants to learn how to maintain profits while working to retain quality of life for themselves and the earth.
Vera Kewene, a member of the symposium’s board of directors, said there are two main purposes for the symposium.
“It is a forum where local business people can come together to learn from others who have had success,” she said, “and it also provides our students exposure to real-world problems and issues.”
While the event is geared toward local Eugene issues, people from all over the state participate, Kewene said.
Last year more than 1,000 people attended the symposium, said Kathy Lynn, a member of the board of directors.
“A neat mix of people from all over Oregon and a nice draw from campus came,” she said.
A number of keynote speakers will address a variety of issues throughout the weekend.
“The University of Oregon is a mecca for environmental issues,” keynote speaker Sanford Lewis said. “I am glad to be attending and look forward to an exciting discussion.”
Lewis is an environmental attorney with 18 years of experience in environmental law and policy, including 16 years of work on public campaigns. His said his work bridges community and environmental groups, investors, labor unions and businesses in the effort to find ecological sanity, fairness and accountability.
Lewis said his Saturday evening speech in the EMU Ballroom will address the need for a new set of corporate requirements to ensure a sustainable economy.
He said his chief focus will be on “how emerging science and human rights issues can be advanced with a strengthened public right to know.”
To illustrate his point, he said, he will provide several examples of corporate disinformation on the environment and sustainability.
Featured keynote speaker Jennifer Allen will also draw on career experience in sustainable business research for her Friday night speech. Allen is a sustainable business liaison for the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department. Part of her role is to provide outreach and support to a broad range of businesses that practice sustainability, including those in the areas of forestry, industry and even tourism.
In her speech, Allen will discuss what her department and others are doing to promote sustainable business practices. Allen also expressed positive comments concerning the fact that a university is hosting the symposium. “Universities have a critical role to play as partners with businesses and communities in framing and answering the questions that arise as we work toward sustainability,” she said. “This symposium helps build that bridge.”
The symposium was first held on campus four years ago, when law student Alex Tynberg felt there was a need for students to know about sustainable business practices. The event has since moved from the law school to the college of business, and is coordinated entirely by volunteers and students in the business school.