By Joe McKendrick | November 29, 2011, 1:38 PM PST

A couple of months back, we reported on how some IT professors at Stanford University were opening up their courses for the world to participate, with no tuition cost. This fall, courses on Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, Introduction to Databases and Introduction to Machine Learning were launched, all delivered between October and December. (I have been participating in the AI course, it’s really extremely well presented and informative.)

Stanford’s free global online classroom to expand next semester http://smrt.io/tUVzbm

Click for the Net Impact “Business As Unusual” Guide…

Friday, September 17, 2010, the Paley Center for Media hosted “The Role of CSR in Business Today – a Spirited Discussion,” in conjunction with CSRWire and Fenton, a public interest communications firm.

The event was produced by Susan McPherson, Senior Vice President, Fenton, and moderated by Christina Arena, author, blogger and Founding CEO of “sparkUp.”

Arena and Fenton conceived the idea to produce this broadcast in response to an editorial by Dr. Aneel Karnani’s essay which appeared August 23, 2010 in the Wall Street Journal, “The Case Against Corporate Social Responsibility.”

I described my view of the impact of this post in my editorial on Vault.com where I reported, “The post was positioned with a question: Can companies do well by doing good? By the end of the week, there were 252 responses and several dozen blog responses that left me spinning from information overload.”

While I chose not to debate point counterpoint Dr. Karnani’s editorial, I saw this article had pushed the boundaries of how people think about CSR to a degree I had not observed before.

This broadcast brought to its audience a clarification of what is implied by CSR and how the CSR agenda has expanded since it inception to respond to the growing complexity that has emerged at the intersection of business’ relationship with citizens and government. To simplify or narrow any CSR discussion today negates the opportunity for any person in any sector to understand how market and material decisions can potentially cause harm to the environment, health and economy.

The entire 1 ½ hour broadcast will be available in archive for the next 90 days. In addition to McPherson, Arena and Karnani, the stellar line up of panelists included

Matthew Bishop, U.S. Business Editor and New York Bureau Chief,
The Economist
Bob Corcoran, Vice President, Corporate Citizenship, President & Chairman, GE Foundation
Aron Cramer, President and CEO, BSR
Chrystia Freeland, Global Editor-at-Large, ThomsonReuters
Georg Kell, Executive Director, UN Global Compact
Dave Stangis, Vice President, CSR and Sustainability, Campbell Soup Company

All the panelists contributed to clarifying a perspective of CSR as it cuts across issues of business, society, emerging new markets, and the intersection of CSR with government and non governmental organizations.

My own experience of this discussion led me to expand my own thinking:

1. On how narrow and generalized focused discussions arguing the value of CSR can create more confusion than good?

2. Today’s CSR success can be attributed to companies e.g. Campbell’s Soup and General Electric that have integrated principles of corporate citizenship and social responsibility into strategy that directs responsive actions.

3. The founding of the UN Global Compact has accelerated through a chain of learning by business regarding the impact of their core business strategies, participation in emerging markets, branding to accelerate the authoring of regulation or to address corruption influenced by 70 countries for which there is no regulatory framework to address corruption.

4. A corporation like General Electric can find value in providing resources to author new global legislation, e.g. The Transparency International Index that is beneficial to their core business strategy.

5. The words Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) have influenced a state of confusion with a chaotic response. This provokes the question as to whether or not this chaotic response accelerated the work needed to integrate platforms of corporate citizenship and sustainable practices into 7700 companies that now comprise the UN Global Compact or slow it down.

6. CSR is demanding a reshaping of perspective of the long-term for investing that is challenging the short-term view fueling the crisis in today’s financial markets.

7. Georg Kell, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, spoke to how CSR has implied examination of practices relative to marketing, branding and building of new emerging markets, which do not address the more complex issues of material use. Examination of material use is a manufacturing agenda that is complex and impacts some of today’s most challenging societal issues as it relates to production of materials and the resources used that are now pushing a clean tech and chemical agenda that is exceptionally complex.

This final issue in my mind speaks to the courage and tenacity held by Hazel Henderson, founder of EthicalMarket.com, for her years of advocacy and pragmatic work to promote and identify new emerging markets for clean tech and the application of new economic principles that extend beyond how the GDP is currently calculated to address societal need to address poverty, health, the acceleration of global warming. And just as important to embed a practice of transparency that calls oversights by companies not exercising precaution where the recent BP Oil Spill and Pacific Electric and Gas safety oversights cost lives, human health and destroyed local economies.

Lavinia Weissman is a respected CSR & Sustainability Journalist and Practitioner. Her work passion for Sustainability emerged from her work experience in investments, health care and organizational behavior. Her past career included following trends in investments, health care, downsizing, virtual work practices and knowledge management. Lavinia is a Sustainability Leadership Coach and mentor through the EthicalMarkets.com Sustainability Research Group. As a passionate writer examining and questioning the intersection of business on society and health, she offers her lively analysis and thinking her blog AboutWorkEcology. Her passion is to influence change in society and business to inspire youth to see a future of opportunity and healthy living.

Investment contracts and sustainable development: How to make contracts for fairer and more sustainable natural resource investments
Increased natural resource investment in lower- and middle-income countries may create opportunities to improve living standards, but it also creates risks such as environmental damage and loss of key livelihood assets. Investment contracts define the terms of an investment project and the extent to which it advances – or undermines – sustainable development. Government capacity to negotiate and manage contracts and civil society capacity to scrutinise government dealings can make a real difference to getting a better deal from natural resource investment. Drawing on test trainings in Ghana and Central Asia and targeting host governments and civil society, this training guide demonstrates how to structure such contracts in ways that maximise the investment’s contribution to sustainable development.

To Download: http://www.iied.org/pubs/display.php?o=17507IIED

Social assessment of conservation initiatives: A review of rapid methodologies
Despite widely voiced concerns about some of the negative implications of protected areas, and growing pressures to ensure that they fulfil social as well as ecological objectives, no standard methods exist to assess social impacts.

Some 30 tools and methods for assessing social impacts in protected areas and elsewhere are reviewed in this publication, with a view to understanding how different researchers have tackled the various challenges associated with impact assessment. This experience is used to inform a framework for a standardised process that can guide the design of locally appropriate assessment methodologies. Such a standard process would facilitate robust, objective comparisons between sites as well as assisting in the task of addressing genuine concerns and enhancing potential benefits.

To Download: http://www.iied.org/pubs/display.php?o=14859IIED

Our biggest news this month is our new identity! Same organization, but new look. Our new website identity will be unveiled this month as well.

Otherwise, as the world digs our way out of this economic crisis, it will be important to build our economy on some new principles. In this newsletter we include an article by Darcy Hitchcock summarizing some of the most important concepts in play right now. One of the book reviews is of an author mentioned in the article, and we have an upcoming webinar on green careers.

sincerely,
The ISSP Management Team
Marsha Willard, Executive Director
Darcy Hitchcock, Education Director
Dorothy Atwood, Webinars Director
Michelle Hippler, Marketing Director

Featured Article

Homo Economicus Interruptus:
New principles for a sustainable economy
by Darcy Hitchcock, ISSP Education Director

Jared Diamond, author of Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, stated, “Perhaps the crux of success or failure of a society is to know which core values to hang onto, and which ones to discard and replace with new values when times change.”

Darcy Hitchcock’s article asks the question: If we’re not going to base our economy on consumerism and growth, what are we going to base it on? Download.

Upcoming ISSP Distance Learning Courses

Practical Tools and Methods for Change Agents

with Alan AtKisson (back by popular demand!)

Alan AtKisson, author of The ISIS Agreement and Believing Cassandra (Stockholm), will guide you through the jungle of sustainability techniques and change processes and help them learn when and how to apply them successfully. Using the ISIS Method (Indicators Systems Innovation Strategy) as a guiding structure and sequence, you will deepen your understanding of both these general methodological categories, as well as specific sustainability tools, with AtKisson’s ISIS Accelerator tools in focus. You will apply both the Method and a variety of tools they select (from the Accelerator suite as well as other tools) to develop a sustainability project or initiative, and will work to produce a detailed strategic action plan for that initiative.

This course meets on-line on Mondays (May 3, 10, 17, 24) at 12:00 PM Pacific Time for 60-90 minutes.

Early registration deadline is April 10! Register Now.

Roadmap for Success: Continuous Energy Improvement

Brought to you by BetterBricks

In today’s challenging economy, it’s easy to appreciate the financial benefits of making energy efficiency a key component of the sustainability planning process. But it’s not necessarily easy to determine how to bring about the desired savings. This series will help you to think strategically about energy management for your company/facility to ensure long-term energy savings. Covered will be the necessary ingredients for energy management for continuous energy improvement:

* Energy Benchmarking using Energy Star’s Portfolio Manager,
* Setting Energy Targets,
* Financial Analysis,
* Continuous Energy Improvement.

You will benefit from interactive with experts to understand and implement energy efficiency in your organization.

This course meets online on Tuesdays (May 4, 11, 18, 25) at 11:00am PST.

Early registration deadline is April 10! Register Now.

GREEN CAREERS: ISSP Webinar on Where to Find the Job of Your Dreams

Green careers are booming. How can you find the career of your dreams, one where you can make a living and change the world for the better too? Join Jim Cassio, author of Green Careers: Choosing Work for a Sustainable Future, Carol McClelland, author of Green Careers For Dummies, and Vicki Lind, a green career counselor. The webinar will focus on answering these questions:

Lite green or dark green. What’s a green job anyway?
What are the most common job titles in the Green Economy?
What are the jobs related to the green stimulus package, particular in Energy Efficiency?
What are some green career areas of growth for those whose skills are not technical or scientific?
How can you green your resume?
Webinar: May 21 @ 12:00 Noon PST. Webinars run about an hour in length.

This event is FREE to members and non-members. Registration is required. Register Now.

June Events
Sign up now for early registration price!

Life-Cycle Assessment 101 Workshop with Tom Gloria (Back by popular demand!)

Webinar: Sustainability Reporting: Leading Companies in 2010 Speaker: Paul Scott, Corporate Register, London UK .

What’s New @ ISSP

Directory of Sustainability Assessments

Coming later this year!

ISSP is planning to put together a directory of publicly available sustainability assessments. Here are the ones we know about and we are soliciting information from them.
B-Corp
Campus Sustainability Assessment Project
Community Sustainability Assessment
Genuine Wealth Assessment
Helix
LASER
Probe
S-Bar
SA 8000
SAM
SCORE
STARS
If you’re aware of any others, please send the name of the tool and contact info todhitchcock@sustainabilityprofessionals.org.

International Consulting Opportunity

Assessment of existing and potential
reporting, accountability and institutional arrangements for the Global Mechanism

The UNCCD secretariat is now looking for two consultants for technical assistance to be provided to the COP9 Bureau in its intersessional process.

Interested candidates should send their applications (CV and motivation letter) to the UNCCD Secretariat and through the following e-mail account:
secretariat@unccd.int

The deadline for application is 6 April 2010.

For further information, please visit:
http://www.unccd.int/secretariat/vacancies/docs/ToRs%20Bureau%20Version%2022-03.pdf

Book Reviews

Darcy Hitchcock has new book reviews in the member resource section.

Jackson, Tim (2009) Prosperity without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet. London , England : Earthscan.

Christian, Diana Leafe (2003) Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities. Gabriola Island , BC : New Society Publishers.

Sustainability Conference Listing

Take at look at theupcoming conferences around the world.
See details on the ISSP site under Partner Events

Integrating Sustainability into Your Organizational Development Practices, March 5th, April 2nd, May 7th, San Francisco Bay Area
Sustainable Opportunities Summit, March 2-4, Denver , CO
Sustainability in Packaging, March 15-17, Orlando , FL
Virtual Summits: Smart ICT , March 30 – April 1 2010 (live on-line)
International Corporate Citizenship Conference, April 11-13, 2010, Boston , MA
The 3rd Annual Carbon Trade China 2010, April 15th- 16th, 2010, Beijing , China
GoGreen ’10, April 21, Seattle
Sustainable Brands, June 7-10, Monterey
Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, June 21-22, Malaysia
Disaster Risk Reduction Certificate, Sept 6-17, Lusanne , Switzerland and November 8-19, Bangalore , India

* TODAY’S HEADLINE: ENERGY EFFICIENCY HANGS OUT THE HELP WANTED SIGN

* QUICK NEWS, 4-12: MONTCOAL DISASTER ENDS GRAVESIDE; WIND RISING IN THE HEARTLANDS; SUN-POWERED WATER RECYCLING; MICROSOFT TO SMART CHARGE FORD EV

SUNDAY WORLD, 4-11:
* HOW TO SHINE SUN ON SOUTH ASIA’S POOR
* ONTARIO FEED-IN TARIFF LEADS BOOM
* U.S. WIND COMPANY BUYS INTO UK, POLAND WIND
* EU EMISSIONS TRADING PULLS THROUGH
* BRAZIL CHALLENGES U.S. ON ETHANOL

Understanding the Solar Sales Process
March 25th at 11am PST
with Ted Schwarz of Clean Power Finance.
Click Here To Register. Free!

Since unions organise and recruit in different ways in different countries and sectors, the campaign offers an additional aspect to the traditional recruitment arguments by focusing on the international aspect of being member of a trade union and relating this to young peoples’ own personal experiences.

Trade union organizations are able to pick and choose from a “menu” of many different campaign ingredients to include in the campaigns, actions or activities that  they are already doing in their country. It also provides materials in different formats to help unions start new outreach efforts aimed at youth.

“The benefits of trade union membership for young people are clear, and this campaign gives new tools to trade unions around the world to demonstrate the global dimension of union action in a way which is relevant to youth.  It also gives a further push to innovation and creativity in the way unions reach out to their members, and to society at large,” said ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder.

To see the special animated video of Joe, the very unaware Dog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWvuOqCEU9U

A company that uses child labour? That exploits women to get maximize their profit? And that is proud of its actions? Have a look at this intriguing interactive web site. Watch it to the end and follow the instructions!
http://www.changetheworld-now.com/

To read about what others from all corners of the world are doing for young people and find all the information about the youth campaign, go to the youth blog http://youth.ituc-csi.org

The ITUC represents 176 million workers in 312 affiliated national organisations from 155 countries.  http://www.ituc-csi.org http://www.youtube.com/ITUCCSI

For more information please contact the ITUC Press Department on +32 2 224 0204 or +32 476 621 018.

On a cold and rainy Friday night in East Los Angeles, local civic leaders gathered under a covered tent at Pan American Bank headquarters to honor a Montebello High School teacher’s effort’s to increase the Latino graduation rate through a pioneering Web site. Armando Sanchez founded the Latino Scholastic Achievement Corporation (LSAC) in 1992 as a means to deliver vital college application and enrichment services to his students and others in the local community. Read more…