ISSP Insight Feb 2009

  ISSP Insight

Vol. 2  No. 2       February 2009

• Featured Article—Detoxifying the Personal Care Industry (with Mark Wuttke of the Wuttke Group)
• What's New @ ISSP
• ISSP Learning Events (training, webinars, orientations)
• Meet Your Fellow Members—highlighting an active ISSP member a month
• Member Involvement
• Call for Volunteers
• Call for Papers
• Recent Postings on the ISSP Site
• News You May Have Missed
• Career Corner
• Other Featured Events—ISSP members get discounts

"Detoxifying the Personal Care Products Industry" with Mark Wuttke of the Wuttke Group—With the European REACH (toxics legislation) deadline for registering products last December, this article explores why the issue of toxics is hitting the personal care products industry particularly hard. Download the article using the link at the bottom of this newsletter.

 

Call for board members—We are looking for new board members to help ISSP grow!  See below under "Member Involvement" for details.

Professional Certificate Program has an amazing line up of instructors—You asked for it and you got it! Since we provide training using distance learning methods, we can bring you the best instructors, no matter where they are in the world (and what a line up! Hobnob with people like Bob Willard, Alan AtKisson, Hunter Lovins and Gwen Hallsmith). You attend the classes from your office or home—no travel-related greenhouse gases or expenses! The certificate includes 5 core courses, 3 electives and 4 webinars (free to members). Register for one or more of these on the Workshops tab.

2009 Workshop Schedule

2009

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

June

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Core Classes

Sustain-ability Planning & Reporting (Marsha Willard) FULL

Sust. Community Development: Economic Recovery 101 (Gwen Hallsmith w/ Hunter Lovins

Sustaining Sustainability: Org Assess- ments and Systems (Dorothy Atwood)

Practical Tools & Methods for Change Agents (Alan AtKisson)

Leadership Skills for Change Agents (Bob Willard)

Electives

Energy Mgmt (Tentative)

Green- house Gas Inven-tories (Josh Skov

Life Cycle Assmt 101 (Tom Gloria)

 

Upcoming workshops in the ISSP professional certificate series (Register on Workshops page)

 

Greenhouse Gas Inventories and Climate Action Plans (June 09)

Instructor: Josh Skov, Good Company (Eugene, OR)

Learn how do to a greenhouse gas inventory and build a climate action plan for your organization or community.

 

Sustainable Community Development: Economic Recovery 101  (July 09)

Instructor: Gwen Hallsmith, City of Montpelier, Vermont, co-author of the LASER Guide,

Special Guest: Hunter Lovins with Natural Capitalism Solutions (co-author of the LASER Guide)

Webinars July 7, 14, 21, 28 from 11a-12pm Eastern Daylight Time.

How are you using the insights from all the work that’s been done by sustainable development professionals to address the economic crisis in your community?  Do you need new ideas about how to create jobs and that build natural and social capital?  How to redirect the economic stimulus package so that it doesn’t just go to the tired solutions of yesterday, regardless of how ‘shovel ready’ they are?  What opportunities are hidden in the housing crisis that can mobilize communities toward long-term, permanently affordable housing and stronger neighborhoods?  

Learn how you can take advantage of this moment in time to build more sustainable systems and practices in your community. We’ll use the LASER Guide (Local Action for Sustainable Economic Renewal) to chart a course for your community that you’ll be able to put into action at the end of the course.  

The LASER Guide is co-authored by Hunter Lovins and Christopher Juniper of Natural Capitalism, Bernard Lietaer from the Access Foundation, Gwendolyn Hallsmith of Global Community Initiatives, Wayne Fawbush, who now works for the Ford Foundation, and Michael Miller of America’s Development Foundation.  It’s a step by step workbook with a web based set of management support tools with best practices from around the world, and resources that give you practical stories and advice from people who have successfully used the strategies.

 We will offer webinars (free to members) every other month (even numbered months). Please contact Darcy Hitchcock to register for webinars.

Green Careers: Sharpening your tools to get sustainability jobs (February 24, Noon Pacific time)

This webinar will help you  navigate modern job search tools, specifically pointing towards a career in  sustainability.  Resumes, cover letters, networking, job postings,  interviewing: all still necessary, but in these challenging times, using  available new methods can produce quicker and more effective results.   Jobs in sustainability are competitive!  Vicki Lind is a career counselor specializing in helping people find jobs in sustainability; Janet Brumbaugh is an executive recruiter for several green companies.

We conduct regular new member orientations to help you learn how to get the most use of the site. These orientations are conducted by conference call and usually last about an hour.  They are free to members but require pre-registration. Below are the next scheduled sessions. Register with Marsha Willard.

• February  25 at 9:00am pacific time
• March 19 at 4:00pm pacific time
• April 21 at 9:00am pacific time
• May 20 at 4:00pm pacific time
• June 23 at 9:00am pacific time
• July 21 at 4:00pm pacific time
• August 13 at 9:00am pacific time
• September 23 at 4:00pm pacific time
• October 20 at 9:00am pacific time
• November 19 at 9:00am pacific time
• December 8 at 4:00pm pacific time

 

Each month we'd like to feature an active ISSP member so you can start to get to know one another. This month, we'd like to feature Laurence Smith who is ISSP's liaison to Asia.

Laurence Smith, VP Human Resources—Learning & Development, GE Money Asia, Tokyo

Background: I first got interested in 'Sustainability' in the mid 80's when I read Peter Russell's 'The Awakening Earth' based on James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis. Simultaneously I had an American girlfriend who worked for Greenpeace. After much reflection, I decided that it would not be until it was in the self interest of major global corporations that action to protect the environment and grow sustainability would really scale. Therefore I would work to change the system from within and have spent the last 20 years in the intersection of Organisational Learning, Personal development and collaborative & enabling technologies. Today I find myself working for GE where 'Green is Green' and EcoMagination is the fastest growing part of our business! An Englishman, living in Tokyo for the last 5 years, I spent the previous 5 on the East Coast, 4 in Seoul (South Korea) and have also lived in Kuala Lumpur, Riyadh and the Hague. My wife is from Seoul and I have 2 wonderful kids, Jasmine 8 and Hayden 6. These days when I think about motivations and ambitions, it is their future that inspires me (and sometimes concerns me). 

Recent Projects: Last year I launched a CleanTech and Sustainability Forum and Community here in Tokyo with the intention of enabling conversations between Japanese and International Sustainability Practioners and CleanTech entrepreneurs. GreenMondays  http://greenmondays.ning.com/ has over 200 registered Members and holds monthly events featuring 2 speakers on topics from Wind power to Carbon Trading, Virgin Atlantic's Sustainability approach to Geothermal Energy and from Sustainable Finance to Microfinance and alternative energy in developing countries. With average attendance of 40+ at each event, GreenMondays is becoming the place to meet with and learn from fellow Sustainability Practioners and CleanTech innovators and promoters. After 8 months of meetings, we now have people who want to speak for the next 6 months and, if I had the time, I'd be looking for Corporate sponsorship to grow GreenMondays and engage a larger audience.

Current/Future Plans: My newest project is acting as Asia liaison for ISSP. Announcing ISSP at the November GreenMondays got our first half dozen members in Japan and we will get together face to face in mid-January to brainstorm what we want from ISSP here in Asia and what we need to do to make it grow. I am very excited by the new ISSP Professional Certificate Programme and think that this can be a powerful attractor to drive membership growth throughout Asia. If anybody has any ideas or thoughts on this, or good contacts in Asia, especially Japan and Korea, please let me know. Email Laurence.

 

Call for Papers

Sustainability: The Journal of Record is actively seeking peer-reviewed papers with an action-oriented focus for consideration for publication in 2009 on the following topics:

• Policy shifts or procedural changes either on campus or in the corporate sector that have resulted in an improvement in sustainability
• Papers that emphasize practical approaches to sustainability challenges and that take a broader view (e.g., methods for greening an entire campus, methods for greening facilities)
• Papers which are likely to have broad applicability to and interest from our readers.

Recently published papers include:

Green IT 101, Technology helps businesses and college become enviro-friendly
Authored by: A. Naditz

Think Systemically, Act Cooperatively: The Key to Reaching a Tipping Point for the Sustainability Movement in Higher Education
Authored by: J. Elder

Opposites Attract, Corporate and nonprofit partnerships yield benefits for both
Authored by: L. Tripoli

Submit papers for consideration for publication to ltripoli@liebertpub.com

See the member discount page on the ISSP site for a free copy of the journal and discounts on subscriptions. http://sustainabilityprofessionals.org/member-discounts

 

 

Berkshire Publishing - Call for authors

Have you ever had to explain over dinner how sustainability relates to your area of business or special expertise?  Or have you made a speech about sustainability to a group of professionals or community leaders with no prior knowledge of your subject? If so, you may be perfectly prepared to contribute a valuable overview article to a groundbreaking new publication that aims to introduce the whole subject of the Business of Sustainability to a wide international audience, including high school and college students.

As you know, insider talk and jargon doesn’t work when talking to a mixed audience. This group of readers wants background, context, and facts. They don’t want theory or opinion, but clear information that they can test against what they already know, and verify from other sources. Writing for such an audience is a rich opportunity to take a step outside your usual framework and introduce the subject you know best to ordinary business and government leaders and to the next generation of citizens and sustainability professionals.

The Business of Sustainability has Chris Laszlo of Sustainable Value Partners, author of Sustainable Value: How the World’s Leading Companies are Doing Well by Doing Good, as its senior editor and the project’s authors include such leaders as Hunter Lovins and John Elkington. This book is volume 1 of the 10-volume Encyclopedia of Sustainability (details at http://www.indivisibility.org/bp/), part of Berkshire’s Sustainability Project which has advisers including Ray Anderson and Lester Brown. The publisher, Karen Christensen, of Berkshire Publishing Group, is also author of The Armchair Environmentalist.

If you would be interested in contributing an article of 1500-2500 words on your particular area of expertise to the Business of Sustainability, please contact Karen (karen@berkshirepublishing.com) with a little information about yourself, details about your area of expertise (industry, business process, management framework, etc.), and a link to recent articles or other materials.

Authors will be prominently featured on the website (see site for examples) and will have their peer-reviewed professionally edited. Published articles available for personal distribution, and authors will receive a copy of the book itself and will be able to order more at steep discount for distribution to clients.

 

Book Reviews by ISSP staff:

Building the Green Economy. Read review.

Covert Processes at Work. Read review.

Other featured postings:

Business case for sustainability. Read/add to discussion.

CSR Europe Toolbox. Read post.

Massachusetts Governor Calls for 2,000 MW of Wind by 2020, Renewable Energy World. Read.

Norway to Lead $100M Carbon Capture and Storage Program. Edie News (UK) and Climate Biz. Read.

The Climate Group to Develop 15-20 Low Carbon Cities in China. Climate Biz (China). Read.

China's energy saving a silver lining to economic gloom, meeting unofficial target in 2008. Reuters/WBCSD. Read.

Appeal of 'green products' growing despite recession – survey. Greenwire/WBCSD. Read.

Growth in Energy Use in US Could Drop 22 Percent by 2030 Under Right Conditions. Greener Buildings. Read.

New Tool Announced for Measuring Corporate Water Use. Corporate Water Gauge(TM) CSR Wire. Read.

WalMart Targets Cleaner Production in Central America. Sustainable Life Media. Read.

Firms Partnering with EPA Recycle More Than 66.5M Pounds of Electronics in 2008. GreenBiz. Read.

  

 Learning & Leading for Sustainability — a new workshop from the Society for Organizational Learning and Peter Senge

February 3-5, 2009, Cambridge, MA 

The workshop will be a synthesis of the deeper developmental work on leadership and core organizational learning disciplines (systems thinking, mental models and collaborative inquiry, personal mastery and building shared vision) that SOL has been doing.

In particular, the workshop will be focusing on:

• How the core organizational learning disciplines can build “learning for sustainability” capabilities such as seeing systems, collaborating across boundaries, and shifting from reactive problem solving to creating new futures.
• How to understand the basic systems that shape the modern economy - food and water, energy, material production and distribution – and the side effects of these systems.
• How organizations and communities are developing new strategies, practices, and capabilities and create practical insights into how to shift these systems and provide openings for innovation towards a more sustainable future.
• A practical goal of the session is that all participants advance their organization's sustainability strategy and implementation.  All participants are encouraged to attend with at least one other colleague.

Download a registration form  <http://www.solonline.org/repository/file?item_id=20737147> or an invitation/brochure at <http://www.solonline.org/repository/file?item_id=20738147>  Register early and deduct 15% from your payment before January 16.  Come with a client or partner and enjoy additional discounts.

If you have questions, please contact Frank Schneider <mailto:frank@solonline.org>  in the SoL office.

 

Sustainable Manufacturing Summit

April 29-30, Chicago

ISSP is supporting the Sustainable Manufacturing Summit that takes place April 29-30 in Chicago. This event will examine the latest developments in sustainable strategies for manufacturers of all sectors. It offers access to the corporate executives and green experts leading the transformation to sustainable and cost-efficient manufacturing.
Speakers include CEOs and senior sustainability professionals from: Siemens, McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC), Kraft, Toshiba, US Steel, Abbott Laboratories, Sara Lee, Pfizer, Owens Corning, Hollander, Department of Energy, Applied Materials, L’Oreal, The North Face, Eaton Corporation and more.

To take advantage of a special 10% discount offer, enter the code 10sms7 when registering for this event.
[Please link the words Sustainable Manufacturing Summit and event to the event homepage: http://www.greenpowerconferences.com/corporateclimateresponse/sustainable_manufacturing_summit_US09.html]

Conferences

Go to http://sustainabilityprofessionals.org/upcoming-events for more information about these events.

• Sustainability Reporting Using GRI, January 15-16, Montreal, February 5-6, Calgary, February 19-20, Vancouver, March 2-3, Toronto
• Strategies for Environmental Management, starts January 26, 2009, Cambridge, MA
• Leadership Conference on Global Corporate Citizenship, January 28-30, 2009 New York City
• 2009 State of Green Business  Forum, February 2, San Francisco
• Learning & Leading for Sustainability, February 3-5, 2009, Cambridge, MA - USA
• Ensuring transparency & sustainability in emerging markets, February 9-10, 2009, Dubai, UAE
• ISIS International Training, February 11-13, Uppsula University, Sweden
• Climate Communications and Behavioral Change,  February 18, Troutdale, Oregon
• The New Era of Carbon Finance, February 23-24, 2009, Sydney, Australia
• FT Sustainable Business, Responsible Investing, March 2, 2009, New York
• Arena for Sustainability, March 19-21, Thuringia, Germany
• Clean Energy Forum- Coal Gasification,  April. 1- 3, 2009, Tianjin, PRC
• 2nd Carbon Trade China 2009, April 21-23, 2009, Beijing, China
• US Sustainable Manufacturing Summit , April 29-30, 2009 at the Navy Pier in Chicago
• National Environmental Partnership Summit, May 4-8, San Francisco
• The Carbon Economy, May 11-13, Sydney, Australia
• National Product Stewardship Forum, June 1-4, Seattle
• Sustainable Development: Beyond the Business Case: Making sustainability a core business value, June  16-18, 2009, Washington, DC
• Summer Sustainability Series, June 22-26, 2009, Corvallis, OR and Portland, OR
• 17th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, June 29- July 3, 2009, CCH - Congress Center Hamburg, Germany
• Sustainability Summit '09: Technology & Productivity for the Low Carbon Economy, July 14-15,  Santa Clara, California

 

 

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