Conference challenges unambitious CSR-practice
The sold out CSR conference Who Cares Wins in Copenhagen on April 16th wishes to emphasize, once and for all, that CSR and sustainability can lead the direct way to a more solid bottom line. To debate this controversial subject, Mohan Munashinge, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with former Vice President of the United States Al Gore, the CSR-guru Wayne Visser, Josephine Fairley (founder of one of the world’s first Fairtrade brands and Derek Abell (professor at Harvard Business School) among other interesting guests will be key note speakers at the conference.
The CSR conference Who Cares Wins, which in only two years has established itself as Denmark’s most influential CSR conference, this year has a central theme, namely how to connect sustainability and big business in order to make the results show in a solid bottom line.
“In my opinion, large parts of Danish industry and business have a vast untapped potential in relation to CSR. The managing boards of the Danish companies should use more social responsibility and sustainability as tools to rethink business goals, innovation and raison d’être. They must, in other words, dare to believe in the combination of sustainability and big business rather than to see the two things as opposites, “says Jonathan Løw, Event Director for the Who Cares Wins.
The conference is aimed at companies and organizations which want to work more ambitiously with CSR and use resources to create a stronger bottom line. Danish companies must simply become better at letting CSR be a part of its core business, according to Who Cares Wins. The programme therefore consists of in-depth workshops and speeches by several internationally recognized speakers.
“The future winners are those who manage to integrate sustainability and responsibility with their company’s core business. It is not an easy task and requires familiarity with specific CSR tools and last but not least an increased debate on the subject. Therefore, it is very exciting that the event offers as many competent and visionary executives from different industries that can inspire each other to think in new, bold ways, “says Jonathan Løw.
Acknowledged business man Lars Kolind: “Earn money by doing good”.
Among the many speakers at the conference is business man Lars Kolind, who participates because there is a particular focus on the experience and the desire to raise the bar of the quality of Danish CSR initiatives:
“I think that the best way to serve is to do good. However, it requires that CSR is considered an integral part of the business. How do you do that specifically? And who has done it before with success, and which pitfalls should the firm at all costs avoid? These are some of the questions I look forward to discussing with the other participants at the Who Cares Wins conference “, says Lars Kolind.
The conference is sold out, but everyone who is interested can still follow the conference live via this link:
http://whocareswins.dk/livestream.aspx
For further information, please contact:
Mr Jacob Lange Ms Ylva Rigner Freiesleben
Managing Director Head of PR
Lange PR Who Cares Wins
Telephone: +45-2076 3020 Telephone: +45-2348 0502
E-mail: jacob@langepr.dk E-mail: ylva@whocareswins.dk
THE PROGRAMME ON APRIL 16th 2013:
09.00 THE DOORS WILL OPEN: Welcome coffee & registration
10.00 WELCOME by Rushy Rashid & Henrik Byager – our hosts for the day
10.10 OPENING ADDRESS by the Mayor of Copenhagen Frank Jensen
10.20 KEY NOTE SPEECH: Wayne Visser (UK) The international CSR guru and best-selling author Wayne Visser speaks about CSR 2.0. Mr Visser will give us an insight into why many existing CSR strategies are unable to combine social responsibility with a stronger bottom line. Afterwards he will propose how businesses and brands of the future can improve both their image and bottom line by adopting a new approach, something he has dubbed “Transformative CSR” or “CSR 2.0”.
10.40 NETWORKING: A new and different way of networking. In just 20 minutes we will try to think outside of the box and generate inspiration and business across different industries and mindsets.
11.10 PANEL DEBATE: SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED BUSINESSES. Presented in collaboration with PwC. Chair: Tania Ellis – The Social Business Company. Panel participants: Lars Kolind, Mette Vinding (Re-Bag), Nicolaj Due (Vestegaard Frandsen), Peter Nørgaard (Code of Care), Ramon Arratia (Interface), René Tristan Lydiksen (Veksø)
11.40 ORGANIC BREAK: Voom.dk will provide organic coffee and ice cream.
12.00 FREE TIME: For the next 30–45 minutes your time is yours. You could take an inspirational sustainable walk, take part in open networking in the foyer area, discuss CSR management with Harvard professor Derek Abell or listen in on an exciting panel debate between NGOs in the large hall. Read more about the different Free Time options below…
12.01 FREE TIME #1: Hotel Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers is designed to be one of the most sustainable hotels in the world. They have created a “trail” they call The Walk of Sustainability to allow you as a guest to discover exactly what makes the hotel so unique. The Walk of Sustainability is an actual trail through the hotel, where the hotel’s sustainability initiatives are explained at various locations.
12.01 FREE TIME #2: Who Cares Wins 2013 will be visited by leading managers from Scandinavia’s small, medium-sized and large businesses. While there will of course be time to network during the planned breaks; this is your opportunity to gain that little bit extra from networking in our foyer. Essentially: 30–45 minutes free time for some fearless networking. Ms Fanny Posselt, social entrepreneur, will provide you with free hot dogs from the World’s most travelled hot dog stand, while you’re networking.
12.01 FREE TIME #3: Derek Abell is a Professor at Harvard Business School and founder of the European School of Management and Technology. Why not participate in an inspiring Q&A session with Professor Abell on the following topic: “The new business of business leadership goes far beyond today’s business? Professor Abell will talk about “thick” and “thin” versions of leadership responsibility – to help you identify where you and your company are, where you believe you should be, and how you can get there.
12.01 FREE TIME #4: Panel debate involving Danish aid organisations. Topic: Partnerships, value creation and terms for collaboration between businesses and NGOs. Presented in collaboration with PwC. Chair: Tania Ellis – The Social Business Company. Panel participants: Anne Larsen (Médecins Sans Frontières), Gitte Seeberg (World Wildlife Fund WWF), Henrik Ib Jørgensen (Muskelsvindfonden), Mimi Jakobsen (Save the Children)
13.00 A WORD FROM THE DANISH MINISTER FOR EUROPEAN AFFAIRSNicolai Wammen on the EU and CSR.
13.05 KEY-NOTE SPEECH: Jens Prebensen (DK)is a CSR consultant and expert at Bureau Veritas. In his presentation we will learn more about “CSR as a moral dilemma”. CSR is generally viewed as something that benefits society – which means that few people associate CSR with moral dilemmas. However, these do exist; though tend to remain under the surface. In rare cases though they do bubble up and can create significant problems for businesses.
13.25 WORTH THINKING ABOUT: Peter Nørgaard (Code of Care) 3 minutes’ CSR inspiration before the break…
13.30 LUNCH AND CLASSICAL MUSIC: Nightingale String Quartet provides lovely music while we enjoy our lunch.
14.35 KEY-NOTE SPEECH: Jonathan Løw (DK), Marketing Manager at the Kaos Pilots, speaks about CSR, innovation and “human brands”. Løw is also the event officer for Who Cares Wins 2013 and will use his presentation to propose how businesses of the future can use innovation and “daring to fail” to boost business and product development, internal and external communication, cause marketing etc.
15.00 KEY-NOTE SPEECH: Mohan Munasinghe (Sri Lanka) Listen to the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Winner talk about sustainable development. Mohan Munasinghe is one of the world’s leading experts on CSR, business sustainability and “sustainomics”. He will introduce the “sustainomics framework” concept which can be implemented in businesses and NGOs in order to secure a combination of financial profit, social benefits and environmental protection.
15.20 WORKSHOP: The workshop is arranged in collaboration with CABI and VFSA. Topic: “The elastic employment market”. The workshop will be introduced by the VFSA Chairman, Sven A. Blomberg (CEO, BRF Kredit).
16.20 ORGANIC BREAK: Clear your mind, enjoy some fresh air and indulge in some delicious organic coffee and ice cream. There will also be special surprise gifts for all participants, including award-winning chocolate and liquorice.
16.40 PANEL DEBATE: LARGE BUSINESSES. Presented in collaboration with PwC. Chair: Tania Ellis – The Social Business Company. Panel participants: Anders Thomsen (Microsoft), Annette Stube (Mærsk), Hanne Lindblad (CallMe), Jesper Møller (Toms), Mads Øvlisen (Novo Nordisk), Robbert Stecher (The LEGO Group)
17.30 TALK AND DEBATE: Josephine Fairley & Cindy Gallop Josephine Fairley is founder of the UK’s and one of the world’s first Fairtrade brands, “Green & Black”. An example of how “good for people = good for the bottom line”. Listen to Fairley in an exciting talk/debate with Cindy Gallop – former US Advertising Woman of the Year and an extremely colourful character from the world of both marketing and social responsibility. Topics: CSR as a social movement, CSR and authenticity, CSR and innovation. The conversation will be moderated by Danish journalist Paula Larrain.
18.00 THANKS FOR TODAY: To round things off Frokost.dkwill provide some delicious treats to take home for yourself and your family… We will stay open until 19.00 hrs for anyone wishing to do some early evening networking.