The Northwest’s longest-running sustainability conference is being held in the newest facility on campus this weekend. The 2003 Sustainable Business Symposium kicks off its seventh annual conference today in the Lillis Business Complex to educate the community about current business issues.
“Our goal is to inspire people to get involved in conversations about sustainability in business,” coordinator and graduate student Keelan Morse-McPhee said.
Titled “Who’s Profiting and How,” the symposium aims to promote ethical and environmentally friendly business practices. It will feature various panels and keynote speakers, including a Friday-night debate titled “Global vs. Local,” which coordinators say should be the highlight of the weekend.
“Hopefully it will draw a big crowd,” Morse-McPhee said. “It will be a pretty lively debate.”
A board of student volunteers from the Environmental Studies program, the masters in business administration program and the Department of Planning Public Policy and Management planned the symposium for about a year.
“The board consists of a very diverse group of people, which makes things interesting and challenging,” Morse-McPhee said. “But we definitely will have a better symposium because of it.”
The symposium will have four main keynote speakers from various companies and organizations. Information about the speakers can be found at www.uoregon.edu/~sbs.
On Friday evening, the “Global vs. Local” debate will feature the opinions of Jack Roberts and Michael Shuman, two men with different business perspectives.
Roberts, a University graduate, is the executive director for Lane Metro Partnership, an organization that helps create new job opportunities for Eugenians and ensure a more diverse and stable economy. As director, Roberts promotes economic development efforts throughout Lane County and focusses on business investment through recruitment, retention and expansion, according to the symposium Web Site.
Shuman, a Stanford-trained attorney, is director of the Green Policy Institute, which undertakes public policy research and writing related to sustainable communities. He has written, co-written or edited six books, including his most recent work, “Going Local:Creating Self-Reliant Communities in the Global Age.”
On Sunday, the symposium will wind down with two free three-hour workshops called “Voluntary Simplicity” and “Redefining Success in the Context of Environmental Sustainability.” The latter is designed to help people develop the skills to live a life that focuses on the most deeply felt needs, values, wishes and beliefs of the individual, according to the statement by the symposium’s board.
Morse-McPhee said both workshops will be great learning experiences for members of the campus community.
“Those types of workshops would normally cost a fair amount of money, which is why I plan to participate,” she said.
As part of a long-standing tradition, the symposium returned to the University this year because of the local and regional interest in social and environmental issues, coordinator Angela Donkers said.
“Sustainability is big in the Pacific Northwest, and it’s very much alive in the University of Oregon community,” she said.
Looking back on a year of planning, Donkers said the hardest part about the process was selecting relevant topics and arranging for insightful speakers to attend. Considering the symposium has traditionally been coordinated solely by Planning Public Policy and Management students, Donkers said the time and effort were worth the experience.
Although the event ends Sunday evening, Morse-McPhee said their work doesn’t stop there.
“We still have to recruit a new board for next year and pass on our information,” she said.