Last month, several hundred people from various corporations, NGOs (non-government organizations), governmental agencies and the academic community convened at the University of Minnesota’s McNamara Center for the second annual Solutions Summit. The summit was hosted by the Institute on the Environment’s NorthStar Initiative for Sustainable Enterprise (NISE). Attendees represented a range of industries, but their purpose was the same: share new solutions to sustainability challenges. The message was clear: the daunting issues facing the world today – food supply, resource scarcity and climate change – require collaborative efforts. No single person, entity or organization can fix them alone. The time has come for us to put our heads together, focusing on common ground, to develop and successfully share solutions.
2012 Solutions Summit - McNamara Center University of Minnesota
Day 1 of the summit included presentations by author Paul Hawken, Jim Hartzfeld of Interface and Andrew Hutson of Environmental Defense Fund, to name a few. Day 2 consisted of breakout sessions addressing topics ranging from materials cycling and sustainable procurement initiatives to organizational capabilities for sustainability.
As a company, we acknowledge the complex challenges facing us all and understand that the solutions start by working together. NorthStar Initiative provides the opportunity and platform to foster, develop and share ideas. Supporting such efforts align with our core value of corporate citizenship and commitment to leading the charge for environmental stewardship.
Read a summary of Solutions Summit as written by Dan Haugen with Finance&Commerce here.
