|
CBERN Annual Conference 2012
"Leadership, Ethics and Energy"
May 10-11, 2012
The Dining Centre, University of Calgary (directions)
Calgary, AB
Program Details and Invited Panelists
Wednesday, May 9, 2012: Conference Public Address
The Public and Conference Key Note Address will be delivered by Mac Van Wielingen, Founder, Co-Chairman and Director of ARC Financial Corp.,
Member of the Board of Directors of Alberta Investment Management
Corporation, and President and Director of Viewpoint Charitable
Foundation.
Thursday, May 10 - Friday, May 11: Main Conference Program "Leadership, Ethics and Energy"
On May 10 and 11, the Canadian Business Ethics
Research Network will explore what is required for dialogue around
energy and leadership to happen at its annual conference in Calgary,
Alberta. The conference will be organized around three themes:
- Leadership and Ethics - Thursday morning
- Ethics and Energy - Thursday afternoon
- Leadership, Ethics and Energy - Friday morning
Dialogue will be initiated by panelists drawn
from the private, public, voluntary and academic sectors sharing
insights on the ethical dimensions of leadership and energy grounded on
experience and research followed by plenary discussion. A second panel
will respond to ideas generated by the first panel and discussion
stimulated by the first panel, broadening and moving the dialogue
forward.
Confirmed panel participants include (panelist bios):
- Alastair Lucas, Interim President, Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership
- Allan Pedden, Vice President, PDK Controls Consulting International Ltd.
- Andrew Brook, Chancellor's Professor of Philosophy & Cognitive Science, Carleton University
- Brenda Kenny, President & CEO, Canadian Energy Pipeline Association
- Charles Sampford, Professor of Law and Research Professor in Ethics, Griffith University, Australia
- Dayna Linley, Senior Advisor, Sustainalytics
- Deborah Poff, President, University of Brandon, Editor of the Journal of Business Ethics
- Donald Obonsawin, Former Ottawa and Ontario civil servant, Aboriginal consultant on First Nation governance
- Irene Herremans, Professor, Accounting, Haskayne School of Business, and Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary
- Jamie Bonham, Manager, Extractives Research & Engagement, NEI Investments
- Jim Cooney, Former VP Place Dome, CBSR Senior Advisor, CBERN Advisory Board member
- Jim Houck, President & CEO, The Churchill Corporation
- Kernaghan Webb, Director, Institute for the Study of Corporate Social Responsibility, Ryerson University
- Larry Innes, Former Executive Director, Canadian Boreal Initiative
- Matthew McCulloch, Director of Consulting Services, Pembina Institute
- Mikael Meir, President Mikael Meir Inc., Leadership and Strategy Consultancy
- Neil McArthur, Professor of Philosophy, University of Manitoba
- Roger Gibbins, CEO, Canada West Foundation
- Tamara Lorincz, Former Executive Director, Nova Scotia Environmental Network
- Wayne Stewart, Consultant, Mount Royal University Executive Advisor to the Institute for Nonprofit Studies
Conference Context
Few topics in the recent past have garnered as much attention, concern and discussion as the topic of leadership. This is particularly true of business leadership as reflected in the media but also in academic settings and particularly business schools. This is hardly surprising since, as Roger Martin’s recent book Fixing the Game puts it, “since the turn of the twenty-first century , we’ve seen two massive value-destroying market meltdowns, and a string of ethics breaches, including accounting scandals, options-back-dating schemes, and the sub-prime mortgage debacle”.
Like the topic of leadership, energy too has been at the centre of heated debate. The provision of energy is an absolutely essential pillar of the modern economy and the enjoyment of a quality of life in the developed world unparalleled in human history. Yet there are few topics around which there is more division and acrimony. A typical response on the part of energy providers has been more information, more and more sophisticated public relations initiatives and public advertising. Yet, as a recent publication of the respected American Academy of Arts and Sciences points out, information is of little value if it is provided by sources that are not themselves trusted. The implications of this observation for public policy and economic development are particularly significant as it becomes increasingly clear that this “trust-gap” holds particularly for business enterprises and leaders, but also for universities, scientists, NGOs and public authorities.1
More information is not the solution to trust gaps. Rather what is required are opportunities for dialogue where the ethical dimensions of clashing values can be explored and the foundations for trust rebuilt.
1“Managing the Trust portfolio” in Science and the Media published by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
|
| |