GBSN Events

Session Description

Webinar on experiential learning: The Business and Human Rights (BHR) Clinic as a pedagogical innovation to train leadership skills

Human rights challenges are among the most pressing, complex, and underestimated business challenges of our time. Businesses often struggle with aspects such as addressing labor rights violations in global supply chains, training employees on human rights standards, reporting on human rights impacts, aligning business models with the needs of vulnerable migrant workers, balancing security with privacy rights, or operating in conflict zones. Yet, these issues are increasingly critical for future business success and, in the European context, companies are now legally required to conduct human rights due diligence.

Business schools play a pivotal role in equipping future leaders with the skills and knowledge to address human rights issues. Innovative teaching methods can provide immersive learning experiences that empower students to actively contribute to solving societal challenges. The context of business and human rights is ideal for training leadership skills.

In this webinar, we will introduce BHR clinics as an example for experiential learning. Conducted in close collaboration with partner organizations, clinical education requires students working on real-life business challenges. The close collaboration between students and the project partner allows students to understand human rights challenges as leadership challenges, to gain thorough insights into specific human rights issues in practice, enhance their analytical and problem-solving skills needed to address these issues, and build their experience in project management and team leadership.

The webinar aims to offer a platform for discussing the BHR clinic concept with those interested in offering experiential learning to their students. We will jointly explore further pedagogical innovations to empower tomorrow’s business leaders to manage human rights in practice.

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Speakers

• 

  Dorothée Baumann-Pauly

  Director, Center for Business and Human Rights
  Geneva School of Economics and Management; NYU Stern School of Business
  Switzerland
  
• 

  Berit Knaak

  Senior Research Associate | Agriculture Cluster Lead
  Geneva Center for Business and Human Rights, Université de Genève
  Switzerland
  
• 

  Charles Autheman

  Consultant and Professor | Modern Slavery & Supply Chains Cluster Lead
  HEC Paris
  France
  

Date & Time

Thursday, 30 January

• 8:00 – 9:00am Washington D.C.
• 1:00 – 2:00pm London
• 2:00 – 3:00pm Geneva
• 3:00 – 4:00pm Cape Town
• 6:30 – 7:30pm Mumbai
• 9:00 – 10:00pm Manila

Registration

Business school research on access to remedy for marginalised workers

22^nd November 2023 at 3pm CET / 2pm GMT / 9am EST via Zoom. Joint event co-hosted by the research clusters on agriculture and on gender of the GBSN for BHR impact community. 

Access to remedy is one of the greatest failings of and most critical areas for growth within the business and human rights movement. The aim of the workshop is to bring together business school researchers interested in access to remedy for marginalized workers. 

We will discuss concrete examples from the agriculture industry to understand the situation of marginalized workers, where and why current remedy practices fall short, and what needs to change to provide remedy that is effective and accessible. A specific focus will be given to: 

• the availability and typology of grievance mechanisms,
• the blurred line between formal and informal grievances,
• the lack of a gendered approach to grievance mechanisms, and
• the gap between access to grievance mechanisms and access to remedy.

Initial findings will be shared from a research project led by the Nottingham University Business School on grievance mechanisms available to agricultural seasonal migrant workers in the UK. A case study on access to remedy for women migrant workers employed in the Fair Food Programme will also be presented. 

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Agenda

• Welcome and introductions
• The case of the agri-food sector in the UK
• The case of the Fair Food Programme in the US
• Discussion and development of a research agenda 

What factors make seasonal migrant workers particularly vulnerable to exploitation? Why are existing grievance mechanisms insufficient for providing remedy? 

The case of the agri-food sector in the UK, Oana Burcu, Nottingham University Business School

Post-Brexit, the UK agricultural sector has been facing challenges with recruitment from new countries. Workers burdened by debt due to illegal recruitment fees and employer-tied visas may endure exploitative conditions, lacking knowledge of rights and access to grievance mechanisms. Marginalized workers on temporary contracts may accept exploitative conditions rather than claiming their rights. Our project aims to develop a tailored non-state-based grievance mechanism that can guarantee effective access to remedy for human rights abuses to seasonal migrant workers in the agricultural sector in the UK.

How can effective remedy be implemented? How can remedy programs meet migrant workers’ needs, in particular women migrant workers’ needs? 

A rights-holder approach to access to remedy, Alysha Shivji, EGADE Business School Tecnologico de Monterrey

The case of the Fair Food Program represents the first operating worker-driven social responsibility model, that acts as an operable context for dialogic approaches to remediation, including with a specific gender approach. The remedial mechanisms of the Fair Food Program, which are designed and implemented around workers-rights-holders, include worker-driven audits and a 24-hr multilingual complaint hotline.

For more information, please contact the organizers:

Dr Lara Bianchi, Nottingham University Business School, lara.bianchi@nottingham.ac.uk

Dr Samentha Goethals, SKEMA Business School, samentha.goethals@skema.edu

Dr Berit Knaak, University of Geneva, berit.knaak@unige.ch 

General Information

The transition to cleaner and more sustainable energy sources is not just an environmental imperative; it’s an economic one as well. To power this transformation, innovative and robust financing mechanisms are essential. In our exploration of “Financing the Energy Transition,” we delve into the financial strategies, investments, and policies that are shaping the future of energy.

Register and join the GBSN for Energy Transition Impact Community’s final installment of Powering the Energy Transition: A Tale of Two Hemispheres, a multi-part series exploring key elements of the energy transition journey through the lenses of different contexts across the global north and global south. 

Discover how nations and regions in the Global North and South are navigating the path towards a greener future. Gain insights into the strategies, investments, and collaborative efforts that are driving change on a global scale. We’ll uncover the common ground and unique dynamics that shape the energy transition narrative from both perspectives.

As we strive to accelerate the shift toward cleaner and sustainable energy sources, understanding the nuances of financing from both hemispheres becomes imperative. This session will provide a platform for thought leaders, experts, and visionaries to shed light on the diverse approaches, challenges, and innovations in financing the global energy transition.

Date & Time

Tuesday, 28 November at 10:00am EDT – 11:30am EDT/17:00 – 18:30 CET

Co-Hosted By:

• Bauer College of Business, University of Houston
• Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University
• Wits Business School, University of Witwatersrand

More information coming soon.