Partner Events

ISSP is pleased to make our members aware of these other sustainability events happening around the world. Listing here is not an endorsement per se but an attempt to share opportunities of interest. In some cases these events have extended a discount to ISSP members.

Events are listed in chronological order.  Click on the conference name or scroll down to read more.

• The Future We Want,  May 18-20, Monterey, CA
• Product Stewardship Institute Spring Webinar Series, Various Dates from May 9 through June 26, On-Line
• Innovating for Sustainability, Harvard Business School Executive Education, May 20-23, London, England
• International Institute of Municipal Clerks Annual Conference, May 20 - 24, Portland, Oregon
• West Coast Energy Management Congress, May 23-24, Seattle, WA Free expo only tickets here: www.energyevent.com
• Sustainable Brands, June 4-7, San Diego
• Strategies For A New Economy, June 8-10, Bard College, Annadale-on-Hudson, NY
• Biogas East and Midwest, June 19-20, Chicago
• International Seminar on Zero Waste Strategies, July 19-20, San Sebastian, Spain
• US-Business Council on Sustainable Development, June 27-28, New Haven, Connecticut
• Ecosystem Services Partnership Annual Conference, July 31-Aug 4, Portland, Oregon
• BioGas, October 10-11, San Francisco
• Corporate Social Responsibility, October 17–20, Harvard Business School Executive Education, Boston, MA US
• The Eco Districts Summit, October 23-26, Portland, Oregon
• Local Renewables, October 25-26, Freiburg, Germany
• Green Project Management, various dates and locations
• GRI training, various dates and locations
• Natural Step Canada training courses, various dates and locations

 

The Future We Want: A Systems Approach to Growing Sustainable Business

May 18-20, Esalen Institute, Monterey, California

Is “green” always more expensive? Does a financially healthy company have to exploit the environment? Does success at work have to mean an ecologically and emotionally unsustainable personal life? And how is the growing field of clean technology solving—or contributing to—all of these problems? How are personal journeys and systems thinking woven in to this process?
This workshop will feature examples from the front lines of corporate sustainability while also inviting participants to share their own experiences and brainstorm ideas for a sustainable future. Drawing upon the fields of systems thinking, organizational learning, and ecology, we will seek to come up with a better understanding of what sustainability could look like in the business sector and in our personal lives. The workshop is geared toward individuals who are interested in learning more about sustainability and business innovation as well as exploring their own ideas with others. We will use tools and examples from the innovation of Silicon Valley, the energy efficiency and business acumen of Rocky Mountain Institute, and the organizational learning and systems-thinking work of Peter Senge and Dana Meadows.

Cost of the workshop includes:

• Food
• Access to various yoga and tai chi classes throughout the weekend when workshop is not in session
• Access to Esalen’s spectacular mineral hot springs and grounds
• Lodging

Cost runs from $405-$1595 per person (depending upon how luxurious you want your accommodations to be – Esalen has it all!)
For more information regarding the workshop content, please contact
Christina Page at chris_page99@yahoo.com.
For specifics on Esalen tuition, logistics and other details, please call  888-837-2536 or go
to Esalen’s website: http://www.esalen.org/

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Product Stewardship Institute Spring Webinar Series

Become an expert on the latest cutting edge issues in the product stewardship field from the comfort of your own office.

Join PSI and leading experts in the field in important product sustainability discussions with a diverse range of attendees, including federal, state, and local government, industry, NGOs and associations, and others.

There are five webinars in this series focusing on a variety of topics:

• Making the Change: Local Government Perspectives on the Transition to EPR, Wednesday, May 9 (2-3:30 p.m. ET/11 a.m. -12:30 p.m. PT)

• Lifecycle Flashing Before Your Eyes: Emerging Options for Simplified Lifecycle Analyses and Their Role in Product Stewardship, Tuesday, May 22 (2-3:30 p.m. ET/11 a.m. -12:30 p.m. PT)

• One Year Later: Evaluating New York's E-waste Program, Tuesday, June 5 (2-3:30 p.m. ET/11 a.m. -12:30 p.m. PT) 

• Voluntary and Mandatory Product Stewardship Programs-Finding the balance between government regulation and private sector initiative, Thursday, June 14 (1-2:30 p.m. ET/10-11:30 a.m. PT) 

• Coca-Cola's PlantBottle Packaging -Changing the Way We View Product Impacts, Tuesday, June 26 (2-3:30 p.m. ET/11 a.m. -12:30 p.m. PT)

Expert speakers for this series represent leading companies and organizations such as: The Sustainability Consortium, CLF Ventures, Sylvatica, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Call2Recycle, Consumer Electronics Association, Encorp Pacific, and The Coca-Cola Company; as well as state and local experts from the U.S and Canada including: Waukesha County, Wis., City of Vancouver, BC, Addison County, Vt., New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation, Town of Oyster Bay, NY, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, British Columbia Ministry of Environment, and Snohomish County, Wash.

For more information, visit PSI’s website: www.productstewardship.us/13webinarseries.

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Innovating for Sustainability

Harvard Business School Executive Education

May 20–23, 2012, London, England

 

Corporate decision makers often struggle to balance investors' expectations of financial performance and the demands of other stakeholders focused on nonfinancial— environmental, social, and governance—performance. In this new Harvard Business School (HBS) Executive Education program, you'll discover how leading companies are developing innovative products, processes, and business models to meet both financial and nonfinancial objectives.

 

Today, most companies treat financial performance and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance as separate domains. However, facing increasing pressure—and in some countries, government mandates—to act with greater transparency on ESG issues, executives must develop a strategy that creates value for both shareholders and society, while finding ways to align financial reporting and ESG reporting.

 

Offering insights from groundbreaking research, HBS faculty will lead you in an exploration of companies on the leading edge of ESG practices. In this program, you will examine the approaches used by organizations in diverse industries to:

 

• Design sustainability strategies tailored to the business

• Innovate in ways that generate both financial and nonfinancial benefits

• Measure and report on these efforts to investors and other stakeholders

 

To apply or for more information, visit www.exed.hbs.edu/programs/ifse/

 

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International Institute of Municipal Clerks Annual Conference

 

May 20 - 24, Portland, Oregon

 

The IIMC is the world's leading training and informaton association for municipal clerks. At the 66th IIMC Annual Conference in Portand, delegrates will hear keynote speakers who will provide thought proviking workshops to strenghten skills, and a variety of eduction sessions with topics on leadership, cmmunication, sustainabile municipalities, management, budget/finance and records management and more.

 

There will also be an exhibition during the course of the conference as well as numerous opportunities to network and connect with colleagues from throughout the world. For more inforamtion, please visit www.http://www.iimc.com/index.aspx?nid=165

 

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West Coast Energy Management Congress

May 23-24, Seattle, WA

 

The West Coast Energy Management Congress (EMC) is the largest energy conference and technology expo held on the U.S. West Coast specifically for business, industrial and institutional energy users. It brings together the top experts in all areas of the field to help you set a clear, optimum path to energy efficiency, facility optimization and sustainability, as well as innovation solutions to improve your ROI.

 

You can explore promising new technologies, compare energy supply and alternative energy options, and learn about innovative project implementation strategies. The multi-track conference covers a variety of topics, many specific to the region.

 

The full EMC 2012 agenda includes the two-day conference and expo, as well as several optional intensive seminars.

 

West Coast EMC's Pacific Northwest Green showcase, co-presented by the U.S. EPA's ENERGY STAR®, will also be a prominent part of the event for 2012. Here you can examine firsthand the latest green / sustainable / environmentally friendly energy technologies now available for both new design and retrofit projects. Conference presentations will facilitate your understanding of these technologies, covering such topics as green building design and retrofit; EPA’s online energy measurement and tracking tool for buildings, Portfolio Manager; LEED certification and building commissioning; high performance facilities; the latest developments in renewable energy; reducing carbon emissions; transportation solutions for the future; and green/sustainable project success stories. For more information and to register, click here. 

 

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Sustainable Brands 2012

June 4-7, San Diego

 

An accelerator of thought in sustainable brand leadership, Sustainable Brands currently offers news, community events, skills training, a robust digital learning library, membership opportunities and more -- all designed to help corporate brand and sustainability professionals, uncover, and successfully execute on new opportunities to profitably innovate for sustainability. Acting as a platform for positive transformation, Sustainable Brands promises to inspire, engage and equip today's business and brand leaders to grow revenues and enhance brand value, reputation and loyalty, while contributing to a healthy and sustainable future for all.

Join us as the Sustainability, Brand Strategy and Innovation Communities convene to shape the future. Learn why and how to participate now in the sustainability revolution by revolutionizing your brand in response to a rapidly changing economic landscape. Join market-making companies such as Unilever, Coca-Cola, UPS, Dell, 3M, BASF, Ford, Johnson & Johnson, Philips, Green Mountain Coffee, Target, and hundreds of others as you the Sustainable Brands community moves from a community of learning to a community of action that will drive the sustainable economy forward. Don’t wait! The co-creation begins soon. www.SustainableBrands12.com

20% discount for ISSP members. Use this code when registering     nwisspsb12

 

Strategies For A New Economy

June 8-10, 2012, Bard College, Annadale-on-Hudson, NY

The Strategies for a New Economy conference will feature 12 conference tracks each with 7 workshops and special guest plenary speakers. The track themes represent the positive spirit of the conference and the optimism that a new kind of economy, reflecting our highest aspirations as a people, is possible.

1.  Visioning and Modeling the New Economy: Shared Prosperity within
Planetary Limits
2.  Measuring Well Being: Alternative Indicators of Wealth and Progress
3.  Banking and Financing a New Economy: Scale, Criteria, Innovation
4.  Re-building Local Economies:  Engines for Resilience
5.  Re-imagining Ownership: Coops, Stakeholders, Corporate Structure
6. Transforming Money: Structuring, Issuing, and Valuing New Mediums of
Exchange
7.  Sharing the Commons: Identifying, Allocating, and Restoring
8.  Messaging a New Economy: Education, Media, Public Campaigns
9.  Forging Justice for All: Economic Security, Equity, and Jobs in the New
Economy
10. Empowered Youth: Mandating a New Economy
11. Responsive Government for a New Economy: Politics as if People and
Planet Mattered
12. Moving Beyond Consumerism: Plentitude, Sufficiency, and Mindful
Consumption

Each theme will have its own website with resource material reflecting some of the most innovative new thinking and experimentation in the field. Conference registration opens mid-January.  Conference workshops will be videoed and added to the web pages to further develop what will be a permanent resource of videos, papers, projects, and organizational links representing the best strategies for a new economy.

For more information, visit http://bit.ly/u4aUv1

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Biogas East & Midwest


19 – 20 June 2012
, Chicago


The 2nd annual Biogas East & Midwest conference will bring together industry leaders from the East and Midwest to put a spotlight on the biogas feedstock value chains that hold untapped potential for developing profitable projects, with a particular focus on how to capitalize on the high energy yields of food and organic waste streams, whilst exploring the emerging opportunities in the waste water treatment sector.
Speakers Include:

• Dr Susan Hedman, Region 5 Administrator, U.S. EPA
• Paul Pabor, Vice President, Renewable Energy, Waste Management
• Eugene Bocis, Director of North American Utilities, Anheuser-Busch
• Ken Ritz, Senior Managing Engineer, Tyson Foods
• Anthony LaRusso, Program Manager, Emerging Gas Operations, National Grid
• Paul Sellew, Chief Executive Officer, Harvest Power
• Paul Greene, Chairman, American Biogas Council
• Daniel LeFevers, Executive Director, Gas Technology Institute
• Jerome Peters Jr., Managing Partner, Energy Power Partners
• John May, Managing Director, Stern Brothers
• Douglas Clark, Chairman, NGV America
• Ross Blaine, Director of Innovation and Sustainability, Grober Group
• Swarupa Ganguli, Team Lead, Landfill Methane Outreach Program, US EPA
• Scott Fowler, Landfill Gas Manager, Progressive Waste
• Jon Best, Senior International Account Manager, Renewable Energy, Cat Power Finance
• Bill Jorgenson, Managing Partner, Agreen Energy
• Greg Northrup, Principal, Sustainable Partners
• Johannes Escudero, Executive Director, Renewable Natural Gas Coalition
• John Welch, Solid Waste Manager, Dane County
• Beatrice Torgnyson Klemme, Project Manager, Biogas Öst
• Joe Kramer, Senior Project Manager, Energy Center of Wisconsin
• Marianne Mintz, Center for Transportation Research, Argonne National Laboratory

Why attend?
•    The 5th biogas event to be held in the US - proven track record in the industry
•    The only event that brings together representation for the entire value chain specifically for the East and MidWestern biogas industry
•    Develop strategy in the absence of 1603- what are the necessary changes to attract investment into your project?
•    Explore the market development of different biogas feedstocks- what sectors present the most attractive opportunities?
•    Hear from a host of project case studies- lessons learned to consider for your next project
•    Discover how biogas upgrading can expand the market for your project
•    Focus on the progress of the natural gas vehicle market and implications expanding the market for biogas producers
•    Widened focus to include Canada, how you can enter this developing market
•    Draw upon the experiences of European companies, what can the US market learn?
Key topics to be addressed:
•    Market Overview, Legislation and Policy
•    Financing Biogas Projects
•    Feedstock Overview I: Food and Organic Waste
•    Biogas Upgrading for the Gas Grid and Working with Utilities
•    Biomethane: Tapping into the Vehicle Market
•    Feedstock overview II: Waste Water Treatment, and Agriculture
•    Lessons from the Experiences of European Companies for the US Market
•    Feedstock overview III: Landfill and MSW
To register and for more information:
Call: +44 (0)20 7099 0600
Email: Samantha.coleman@greenpowerconferences.com
Or visit www.greenpowerconferences.com/biogaseast
 

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International Seminar on Zero Waste Strategies

July 19-20, San Sebastian, Spain

The Waste Management Partnership of Gipuzkoa and the University of the Basque Country will host an international seminar on Zero Waste Strategies. The seminar will focus on the following goals:

1. Share and exchange international Zero Waste strategies.

2. Analyze the importance of citizen participation in designing and implementing Zero Waste strategies.

3. Explore the impact of Zero Waste on sustainable economic activities.

4. Assess the relationship between Zero Waste strategies and social and community values.

Fostering sustainable development and fighting global climate change require a new culture for waste management. This new culture is based on the belief that waste is a valuable resource which should be integrated within nature’s life cycle in order to take full advantage of it. Speakers from the United States, Italy, Wales, Sweden and Spain will discuss zero waste strategies that encourage citizen participation and a new kind of relationship with waste. Strengthened collaboration with manufacturers so as to improve design of mass consumption products and eliminate waste that cannot be either reused or recycled will also be covered. Zero waste strategies that promote new economic activities and create new jobs will also be explored.

For more information, contact Javier Font, University of the Basque Country, or visit http://bit.ly/H4lUaw.

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US BCSD and WBCSD-US Spring Meeting 2012

June 27-28, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

The US Business Council for Sustainable Development and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development invite you to join us at Yale University in New Haven, CT on June 27th and 28th for our Spring Meeting 2012. This highly interactive meeting has been designed to catalyze collaboration to advance and operationalize the WBCSD's Vision 2050, a framework to enable a sustainable world in which nine billion people can live well, and within the planet's resources by 2050.

With the help of business and sustainability thought leaders, we will examine the “Must-Haves” embedded in the Vision 2050 framework associated with Sustainable Consumption, Energy, Water, and Ecosystem Services through the lens of the U.S. marketplace. Engage with your peers in interactive discussions to define pathways to accelerate scaling and implementation of business solutions; and develop breakthrough, innovative approaches. And find out from thought leaders and peers how to address common barriers to operationalizing sustainability including: organizational design, financing, innovation and disruption, and collaboration.

For more information and to register, visit http://spring-meeting.usbcsd.org.

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Ecosystem Services Partnership Annual Conference

July 31 - August 4, Portland, Oregon

The Ecosystem Services Partnership invites you to the 5th annual ESP conference. Don't miss your chance to interact and exchange ideas with practitioners, educators, policy-makers, researchers, and many others.  Be part of working-groups producing outcomes ranging from journal articles, white papers, book chapters (if enough we can put together a book out of this conference), grant proposals, database structures, websites, and much more.

This Portland conference is being organised jointly with the International Association of Landscape Ecology (IALE) and A Community on Ecosystem Services (ACES).

For more information about the ESP Conference in Portland, visit http://bit.ly/H2hCD7.

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Biogas USA West

October 
10 – 11, 2012, 
San Francisco

The 4th Annual Biogas West conference returns to San Francisco as the region’s premier event for the biogas community to meet and enhance the profitability of new and existing projects.
The US biogas meeting will examine how to capitalize on emerging high energy feedstocks such as wastewater, municipal solid waste and industrial food waste, whilst exploring how to engage successfully with utility and industrial end users, and put a spotlight on the market prospects for biomethane in the natural gas vehicle market.

Join the topical discussions and hear the biogas case studies of successful projects as the momentum for the development of the biogas industry gathers pace.
Early confirmed Biogas USA West speakers include:
•    Peter Freed, Director, Terrapass
•    Jacques Franco, Climate Change & Technology, CalRecycle
•    Craig Lewis, Executive Director, Clean Coalition
•    Harrison Clay, President, Clean Energy Renewable Fuels
•    William Merry, General Manager and District Engineer, Monterey Regional Waste Management District
•    Marco Lemes, Project Manager, SMUD
•    Glenda Humiston, Rural Development State Director, California, USDA
Agenda at a glance:
•    Market Overview, Legislation and Policy
•    Increasing the Penetration of Biomethane into the Natural Gas Vehicle Market
•    Tapping into Emerging Feedstocks: the Potential for Food and Municipal Waste, and Wastewater Treatment
•    Increasing Profitability through Digester Performance and Biogas Treatment and Upgrading
•    Working Successfully with End-users
•    Financing Biogas Projects
•    Optimizing Biogas Generation from Agricultural Waste and Co-digestion
•    Landfill Gas to Energy
For more information and to register your place visit www.greenpowerconferences.com/biogaswest
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Corporate Social Responsibility

Harvard Business School Executive Education
 October 17–20, 2012 Boston, MA US

To thrive in the long term, companies must examine and refine their roles in society—the impact they have on people, the environment, and the economy. The Corporate Social Responsibility program offered by Harvard Business School (HBS) Executive Education enhances your ability to set priorities, measure results, and communicate the value of CSR efforts across your organization. Specifically, you will learn how to:
    •    Create competitive advantage through CSR
    •    Assess risks and opportunities before making capital investments or other business decisions
    •    Align CSR strategies with organizational goals and capabilities
    •    Evaluate current initiatives and consolidate efforts around key objectives
    •    Present a business case for CSR initiatives
    •    Implement CSR at all levels of the company
    •    Understand how CSR directly affects current and future regulatory practices
    •    Foster successful interaction with key internal and external stakeholders as well as governments and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
 
This program is specifically designed for senior executives who direct corporate social responsibility programs or oversee departments such as public affairs, philanthropy, sustainability, environmental health and safety, or community affairs. Senior officers with profit-and-loss responsibilities will benefit from attending.
By integrating social enterprise-related research, teaching, and activities into daily life at HBS, the Social Enterprise Initiative plays a critical role in supporting the School's mission to educate leaders who make a difference in the world. There is more to business success than simply creating value for shareholders.

To apply or for more information, visit www.exed.hbs.edu/programs/csr/

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The Eco Districts Summit

October 23-26, Portland, Oregon

The Summit is the first conference of its kind focusing on neighborhood-scale sustainable development. It serves the entire spectrum of district-scale development practitioners: developers, investors, companies, architecture and engineering firms, policymakers, NGOs, researchers, municipalities, and others in the field.

Summit attendees will include leading sustainable development business leaders, practitioners, advocates, and academics.

ISOS GRI Training and Certification

As a member of ISSP, ISOS Group would like to extend a 10% discount to you to attend any one of our GRI Certified Sustainability Reporting Courses held across the country. The GRI -- the Global Reporting Initiative -- is a global non-profit organization that maintains the GRI framework that outlines generally accepted practices for sustainability reporting.  This two-day course is designed for businesses, municipalities, governments, not-for-profit organizations and consultants who wish to understand how to manage the reporting process. Upon course completion, participants receive a certificate directly from GRI.  For more information, contact http://bit.ly/H3voXx.

Atlanta, GA
March 29-30, 2012

Boulder, CO
May 24-25, 2012

York, NY
May 31-June 1, 2012

Seattle, WA
June 11-12, 2012

Boston, MA
September 13-14, 2012
 
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The Natural Step Canada’s Sustainability Courses
 

Various dates and locations across Canada
 
Calling all ISSP members! The Natural Step Canada has launched its 2012 Sustainability Learning course dates and locations. These highly-reputable in-person courses are set to take place in Banff, Alberta; Toronto, Ontario; and Whistler, British Columbia.
 
Sustainability has the potential to drive innovation and value creation for businesses and communities around the world. Valued for their rich content, The Natural Step Canada’s courses give you the knowledge, skills, and tools to understand the global sustainability challenge, see the big picture, and make a clear case for why sustainability is crucial to the future success of your business, community, or organization.
 
The courses are taught by inspiring faculty and designed as hands-on, participatory experiences that allow you to learn quickly, apply concepts to real situations, and transfer what you learn to your business, community, or organization. They are a great investment of time, resources, and energy for professional development, career advancement, and organizational change.
 
The Natural Step Canada’s Sustainability Learning courses are very popular and expected to sell out quickly. Discounts are available for early registrations and for groups of 3 or more, so invite your colleagues and sign up today!
 
Learn more about The Natural Step Canada’s courses and how to register online. <http://www.thenaturalstep.org/en/canada/learning-programs>
 
www.thenaturalstep.org/en/canada/learning-programs   | 613.748.3001 | info@naturalstep.ca