By Dottie Barnes
Two Dutch scholars will join local and state government officials at Grand Valley State University to discuss the types of threats and challenges climate change is causing for businesses.
“Preserving Ourselves: Local and International Perspectives on Climate Change Threats and Solutions” is sponsored by the Koeze Business Ethics Initiative in Grand Valley’s Seidman College of Business.
The event will be held Oct. 10, from 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m., in the L. William Seidman Center on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus. Seating is limited so an RSVP is required. To reserve a seat, email Robbi Osipoff at osipoffr@gvsu.edu.
The keynote luncheon speaker will be Mandy de Wilde, a researcher and author with the Environmental Policy Group at Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands. She will discuss how the Dutch are transitioning to a low-carbon, circular and sustainable society by emphasizing the role played by market-based solutions and social movements.
Other topics at the conference include:
* Energy and Michigan’s Future: Policies and Practices
* Business: Progress and Profit in an Age of Climate Change
* Moving Forward Together: What We Can All Do
Conference panelists include:
* Norman J. Saari, Michigan Public Service Commission
* Jeff Myrom, Consumers Energy
* Margrethe K. Kearney, Environmental Law & Policy Center
* Erik Petrovskis, Meijer, Inc.
* Mary Ellen Mika, Steelcase
* Steve Ramus, Perrigo
* Steve Mulder, Climate Witness Project
* Jan O’Connell, Sierra Club
* Thomas Franssen, Leiden University, The Netherlands
* Alison Sutter, City of Grand Rapids
* Gillian Giem, U.S. Green Building Council – West Michigan Chapter
For more information, visit gvsu.edu/seidman/ethics or contact Michael DeWilde at the Koeze Business Ethics Initiative at 616-331-3612.
