Business and Sustainability Program

Below is a description of past events sponsored by CEF’s Business and Sustainability Program. 

IE 2003 Profitable Sustainability Retreat

This 2003 landmark retreat was organized jointly by the Future 500 and the Collins Family Foundation (predecessor of CEF) to provide a venue for bringing profitable sustainability opportunities into better focus. This conference co-sponsor, the Future 500, has sponsored several major conferences, retreats, and summits on Industrial Ecology. The “IE” series of conferences has brought together a diverse network of hundreds of corporate executives, managers, technologists, and environmental advocates.

The objective of this retreat was to present and discuss the many facets of profitable sustainability. Retreat participants were invited from the Future 500 membership and other interested parties around the world representing industry, small business, venture capital and non-profit organizations, academia, and government. The retreat emphasized industrial manufacturing and distribution—the supply chain—and its relationship with human and environmental sustainability. Case studies of profitable-sustainability-at-work were presented and the key ingredients of success were shared. Techniques, tools, and supporting analytic methods for locating and optimizing profitably sustainable win-win opportunities were discussed. Developments in the integration of sustainability concepts into new and existing MBA programs were presented.

IE 2004 — Profitable Sustainability: The Future of Business

The Sept. 2004 Seattle conference jointly organized by NBIS, the Future 500, and the Collins Family Foundation, offered a three-day intensive learning and demonstration experience with over 140 speakers and over 350 attendees. It provided valuable tools with which a company can work to become sustainable relative to dollar profits, social impact, and impact on the natural environment, all considered simultaneously.

The conference served as
· An expo of best practices and new technologies
· A think tank for innovative strategies and new business models
· A capacity-building conference giving attendees access to new products, new cost and waste
  reduction opportunities, brand enhancement strategies, new marketing opportunities and value-
  driven financing resources
· An exhibition of companies who are demonstrating that Good Business is Smart Business.