Conference: The Business of Water and Energy Sustainability

The Center for Global Business Studies at Penn State's Smeal College of Business, together with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), recently hosted a forum to address the role of business in energy and water sustainability.

"The Business Challenges and Opportunities of Energy and Water Sustainability" was held on Oct. 13 at CSIS in Washington, D.C.

Smeal Dean James B. Thomas opened the event, followed by remarks by Fariborz Ghadar, director of the Center for Global Business Studies and distinguished scholar and senior adviser at CSIS. Ghadar also moderated a discussion on nuclear energy with Rick Etling, vice president, Strategy, of Westinghouse Electric Co.

Additionally, Gerald Susman, director of Smeal's Center for the Management of Technological and Organizational Change, was a member of the first panel discussion, "Sustainable Energy: Challenges, Opportunities, Technologies, and Strategies."

The forum's keynote speaker was Marielle Canter Weikel, senior manager for Business Policies and Practices at Conservation International, who delivered a talk entitled "Senior Manager for Business Policies and Practices."

The complete agenda is below. Links point to the presenters' PowerPoint presentations. 

The Business Challenges and Opportunities of Energy and Water Sustainability

October 13, 2009

8:30 - 8:40 a.m   
Welcome
Dean Jim Thomas, Smeal College of Business

Opening Remarks
Fariborz Ghadar, Smeal College of Business
Steven Schrage, CSIS

8:40 - 9:00 a.m.    
Keynote Address:  Changing Notions of Sustainability
Marielle Canter Weikel, Senior Manager, Corporate Environmental Leadership Strategies, Center for Environmental Leadership in Business, Conservation International

9:00 - 10:15 a.m.   
Sustainable Energy: Challenges, Opportunities, Technologies and Strategies
Ellen Lutz, President & CEO, Clean Markets
Gerald Susman, The Robert & Judith Klein Professor of Management, Director of Center for the Management of Technological and Organizational Change at the Smeal College of Business; Smeal Sustainability Project
Seth Dunn, Renewables Policy Leader, Americas at GE Energy

Moderated by Sarah Ladislaw, CSIS

10:15 -10:45 a.m.   
Nuclear Industry
Rick Etling, Vice President-Strategy, Westinghouse Electric Company
Moderated by Fariborz Ghadar, Penn State University

10:45 -11:00 a.m.   
Coffee Break

11:00 - 11:45 a.m.    
Sustainable Water: Embedding Water into the Business Plan
Introduction by Steven Schrage, CSIS
Jan Dell, Vice President, Energy Division, CH2M HILL
Omar Vargas, Director, Global Policy & Government Affairs, PepsiCo

Moderated by Rachel Posner, CSIS

11:45 -  noon     Closing Remarks
Fariborz Ghadar, Penn State University
Steven Schrage, CSIS