CBERN News:

CBERN had its Launch event September 28 - 30, 2007. As with any birth, there were challenges and joys, as those who had participated in the CBERN application to SSHRC came together to work through the initial stages of CBERN. There were opportunities for face-to-face meetings of those involved in the application, the gestation of new research initiatives and research clusters, experimenting with electronic tools, and a public dialogue event.

CBERN has been busy, since the Launch. This Newsletter provides us with the opportunity to share with you much of what has been happening. CBERN welcomes comments and expressions of interest and involvement, with regard to all aspects of the Network activities and projects. Please feel free to be in touch directly with any project leader through the email addresses provided.

Planning for 2nd Annual CBERN Conference:
The CBERN Annual Conference will take place May 29 - June 1, in conjunction with the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, in Vancouver. The theme is: "Business Ethics and Resource Extraction".

This is a major theme for Canadians, at this time, and is also the focus of several initiatives launched by CBERN over the past year. More information and updates on the Conference can be found online HERE

Formation of CBERN Network Clusters:

Atlantic Provinces Regional Network
A CBERN Atlantic Regional Office has been established. Louise Hanavan will be the part-time CBERN HUB Atlantic Region Coordinator under the guidance of a Steering Committee composed of Cathy Driscoll (CBERN Co-Applicant and Advisory Board Member, email), Tamara Lorincz (CBERN Collaborator, email) and Frank Schwartz (CBERN Partner, email ).

CBERN Atlantic held a Regional Workshop last November. It is holding this year’s Workshop in Halifax on May 24, immediately preceding the annual conference of the Administrative Studies Association of Canada (ASAC) which is taking place this year in Halifax. On May 26, CBERN Atlantic is also hosting a CBERN reception for ASAC participants. Network participants who are attending ASAC’s annual conference are welcome to attend the Atlantic regional workshop on May 24 (atlantic@cbern.ca). For further information about CBERN Atlantic or CBERN at ASAC, visit our website HERE.

PhD Cluster
Under the leadership of CBERN Collaborator, Kevin McKague (email), and Network Assistant, Breanne Whitwell, a cluster of PhD students and recent graduates, who have a significant relation to business ethics in its broadest definition, is being formulated. This cluster will meet for the first time at the CBERN Annual Meeting at UBC in Vancouver, BC, on June 1. Should you have a suggestion for a student to be part of this cluster, please contact Breanne at info@cbern.ca. Please note that funds may be available for travel and accommodation for those attending the PhD cluster meeting. For more information, contact Breanne Whitwell at info@cbern.ca or visit HERE.

SRI Cluster
An Organizing Committee, made up of CBERN Collaborator Ben Richardson (brichardson@osgoode.yorku.ca), CBERN Partners Eugene Ellmen, (email) and David Simpson (email), along with Brigid Barnett, CBERN Collaborator Tessa Hebb (email), Michael Jantzi and CBERN Principal Investigator Wes Cragg (email), are planning a "Socially Responsible Investment and Canada" workshop, on April 11, at York University. The purpose of the workshop is to bring together a core group of people who are engaged in SRI research in Canada and who are concerned about encouraging and supporting research in this field, building a profile of SRI research in Canada, and discussing ways in which SRI research in Canada and SRI research by Canadians outside of Canada might be more effectively supported, coordinated and encouraged.

Workshop participants will also discuss how the Pensions at Work website might be reactivated (www.pensionsatwork.ca) as a CBERN satellite SRI website. For more information on the SRI workshop, for details on the agenda and a list of confirmed participants, visit our website HERE.

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Projects Funded and Under Way

CBERN/Ryerson University Collaborative Case Study Project
CBERN Co-Applicant Kernaghan Webb (email) is leading this project. The purpose of this initiative is to run a pilot study on open source case writing. The project team includes participants from several different academic disciplines and from the private, voluntary and public sectors. It is international in scope. Its goal is to enhance public dialogue, public policy development, private sector ethics standards and the quality of material available for teaching purposes in Canadian classrooms. A Canadian mine in South America has been chosen for the first case study. For more information on this project, visit our website HERE.

ISBEE/U of Waterloo/CBERN Project
CBERN is participating in an international study of the WTO and its impact on economic development seen from an ethical perspective. Leading this study is a University of Waterloo team consisting of CBERN co-applicant, Fred Bird (email), Research Professor, Department of Political Science; Peter Woolstencroft (email), Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, and Network Assistant Alex Caramen (email).

Their findings will be presented as part of the international project at the meetings of the International Society for Business Ethics and Economics (ISBEE) in July in Cape Town, South Africa. For more information on this project, visit our website HERE.

Business and Health Care Project
CBERN is continuing its cross sectoral study of ethics at the business/healthcare interface. The purpose of this research project is to advance understanding of the ethical values that do and should determine priorities when business values intersect with healthcare values in our healthcare system. The ultimate goal is to understand more clearly how to ensure that high ethical standards govern the intersection of business and healthcare.

To find out more about this project visit our website HERE. A Wiki has been created for this project and will be used to develop resources for engaging in research in this area. The Wiki can be viewed online HERE. Contact Michael Windle at mwindle@cbern.ca if you would like to access this Wiki.

50 Cent Project
This project was begun as a Public Dialogue event at the CBERN Launch. We are continuing the discussion of the 50 Cent concert as a case study. A detailed environmental scan of 50 Cent, his music as well as the debate and events leading up to the concert has been prepared and will be posted on the CBERN website HERE by the end of March. A spring or fall workshop is being planned with a view to publishing workshop papers in a special 50 Cent case study edition of the Journal of Business Ethics. If you are interested in participating in this project, please contact Wes Cragg at wcragg@schulich.yorku.ca.

AccountAbility Consultation
CBERN served as a sponsor for a workshop consultation, held by CBERN Collaborator and Partner David Simpson (email) of AccountAbility.

The simultaneous discussions linked by video, gathered some of Canada’s most respected authorities on sustainability assurance to offer feedback on the topic in general and on the continuing development of the AA1000 Assurance Standard in particular. The results of the Canadian consultation will be added to other consultations occurring around the globe and used by the AccountAbility Standards Committee to develop the first draft of the new standard which should be ready by early 2008. To find out more about this Consultation Workshop visit our website HERE.

The AA1000AS second edition will be the first international standard to be revised online. In cooperation with the participatory think-thank open democracy, AccountAbility has developed a moderated Wiki process for the drafting process. More information can be found on the Wiki by visiting the CBERN website HERE.

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Canada-Russia CSR Project
CBERN is partnering with two Russian NGOs to build a website that will allow the transfer of Canadian research, best practice and private sector insights to private sector companies, municipal and regional governments and aboriginal communities engaged in economic development in the Russian north. The design phase of this project is being funded by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. (DIAND). This project will provide the foundation for a collaborative initiative involving the Canadian Government, Canadian NGO’s, Canadian Business and CBERN on the one hand and a Russian cross sectoral coalition to raise the standards of business practice in the Russian north with a particular focus on the resource extraction industry. For more information on this project, please visit our website HERE

Projects in Gestation

Ethical Leadership Project
Initial discussions have taken place regarding an Ethical Leadership project, to be undertaken by CBERN Co-applicant Deborah Poff (email) and CBERN Partner Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership (Janet Keeping, email), and Heather MacIntosh, email).

Program for International Polar Year Training, Communications and Outreach, Call for Proposals
Mining, oil and gas and economic development issues are important for Canada and are priorities for the network. CBERN is working with Naskapi First Nation, a very progressive First Nation located on Quebec/Labrador border, to improve communication between First Nations and other communities in the north and mining companies interested in exploration and mineral extraction in the north. We are proposing to:

Facilitate improved understanding of the cultural and ethical imperatives of First Nation and other communities in the north;
Improve understanding in the north of the economic imperatives that govern the operations of mining companies;
Link to educational institutions and communities in the north with a view to providing a comprehensive data base and opportunities for capacity building around economic development issues.

Through the encouragement of CBERN Collaborator Paul Wilkinson, CBERN has submitted a major proposal to the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development for Canadian International Polar Year funding. We will learn in March or April if our application is successful. For more information on this project, please visit our website HERE

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International Network Links

ISBEE
Under the instigation of CBERN Collaborator Deon Rossouw (email), CBERN has formally joined the ISBEE (International Society for Business Ethics and Economics) as a network partner. This is the premier international business ethics network, with links to business ethics research around the world. Visit the ISBEE Website for more information HERE

Potential CBERN Satellite Projects

Pensions at Work, Canada/Russian Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Social Responsibility York and the Institutional Investor Corporate Engagement and Responsible Investing Knowledge Impact in Society projects are all potential satellite websites for CBERN. We will provide updates on the status of these potential satellite websites on cbern.ca. Please visit our website for more information HERE

Advisory Board and Governance Matters

The CBERN Advisory Board met immediately following the Launch, in mid-December and in mid-January. They received information regarding the various projects underway and in gestation, noted in this Newsletter, as well as the CBERN Working Budget. Two key areas on which they are working are governance policy development of the Advisory Board, headed by Len Brooks (email), and CBERN funding criteria policy development, headed up by Allan Pedden (email). Proposals for discussion of these two policies will be posted on the website for comment before the end of March. Comments on the policies under discussion are welcome.

The Advisory Board will meet on May 29, at the University of British Columbia, immediately prior to the CBERN Annual Meeting, to finalize recommendations on both policies, which will then be presented to the Annual Meeting. For the minutes from the December and January Advisory Board meetings and to view the policies (available on the website at the end of March), please visit our website HERE

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Hub Business

Staffing update
On 1 January, 2008, Michael Windle joined CBERN as the Website Coordinator and Administrator. Michael’s email is mwindle@cbern.ca.

Website Development Update
The CBERN HUB team recently completed a two day training session on the new website application that is being integrated and custom developed by Intrafinity Inc. of Toronto, ON. The team was impressed with the functionality of the collaboration tools that are part of the Intrafinity website application and is eager to further develop the database functionality of this application for our network.

The training session provided both an opportunity for CBERN staff to learn the application and to provide a clear understanding of what further development is required prior to the deployment of the website application, scheduled to go live in the early summer of 2008.

The beta, or ‘test’ website was launched on February 15. This beta version includes a new user interface with a revised graphic design. The beta version will be used to test and refine the website application’s functionality. It will be populated with new CBERN related content in the coming weeks. Please visit the beta website at: http://cbern.sharpschool.com

Remember, this is your network - please provide any constructive feedback that you might have after visiting the beta website. CBERN wants to build an online environment that will facilitate discussion, debate, exploration and research. CBERN needs your help to develop and organize these tools so that you will use them. Your comments and suggestions are essential in the development process. Please provide feedback to info@cbern.ca.