Strategic Sustainability
Track 1: Strategic Sustainability
Sessions in this track will focus on the key steps and considerations leaders must take to ensure that their sustainability efforts are organized around a clear strategy, generating business value, and communicated effectively. As companies identify that many of their material EHS and sustainability impacts are happening outside of their immediate operations, this track will also offer a focus on sustainable supply chains and products.
Wednesday October 26, 2016
8:30 - 10:00 a.m. |
Opening Keynote - Simplifying Complexity Recent research on natural ecosystems suggests that, for any problem with many moving parts that all influence one another, the more complex the problem - the more resistant it seems to change - the easier it may be to understand and solve. In this talk, Eric Berlow explores how embracing complexity can lead to simple answers. How can complexity theory help us harness more creativity to solve difficult problems? How can you map complex systems to be able to isolate their most influential agents? And, how can we use our knowledge of ecosystems to help solve our largest societal problems? Berlow unravels his fascinating research to help audiences embrace complexity and become better problem solvers, while sharing insights into the ways big data is changing our ability to see and solve complex problems.
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10:00 - 10:30 a.m. |
Morning Break |
10:30 a.m. |
Session 1: Living in a Material World: Using Materiality Assessments to Drive Sustainability Strategy and Metrics Selection A well designed materiality assessment can make the next steps in determining what needs to be done within a company sustainability program easier to achieve. The direction afforded by knowing what is important to internal and external stakeholders will guide you in making choices in programs and direction. This session will provide an understanding of the process used by companies that are well along in the use of materiality as their highway to success in sustainability. You will gain insight into how they leveraged the understanding gained through their materiality assessment to get where they are and the difficulties or transitions made to best use this new focus.
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12:00 - 1:15 p.m. |
Lunch |
1:30 - |
Session 5: Strategic Transparency and the Evolution of Sustainability Reporting Many companies are conflicted when it comes to external sustainability reporting. External organizations assure us that their report or format is essential to our stakeholder's needs, but the value of pursuing any one course can often remain unclear. In this session, we'll hear from different organizations – ones that find value in participating in a variety of reporting programs and ones that strategically limit their participation. Our goal will be to separate the signal from the noise of sustainability reporting and give attendees a better sense of the strategic decisions they can make for their own programs. Attendees will also gain an understanding of the macro trends that are happening in the corporate sustainability reporting realm.
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3:00 - 3:45 p.m. |
Afternoon Break |
3:45 - 5:15 p.m. |
Session 9: How is Your EHS & Sustainability Data Being Used? Awareness about sustainability practices continues to grow as investors and customers demand more data and better data. This session will help attendees understand how the data they are sharing and reporting, whether via ESG investor questionnaires, an organization-specific reporting platform, or customer requests, is being analyzed and used by investors, customers and other external stakeholders. Come and learn what sustainability data looks like on a Bloomberg terminal, hear from ESG experts, and representatives that are actually working with the data you collect and report. Plus, get insights into how companies will begin acting on the sustainability data they have been collecting for the last several years. Attendees will leave with insights that will help them make sure the data they are sharing and who they share it with will position their company for increased brand value, reduced risk and a competitive advantage.
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Thursday October 27, 2016
8:45 - 9:45 a.m. |
Keynote Session - Leading as an EHS&S Professional Now and Into the Future Drawing on a learnings from career of more than 30 years in environmental management, Wayne Balta, the Vice President of Corporate Environmental Affairs and Product Safety for IBM will open our day with an informative and inspiring look at corporate environmental & sustainability management today, and into the future. He’ll explore the skills and competencies he believes leaders will need to steward their programs and teams for the coming years, and discuss the opportunities he sees for each of us to make substantive contributions at our organizations, ultimately resulting in collective impact and progress forward in our field.
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9:45 - 10:45 a.m. |
Morning Break in the Exhibit Hall |
10:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. |
Session 13: Product Sustainability Strategies As the concept of a circular economy takes hold, EHS&S professionals are shifting beyond a focus on product regulatory compliance programs towards driving sustainability strategy across the value chain. This session will demonstrate how organizations are using such tools and concepts as Life Cycle Assessment, Materials Marketplace, Green Chemistry, and Material Alternative Assessments, to improve the sustainability of their product and services and move towards a circular economy, one that is restorative and regenerative by design, and which aims to keep products, components and materials at their highest utility and value at all times.
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12:15 - 1:30 p.m. |
Business-to-Business Luncheon |
1:45 - |
Session 17: Tips and Strategies for Establishing a Supply Chain Sustainability Program This session will provide the audience with three unique perspectives on supply chain sustainability from a supplier, an equipment manufacturer and a retailer. Attendees will hear tips, strategies, and lessons learned through the process of creating supply chain sustainability programs that include elements of environmental sustainability, along with EHS and social compliance. Panelists will also discuss the business drivers and value derived from their programs, offering insights into how to build the business case for starting or enhancing your own program.
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3:15 - 3:45 p.m. |
Afternoon Break |
3:45 - 5:15 p.m. |
Thursday Afternoon Keynote - NAEM IGNITE Power Hour Imagine ten topics from ten experts in less than sixty minutes. Attend this curiously fast-paced peer-led session and experience a new kind of event; one that will have you at the edge of your seat with innovative ideas, lessons learned and how-to information straight from the experts. Listen as your peers present informative and engaging material in a high energy, 5-minute Ignite format. Some presentations will be EHSS related, others may just be fun topics that will illustrate the Ignite concept. Your imagination will run wild as you think of various ways that you could make use of the Ignite concept in your workplace and training. So prepare to be entertained and intrigued for the entire session! Then brainstorm on how best to apply this useful tool back at work!
Speakers include ten dynamic and inspiring EHS&S leaders from the NAEM Community |
About NAEM
The National Association for Environmental Management (NAEM) empowers corporate leaders to advance environmental stewardship, create safe and healthy workplaces, and promote global sustainability. As the largest professional community for EHS and sustainability decision-makers, we provide peer-led educational conferences and an active network for sharing solutions to today's corporate EHS and sustainability management challenges. Visit NAEM online at www.naem.org.
