CSR in the Pacific Rim Conference

Conference Dates: Thursday, April 14 - Friday, April 15, 2011 (1½ days)
Location: Institute of Asian Research, UBC, Vancouver, BC
Registration: email Simon Handelsman at pacific@cbern.ca
Download the tentative Agenda (PDF 20KB)

Co-Organized by: CBERN Pacific Region Hub

Introduction
Following discussions at the 2010 Canadian Business Ethics Research Network (CBERN) Annual Conference about how to best explore emerging CSR research and activities in China, CBERN Pacific Region Hub is exploring the more fruitful connections for building relationships with China and other countries in the Pacific Rim.

As in Canada, CSR is attracting research initiatives in many Asian countries including inter alia China, Japan, Indonesia, and India. An effort is being made to develop a link between CBERN Pacific Region Hub and a SSHRC MCRI project (Coordinated Compliance with International Trade and Human Rights Standards) with a focus on CSR issues- given inherent difficulties leading to trade offs to reconcile tension between human rights and business / trade. The National Centre for Business Law (NCBL), the MCRI project and CBERN had positive initial responses to a proposal for jointly organizing a conference on the theme CSR in the Pacific Rim.

CBERN Pacific is co-organizing a conference featuring panels and papers that will examine options for collaboration and ways to address institutional capacity and ineffective/weak regulatory frameworks, i.e., with a focus on how CSR program can complement or even strengthen existing regulatory systems. The results of this conference most likely will feed into a second event expected to be held in China.

Conference Structure:
The programme will commence with a luncheon address by a keynote speaker, a plenary session and a panel, followed by dinner with a keynote speaker. The second day will feature panel sessions and conclude with a plenary session followed by a reception and dinner.

Conference Content:
In addition to plenary sessions, there will be panels organized by each of the coordinating groups. The conference will have four consecutive panels with no parallel sessions. The conference will be international in scope. Outcomes from the conference could result in publishing a volume, bilateral initiatives, training sessions, etc.

Panels
CSR and Regulatory Regimes: Prof Janis Sarra, NCBL, sarra@law.ubc.ca
CSR and Coordinated Compliance: Prof Pitman Potter, MCRI, potter@law.ubc.ca
CSR and Business Ethics-Human Rights and/or the Extractives Sector: Simon Handelsman, CBERN, pacific@cbern.ca
Graduate Student/Post Doctoral Panel: Robert Hanlon, rjhanlon@interchange.ubc.ca