Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Stanford’s Graduate School of Business Center for Social Innovation are hosting a series of one-hour expert interviews and open dialogues on business and environmental collaboration. The collection of conversations will be available as podcasts to help encourage discussion and innovation in this dynamic field.

To join a Future of Green Open Conference Call:

Listen to the available podcasts on Stanford's Social Innovation Conversations page.

Background

This call series is part of EDF’s look-back and forward visioning around the effectiveness of the NGO-business partnership model that began 20 years ago this fall. In November 1990, EDF and McDonald's announced an alliance to reduce the environmental impact of the fast-food chain's packaging waste. This partnership was a risky move for EDF and McDonald’s, and reactions ranged from skepticism to outrage.

The heretical partnership succeeded, and this collaboration between corporations and non-profit organizations became one of the most recognized sustainability innovations of the last two decades. Over the years, EDF has partnered with numerous companies, generating positive returns for business and the environment – while accepting no funding from these companies. This model has been successfully adopted by other non-profits including Conservation International, NRDC, and World Wildlife Fund as well as government agencies.

Despite the success of this collaborative approach, climate change and other environmental threats facing the planet and human health are increasingly dire. Business is evolving, but not rapidly enough to meet the scale of our collective environmental challenge.

What should be the priorities for the next generation of partnership and collaboration with business in an effort to create truly transformative solutions for our environment?

Upcoming Calls

• October 14 – 3:00-4:00 PM ET- Call with Judy Samuelson, Executive Director, Aspen Institute

Past Calls

• June 27 – 4:00-5:00 PM ET – Mark Kramer, co-author of Creating Shared Value, discussed his recent article and what shared value means.

 

• April 18 – 4:00-5:00 PM ET and February 28 – 1:30-2:30 PM ET – Call with Aron Cramer from BSR to discuss his recent book, Sustainable Excellence: The Future of Business in a Fast-Changing World. Read our 3  takeaways from his book

 

• May 24 12:00 – 1:00 PM ET - Daniel Kreeger, Executive Director, Association of Climate Change Officers discussed main takeaways from his conference, Defense, National Security and Climate Change

 

• December 14 – 1:00-2:00 PM ET – Call with Andrew Hutson from EDF and Gary Gereffi from Duke University to discuss “Sustainability Opportunities in Global Supply Chains.” Read about or listen to Hutson and Gereffi's work

 

• December 7 – 1:00-2:00 PM ET – Call with Bob Horn, from Stanford University’s Human Science and Technology Advanced Research Institute.  "Visualizing Vision 2050" – a discussion of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development's task force envisioning a sustainable world by 2050. Read about Visualizing a Sustainable 2050.

 

• November 30 – 1:00-2:00 PM ET– Call with Amy Skoczlas Cole,  director of Green Team at eBay, and Rupesh Shah, director of Corporate Sustainability at Intuit. – "The Role of Small Businesses in the Future of Sustainability." Read about or listen to Environmental Sustainability for Small Businesses.

 

• November 23 – 1:00-2:00 PM ET – Call with Robin Chase, entrepreneur and founder of ZipCar, and Adam Lowry, co-founder and chief greenskeeper of Method. – “New Business Models for Sustainability.” Read or hear about New Sustainable Business Models.

 

• November 16 – 1:00-2:00 PM ET – Call with Maurice Bechard, Director of Global Environment Health & Safety at Diversey, and Michael Kobori, vice president at Levi Strauss & Co. –“Can Corporations Really Change?”  Hear about how some corporations are  changing.

 

• November 2 – 1:00-2:00 PM ET – Call with Peter Senge, Author and Director of MIT’s Society for Organizational Learning, and Darcy Winslow, former "sustainability innovator" at Nike and founder at Designs for a Sustainable World Consulting – “Barriers and Game Changers” Read about and listen to Senge and Winslow's efforts to make businesses more sustainable.

 

• October 26 – 1:00-2:00 PM ET – Call with Gwen Ruta, Vice President of Corporate Partnerships at EDF and Bob Langert, Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility at McDonald's – “20 Years of Business Partnership Lessons at EDF."

Additional Resources

• Audio lectures on Environmental Sustainability
• Academic Research on the Environment

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