Previous Events - 2006 to 2004

2006 2005 2004

2006

Social Enterprises, Sustainable Waste and Resource Management: Strategic and Research Directions
29th November 2006 at Defra Innovation Centre, Reading

This one-day event aims to engage researchers and practitioners in the social enterprise and community waste sectors in discussions and opinion forming about the strategic challenges facing the sector and the future needs for research in this area.

The day is a combination of seminar presentations and participant workshops.The outputs from the workshops will be fed into Defra’s Waste Resource R&D Programme, and will also be available by website from the BRASS Centre.

This event is the first in a series of practitioner and researcher interactions supported by the Social Enterprise and Waste Research Network (SEWRN). To visit the SEWRN website, please click here

To view the programme for the day, please click here (PDF Download)

For details of outputs from this seminar, or to join in debate on the message boards, please click here

School Meals - On the Road to Sustainability? Glamorgan Building, Cardiff University,
Friday 6th October 2006

A day of presentations and workshops, drawing together all parties (providers, suppliers, teachers, parents, pupils, policy makers, dieticians and academics) concerned about improving the nutrition and sustainability of school meals.

Rethinking the Bottom of the Pyramid: New Models for New Economies
3rd April 2006 09:45 - 1pm, Glamorgan Building, Cardiff University

Global Companies today are experiencing a phenomenon similar to the gold rush of the nineteenth Century. Bottom of the Pyramid Business Models (BOP), popularised by Prahalad and Hart in their ground-breaking work have captured the imagination of corporations worldwide. In their search for the 'el-dorado of Corporate profitability' firms are also discovering new virtues in serving the needs of the world's poor in more innovative ways. The underlying premise is that while the individual purchasing power of the consumer in these underserved markets is low, their aggregate purchasing power of can significantly tilt the fortunes of a company.

This seminar will address issues in the context of BOP models in emerging economies. Very specifically, the questions below will be explored:

What opportunities exist for serving the bottom of the pyramid?
How should the BOP be served? What principles of innovation apply?
What are the possible pitfalls in the way BOP is formulated? What new strategies are possible?
Which sectors are more amenable to the ceation of BOP models?
What are the criteria for a successful BOP model?
What policy issues need to be considered?
What options for cooperation (north/south, Corporate/NGO, Gov/Govt) exist in conceptualising and implimenting BOP models?

To view the presentations form this seminar, please click here

Social Science Week 2006: Progress Towards Sustainability - Hard to Manage, Hard to Measure?
March 13th 2006: Glamorgan Building; Cardiff University

(FREE ONE-DAY SEMINAR hosted by the BRASS Centre at Cardiff University)

There are an increasing range of tools and techniques designed to measure different aspects of sustainability, whether at the micro level for businesses and their impact, or at the local, regional or national level. These include the EcoFootprint, social audit and the use of environmental and sustainability indicators. While a plethora of such tools exists, the methodologies employed and the results from application are not always convincing, and more work needs to be done on these tools to enhance their use and ensure accuracy and credibility in the future.

Please click here to access presentations from this seminar

2005

Denial or Diversity? The Continuing Quest for Sustainable Development? 40th Anniversary Professorial Lecture Series
Wednesday 2nd November 2005

Terry Marsden, Professor of Environmental Policy and Planning, Co-director of BRASS
Cardiff School of City and Regional Planning
6:30pm, Committee Rooms, Glamorgan Building, Cardiff University

2005/06 represents the 40th year of planning and education in Cardiff. To mark this event the school of City and Regional Planning is hosting a series of professional lectures designed to showcase the breadth and quality of research undertaken within the school.

These lectures, under the overarching theme of sustainable places and communities, are intended for a wide audience and designed to stimulate debate.

BRASS will be producing a Working Paper based on Professor Marsden's lecture. Please check the news pages for an announcement of its publication. A link will also be available here.

Measuring Sustainability of the Food Supply Chain, Glamorgan Building, Cardiff University, FREE one-day seminar
Thursday 27th October 2005

This free one-day seminar was dedicated to exploring different methods and techniques for assessing and measuring sustainability effects and implications of the modern food supply chain such as carbon emission and energy accounting, ecological footprinting and sustainability indicators.

The seminar explored how these different measurement methods are used, their approach to the food supply chain, what they say about current food supply chains and ask what the benefits are of using these methods to inform the policy process

The event brought together academics, representatives from Non-Governmental Organisations, local government, policy makers and businesses who share an interest in measuring and managing the sustainability implications of the current food supply chains.

To access the Presentations from this seminar, please click here

Sustainable Supply Chains, Glamorgan Building, Cardiff University, FREE one day seminar
Thursday 14th July 2005

This seminar will ask how various organisations in a variety of institutional and international settings are operating within sustainability guidelines. Are they thinking about the issues? Are they implementing them? Are they surviving? Do they even care? The implications are real and affect every aspect of our society, whether it's local, regional or international. Speakers include: Dr Stefan Seuring, Carl Von Ossietzky Universitat Oldenburg; Dr Helen Walker, University of Bath - Centre for Research in Strategic Purchasing and Supply; Dr Diane Holt, Middlesex Business School; David Rabey, DEFRA; Dr Samarthia Thankappan, BRASS; Dr Natalia Yakovleva, BRASS; Dr Jo Crotty, Aston Business School and Dr Joseph Sarkis, BRASS.

Further information and PowerPoint presentations can be found here (PDF Download)

Social Science Week Seminar: The Great British Food Debate, Temple of Peace, Cardiff
Thursday 23rd June 2005

This seminar brings together leading UK researchers and key industry figures to debate some of the most controversial issues concerning the role of food and the food industry in society today. Speakers include: Professor Robert Lee, BRASS; Professor Terry Marsden, BRASS; Dr. Bill Vorley, IIED; Joy Whinney, FSA Director, Wales; Professor Kevin Morgan, BRASS; Professor Tim Cole, Institute of Child Health, UCL; Dr Peter Marsh, Social Issues Research Council.

Further information and links to PowerPoint presentations can be found here (PDF Download)

Social Science Week Seminar: Sustainability and Social Enterprise, Cardiff University Main Building,
Tuesday 21st June 2005

This seminar explores social enterprise practice and policy from a sustainable development perspective. The event will bring together researchers and practitioners to demonstrate that social enterprises have the ability to generate and balance economic, social and environmental benefits in a way that should be the envy of commercial business and an inpiration for policy makers. Speakers include: Sue Cooper, Triodos Bank; Mary Phillips, Department of Management, Bristol University; Frances Hines, BRASS; Mike Croxford, Newport Wastesavers; Barbara Wallace, Stepney Works and Sally Reynolds, Social Firms UK.

Further information and links to PowerPoint presentations can be found here (PDF Download)

Reducing the Welsh Footprint, Glamorgan Building, Cardiff University, FREE one day seminar.
Friday 27th May 2005

This seminar brings together leading edge thinkers from the UK and Europe-wide arena in the field of Sustainable Consumption and Production. Speakers include: Dr Arnold Tukker, BRASS visiting scholar; Adriana Zacarias, UNEP; Dr Andrew Flynn, BRASS Associate Member; Professor Fred Steward, ESRC Sustainable Technologies Programme Manager; Jennie Bibbings, Welsh Consumer Council; Morgan Parry, WWF Cymru; Matthew Quinn, The National Assembly for Wales; Dr Paul Nieuwenhuis, BRASS Associate Member; Professor Ken Peattie, BRASS Director; Dr Tina Fawcett, Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University; Professor Tim Jackson, Surrey University; and Chris Foster, Research Fellow, Institute of Innovation Research, Manchester Business School.

Further information on the Seminar can be found here (PDF download)

Business Benefits Through Eco-design - Introduction and First Steps.
11th May 2005

Workshop Series on Eco-Design for small and medium sized enterprises in the electronics sector. A FREE 1 day workshop will be taking place in Cardiff at the Temple of Peace, Cathays Park, CF10 3AP offered by the ESRC funded BRASS Centre at Cardiff University in conjunction with the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration (IZM).

BRASS Waste Seminar Series "Waste Management - Towards a Holistic Approach"
Waste Minimisation: A Challenge Too Far?
Tuesday 24th February 2005

If you would like to download presentations from previous seminars please click here.

Tuesday 24th February 2005 Waste Minimisation: A Challenge Too Far?

2004

Major workshop on Food Risk and Regulation
7-8 October 2004

A major workshop on Food Risk and Regulation is being jointly organised by two ESRC funded Centres, Centre for Analysis of Risk and Regulation (CARR) based at the London School of Economics, and BRASS based at Cardiff University. The workshop will be held in Cardiff on 7-8 October 2004. Workshop participants will be drawn from academia and the public and private sectors. The workshop will promote high level debate and exchange of ideas and will be organised around four themes:

The new management of food supply chains
Communication, risk management and public attitudes
Governance and reform : UK
Governance and reform : Europe

A full programme with downloadable presentations is available here.

Seminar programme with downloadable papers and presentations from the Food, Risk and Regulation Joint Workshop (CARR & BRASS)

Conference: "Corporate social responsibility in the food industry: measuring, managing and reporting responsible business practice"
21-22 September 2004

BRASS is working with Agra Europe to organise a 2-day conference on Corporate Social Responsibility and the Food Industry. The event takes place on 21-22 September 2004 in London. The conference is aimed predominately at industry and policy makers, with international speakers including the BBC, the FDF, Green & Blacks, the Fairtrade Foundation, Ferrero and the Co-op. The event addresses topics such as the role of industry, performance indicators, retailers and benchmarking, responsible marketing, environmental responsibilities and labour relations. For more information contact Lisa Carson.

BRASS seminar: "Childhood obesity"
13th September 2004

On 13th September 2004, BRASS hosted a one-day seminar on Childhood Obesity. The seminar, described as "hard-hitting" in the Western Mail, was certainly topical coming in the midst of the BBC's "Fat Nation" campaign and only a few days after the Government announced a wide-ranging review of school meals as part of its Healthy Living Blueprint. The seminar proved to be extremely popular, with all available places taken, and some very positive feedback provided. The popularity and success of the event was largely down to the quality of the participating speakers who included:

Jane Hutt, Minister for Health and Social Services;
Jon Owen Jones MP; For a full copy of the House of Commons Health Committee's Report on Obesity (of which Jon Owen Jones was a committee member) click here.
Phil Morgan of the Food Standards Agency Wales;
Charlie Powell of SUSTAIN: The Alliance for Better Food and Farming;
Sarah Oakley of SUSTRANS's Safe Routes to School Project;
Dr. Tim Lobstein of The International Association for the Study of Obesity;
Dr. Andrew Hill of Leeds University;
Professor Kevin Morgan of Cardiff University (click here for a summary of Kevin Morgan's research into the real costs and benefits of school meals);

The event explored a wide range of issues including nutrition in school meals; food governance; the responsibilities of the food industry and retailers; the impacts of food marketing; the role of government and regulation in promoting better diet; the opportunities for more exercise for children; the international scope and potential consequences of the problem; and what can be done to help children to tackle their obesity problems.

Overall the event was remarkable for the quality of the presentations, the breadth of the issues that were squeezed into one day, and for the level of interest that was generated amongst the audience. This latter point was reflected in a number of requests for copies of the PowerPoint slides used by presenters, and copies of most of these are now available by clicking on the links on the attached programme.

BRASS would like to thank all the contributing speakers and the audience for making it such an interesting and successful event.

Click here for the seminar programme with links to PowerPoint presentations.

Croissants & conundrums : the BRASS Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production
June 8th, 2004

BRASS hosted a Business Breakfast Roundtable meeting on Promoting Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP), as part of its contribution to the ongoing consultation on the Government's new draft strategy for sustainable development (SD) until 2020. The event coincided with the Sustainable Development Commission's visit for a plenary meeting in Cardiff, therefore BRASS was very pleased to welcome three Commissioners to the meeting: the Chair of BRASS's own advisory board, Professor Rod Aspinwall OBE; Professor Tim Jackson of Surrey University; and Guest-of-Honour Alan Knight OBE, the Head of Social Responsibility for Kingfisher.

Proceedings began with a presentation by Alan Knight based on his experience of championing the sustainability agenda within Kingfisher. The slides from this presentation are available here. This was followed by around ninety minutes of lively roundtable discussion amongst the participants. They included academics; managers from major companies including Panasonic, Dow Corning and Rockwool; members of the SDC Secretariat; representatives of the Welsh Assembly Government; and key organisations including the BBC, WWF and the Institute of Welsh Affairs.

The issues raised by the discussion are now being written up, together with written submissions by many of the participants (and those who would have liked to have been involved but were unable to attend) to create an analysis of the future prospects for more SCP. This will form part of BRASS's submission into the Government's SD consultation exercise in July.