Invitation to Responsible Investment Conference: October 2-3, York University

The Canadian Business Ethics Research Network (CBERN) has teamed up withSchulich Net Impact to provide complimentary registration for up to 60 students and faculty to attend the Keynote Speaker and Plenary Panel sessions at the PRI-CBERN Academic Network Conference.

The UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) Academic Network is a unique research community established to support the work of the UN PRI through research on responsible investing. It fosters a network of scholars, practitioners, policymakers and students interested in responsible investment issues.

This annual international conference provides an opportunity for researchers, students and investment professionals to present research, identify research opportunities and build partnerships to continue to enhance our knowledge in this area. CBERN is proud to co-host the conference in 2012 at York University, and we hope you can join us.

RSVP for selected sessions at: www.cbern.ca/pri-cbern2012/students/

Please note that this complimentary registration does not include meals or refreshments nor does it include participation at the parallel sessions. If you would like to attend all sessions of the conference, please register for paid registration atwww.cbern.ca/pri-cbern2012/register/.

If you have any questions, please contact Hilary Martin at hmartin@cbern.ca.

Session Info (complete agenda available at www.cbern.ca/pri-cbern2012/program/)

Session #1:

Tuesday, October 2  |  9:00am – 10:45am

Tribute Communities Recital Hall, Accolade East Building
Keynote Address 1: The Value-add of Shareholder Engagement, Elroy Dimson, London Business School
Panel 1: Governing from without and within: What institutions are needed to facilitate sustainable financial markets?

Gordon Clark, Oxford University

Jane Ambachtsheer, Mercer

Roger Urwin, Towers Watson (TBC)

Charles Sampford, Griffith University

Elroy Dimson, London Business School

Session #2:
Tuesday, October 2  |  1:30pm – 3:15pm

Tribute Communities Recital Hall, Accolade East Building

Keynote Address 2: The role of business ethics in finance, Ola Mestad, Chair, Norwegian Council on Ethics
Panel 2: Impact Investing: New opportunities for social impact - is there a market?

Giselle Leung, Global Impact Investing Network

Wes Cragg, CBERN

Serge LeVert-Chiasson, Sarona Asset Management

David Wood, Initiative for Responsible Investment, Harvard University

Session #3:
Wednesday, October 3  |  8:30am – 10:15am

McEwan Auditorium, Schulich School of Business
Keynote Address 3: Creating incentives that work in the long-term: aligning the interests of asset owners and asset managers, Sébastien Pouget, Toulouse School of Economics     
Panel 3: Is the problem the principal or the agent? Dysfunctional relationships in the investment chain and pathways for research to 'treat' them

Daniel Simard, Batirente  

Brigid Barnett, Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board

Sébastien Pouget, Toulouse School of Economics

Alison Schneider, Alberta Investment Management Corporation

RSVP for selected sessions at: www.cbern.ca/pri-cbern2012/students/

The Political Empowerment of the Poor in Bangladesh: Donors, NGOs and 'the Road Not Taken'
Friday, 5 October 2012 | 11:30 am to 1:30pm | 305 Founders College | York University

Naila Kabeer, Professor of Development Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies

Recent research in Bangladesh highlights an interesting paradox: impressive development outcomes combined with extremely poor quality of governance. The country's active development NGO sector has been credited with some of the more positive development achievements. This presentation sets out to explore why the sector has not made an equivalent contribution on the governance front. It draws on field work in Bangladesh to explore the hypothesis that the problem lies in the increasing homogenization of the NGO sector around the delivery of services, primarily microfinance services, and its shift away from the political empowerment of the poor.

Hosted and organized by: International Development Studies, York Centre for Asian Research (YCAR), Department of Social Science and the Graduate Program in Gender, Feminist and Women's Studies

For more information, email ycar@yorku.ca

CERLAC presents

CANADA AND EMPIRE: the new canadian imperialism in central america

with Grahame Russell and Tyler Shipley

 Weds Sept 26, 2012

3:30 – 5:00 pm

956 YRT (York Research Tower)

York University

 Join us in a discussion of Canada’s particular role in exploitation and injustice in Guatemala & Honduras

While the role of U.S. imperial power in Central America has long been the subject of much warranted critique, Canada’s participation in the projects of empire has too often slipped below the radar.  This is of particular significance in the context of the increasingly aggressive imperial strategies that Canada has undertaken in recent decades, which both dovetail with traditional U.S. imperial strategy and, at the same time, present Canadian capital as an imperial competitor to Washington.  

The painful consequences of this shift have fallen, not surprisingly, to the peoples and communities of Central America, whose land, resources and bodies are treated as cheap inputs in the quest for profits for North American companies engaged in mining, manufacturing, tourism and other industries.  Join us in a discussion of Canada’s particular role in exploitation and injustice in Guatemala and Honduras.   

More info

http://www.yorku.ca/cerlac/events12-13.htm#russell

cerlac@yorku.ca

An open invitation to all Graduate students at York
with a research interest in Latin America and/or the Caribbean  

Come to our

Graduate Student Orientation to CERLAC 
The Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean

Wednesday, September 19, 2012
2:30 - 3:30 p.m.
956 YRT (9th Floor, York Research Tower), York University

Learn more about CERLAC - its graduate diploma program, essay prizes,  documentation centre, events, resources for students, etc.
Meet faculty & other grad students working on Latin American & Caribbean issues.
Tell us how we can best support you and what activities you would like to see!

Join us afterward for a reception in the 8th floor lounge of YRT (see below)

Also of interest to graduate students: 2013 Graduate Student Research Conference
See: http://www.yorku.ca/cerlac/grad-conf2013

And: Do you want information on events, opportunities, and resources relating to Latin America and the Caribbean? Do you want to receive links to analysis and commentary on current events throughout the region? Subscribe to CERLAC'S listserv, LACYORK. Send subscription requests to cerlac3@yorku.ca

_____________________________

CERLAC, CERIS, CRS, and YCAR invite you to their annual

Beginning of the Year Reception / 8th floor YRT Open House

Wednesday September 19, 2012, 3:30 - 5:00 pm
8^th floor lounge, YRT (York Research Tower)

Please join us at our annual welcoming event  to start off the school year and to meet with  new and old friends and colleagues.

All are welcome!  Food, drink, music and good company are guaranteed.

The 8th floor YRT research centres are:
The Centre for Research on Latin America & the Caribbean (CERLAC)
The Joint Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement (CERIS)  – The Ontario Metropolis Centre
The Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS)
York Centre for Asian research (YCAR)

Thursday, 20 September 2012 | 2:30 to 4pm | 305 Founders College | York University 

The Trudeau period was a golden age in the history of Canadian Official Development Assistance (ODA) after Canada began its ODA with the Colombo Plan to South and Southeast Asia. During this period, many unprecedented achievements were achieved in aid scale, policy making, aid channels, and regional distribution of recipients, aid program contents and aid purposes. The great development of Canadian ODA during this period was not only prompted by the demand for a fair economic order from the third world, the aid supply sharing policy of the United States and the ODA theory transition, but also by Canadian economic growth, public support, just society building, a new conception of world security and by nationalism as a middle power. The Canadian ODA during the Trudeau years was full of much more humanitarianism and altruism than before, in spite of the fact that it also served Canadian economic interests in the developing countries to some degree. 
 
This paper focuses on the following three aspects: the achievements of Canadian ODA made during the Trudeau period, the factors making these achievements possible and its goals. 
Jiantao He is a Visiting Graduate Associate at the York Centre for Asian Research (YCAR) and a PhD Candidate at The Canadian Studies Centre, Nankai University. He is also Director Assistant and Assistant Researcher at the Centre for Canadian Studies at Fujian Normal University, China. 

This event is hosted by the Development Studies programme and the York Centre for Asian Research.
For more information, email ycar@yorku.ca.

Storage Options for Renewable Energy: Developing RE to Commercialization

featuring keynote, Ms. Annette Verschuren

*Sponsored by City of Toronto Councillor Anthony Perruzza and The City of Toronto Better Buildings Partnership.

When: Friday September 21^st, 2012 from 9am-11am. Breakfast and registration begin at 8:30am.

The Bloom Centre for Sustainability (BLOOM) is presenting Sustainability Applied 2012 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, October 17-18, 2012. Over 300 leaders, decision-makers, and doers from across Canada and around the world will participate in hands-on workshops and interactive discussions to explore best practices and market opportunities, showcase new products and services, and celebrate outstanding accomplishments in sustainability. http://sustainabilityapplied.com/

The early bird registration deadline of July 31, 2012

If you have any questions, comments or would like more information on communication support opportunities, please contact my colleague Warren Cathro at wcathro@bloomcentre.com