Europe

Sustainable and Responsible Management: A decade of Integrating Knowledge and Creating Societal Impact through Innovation and Entrepreneurship

The 10^th RMER Conference hosted by Iscte Business School is a forum intended to engage multiple stakeholders in a dialogue around Agenda 2030 and beyond and enhance further collaborations in responsible management education and research, and sustainable business practices to advance the SDGs.

This year marks the 10^th, Jubilee anniversary of RMER Conferences.  Across a decade of achievement, RMER Conferences have explored the complexities and global challenges involved in the transition to more sustainable production and consumption patterns. Different agents, including companies, nonprofits, governmental entities, organizations, consumers, and society at large, need to work together to effectively advance the 2030 Agenda and beyond. Through multidimensional and multidisciplinary dialogue and knowledge sharing among management educators in conversation with other stakeholders have advanced responsible management education and learning. As the challenge remains, further dialogue on how economic restructuring and social transformation on the journey to a more sustainable world is still needed.

The main goal of the global 10^th RMER Conference is to bring together the responsible management education community and its stakeholders to drive societal impact through innovative and entrepreneurial ways that are grounded in the six PRME principles of purpose, values, method, research, dialogue and partnerships.

This continues the RMER tradition of holding inspirational, multidisciplinary and multicultural events that contribute to mutual sharing and learning among management educators and other stakeholders – all in service of creating positive societal impact through innovation and entrepreneurship.

Questions of Interest

• What have we accomplished in the last decade of responsible management education? Where should we be heading?
• What are the implications of developing entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial capabilities for sustainable businesses, economic restructuring and societal transformation?
• How can management education and learning in social, economic and environmental responsibility transform and innovate organizations?
• How can we integrate knowledge and create impact through innovation and entrepreneurship?
• What strategies can be used for advancing responsible management education, research and learning?
• How can innovation and responsible entrepreneurship, including social entrepreneurship, be encouraged?
• How to help management educators and students cross disciplinary boundaries and engage with non-managerial disciplines to effectively deal with complex issues and challenges?
• How to foster dialogue and partnership with other individuals, groups, organizations and other stakeholders towards creating positive societal impact?
• How do business schools need to adapt educational approaches to tackle sustainability related business challenges?

We cordially invite you to participate in the debate about how diverse stakeholders can successfully engage, collaborate and partner towards achieving a more responsible management education for a better world.

Conference Dates

26 September – PRME-Related Meetings and Workshops and Conference Opening

27 September – Conference and Social Dinner

28 September – Conference and Closing Ceremony

Registration Dates

02 March – Call for contributions (extended abstract) (will be available soon)

02 May – Deadline for authors’ submissions

02 June – Notification of submission acceptance

30 June – Deadline for early-bird registration and author registration

04 September – Deadline for regular registration

Background

The University of Geneva (UNIGE) School for Economics and Management (GSEM) is hosting a technical  workshop for business school educators to develop a standard teaching tool on forced labour in fishing. This  activity is organized with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Global Business School Network (GBSN). It is the first concrete output of the newly signed Memorandum of Understanding between ILO-GBSN 

GSEM, designed to further integrate labour rights and human rights in business education.  

The activity draws on the expertise of all three partners and notably: 

– The technical expertise of ILO on the fisheries sector, fundamental principles and rights at work including forced labour. 

– The participation of several business school lecturers coming from the GBSN for Business and Human Rights  impact community. 

– The experience of the Geneva Centre for Business and Human Rights, hosted by GSEM, in developing  standard case studies and pedagogic material on pressing business and human rights issues. 

Why focus on forced labor in fishing?

The activity is organized with support from the 8.7 Accelerator Lab, an initiative of the ILO designed to  accelerate progress in the fight against forced labour and child labour, key elements of the United Nations SDG  Target 8.7. 

Forced labour and child labour are two of the five ILO Fundamental principles and rights at work and the 187 ILO  member states are bound to respect, promote and realize these principles and rights, whether they have ratified  the related conventions or not. However, despite the centrality of fundamental rights, recent estimates on forced  labour and child labour illustrate that we are not making the needed progress to achieve our global targets as per  the 2030 Agenda: the elimination of child labour by 2025 and the elimination of forced labour by 2030. 

With regards to forced labour, the latest estimates published by the ILO in September 2022 suggest that there  are currently 27.6 million workers currently entrapped in forced labour situations, a rise of 2.7 million since  2016. Forced labour in fishing has been singled out as a persistent and underestimated problem. 

Concomitantly, it appears that the fishing industry, including the working and living conditions of fishers, is  rarely used in business school education as a topic to be discussed in the classroom. This is surprising  considering the economic size of the fishing industry and how important fish and fish-based products are  globally. According to the FAO 2022 edition of the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture, an estimated 600  million people rely on the fisheries and aquaculture sector for their livelihoods.  

Practical Information

The workshop will take place at UNIGE, in the premises of the Geneva School of Economics and Management. 

Uni Mail – Boulevard du Pont d’Arve 40, 1205 Genève – Switzerland 

Coffee-breaks will be organized in the meeting room and covered by the  organizers. Lunches will be taken near the university and will be at the expense of each participant.

Agenda

Monday 28 – Tuesday 29 November 2022  

Arrival of participants. Some participants might wish to combine the activity with a participation in the 11th UN  Forum on Business and Human Rights which will be taking place on 28-30 November in Geneva. 

Wednesday 30 November 2022 – Room M 3250  

9:00-9:30 Introduction  

9:30-10:30 Key information on labour in capture fisheries  

Presentation by Brandt Wagner, Head of Maritime and Transport Unit of ILO + discussion 10:30-11:00 Coffee-break 

11:00-12:30 Collective work on the teaching material 

12:30-13:30 Lunch 

13:30-14:30 Linkages between labour challenges and other fisheries issues: biodiversity, IUU, climate change Presentation by Philippe Cacaud, Independent fisheries expert (remotely) + discussion 14:30-15:30 Collective work on the teaching material 

15:30-16:00 Coffee-break 

16:00-17:30 Collective work on the teaching material 

18:00- 20:00 Social event in the evening with participants of the UN forum on BHR, Le Scandale restaurant 

Thursday 1 December 2022 – Room M5250  

9:00-10:00 Forced labour in commercial fishing: key data, indicators, and challenges  Presentation by Michaëlle de Cock, Head of Research Unit on Fundamental Rights of ILO and Alix Nasri, 8.7 Accelerator Lab Global Coordinator + discussion 

10:00-10:30 Coffee-break 

10:30-12:30 Collective work on the teaching material  

12:30-13:30 Lunch 

13:30-14:30 Focus on finance: how can investors take into consideration human rights and social issues? Presentation by Rémi Fernandez, Social issues specialist at PRI (remotely) + discussion 14:30-15:30 Collective work on the teaching material 

15:30-16:00 Coffee-break 

16:00-17:30 Collective work on the teaching material  

Friday 2 December 2022 – Room M3250 

9:00-12:00 Finalization of the teaching material and conclusion of the technical workshop 12:00-15:00 Light lunch, networking and GBSN for BHR 6^th annual meeting  

Saturday 3 December 2022  

Departure of participants from Geneva.