The roundtable discussion on March 13, 2007 explored whether there are market or policy options that can dramatically accelerate this transition in light of today's pressing environmental challenges. This roundtable discussion was convened at the Genzyme Center, a platinum-rated green building in Cambridge, MA. The discussion included invited guests, with a public presentation hosted afterward at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. For more information on the roundtable discussion, please contact Tracy Parsons at The Clark Group, LLC.

Carbon offsets for the Turning the Ship dialogue were provided by Native Energy.
 

Final Agenda

Tuesday, March 13
8:00 AM
Coffee and pastries at the Genzyme Center (500 Kendall Street, Cambridge, MA)

8:30 AM
Welcome, introductions, and review of key information from the online dialogue

8:50 AM
Presentation on the Genzyme Center (Rick Mattila, Genzyme)

9:00 AM
Session I: Essential Elements of Sustainability
What are the Essential Elements of Sustainability and of the Processes Businesses Must Implement to Pursue Sustainability?

10:15 AM
Break

10:30 AM
Session II: Barriers
Why Aren't More U.S. Businesses Pursuing Sustainability?

12:00 PM
Break (Lunch will be provided to roundtable participants. Audience should plan on bringing brownbag lunch or dining out)

12:30 PM
Session III: Solutions (Working Lunch)
What Structural Changes are Needed to Address The Barriers?

2:00 PM
Break

2:15 PM
Session IV: Strategies
What Steps Can Be Taken to Effect the Needed Structural Changes? What Actions Can Follow This Roundtable to Promote Change?

3:45 PM
Wrap Up

4:00 PM
Conclude Roundtable

6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Public Session: Roundtable Summary and A Call to Action
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
48 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA, Room 112 Stubbins

  

Dr. Mike Bertolucci, President, Interface Research Corporation, Emeritus

Michael Cain, Director, United States Army Environmental Policy Institute

Ray Clark, Senior Partner in The Clark Group, former Associate Director of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and former Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army

Dianne Dillon-Ridgley, Board of Directors, Interface Inc., former appointee, President's Council on Sustainable Development

Dr. Robert Frosch, Senior Researcher at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, former Administrator of NASA and Vice President of General Motors, and father of industrial ecology

Dr. Kenneth Martin Kao, Lecturer in Architecture, Harvard University Graduate School of Design; Founder, Kao Design Group

Terry Kellogg, Executive Director, 1% For The Planet; former Director of Environmental Stewardship, The Timberland Company

Katie McGinty, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, former Director of the White House Council on Environmental Quality

Ben Packard, Director of Environmental Affairs, Starbucks Coffee Company

Gwen Ruta, Director of Corporate Partnerships, Environmental Defense

Jeff Sama, Director of Environmental Permits and Pollution Prevention for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Pat Verduin, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Grocery Manufacturers Association/Food Products Association

John Warner, formerly with Polaroid, one of the founders of green chemistry and Director of the University of Massachusetts, Lowell Center for Green Chemistry

Michelle Wyman, Executive Director, ICLEI-USA (International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives, an association of more than 475 local governments)

Moderated by: Brian Kuehl, 2007 Harvard Loeb Fellow and Partner, The Clark Group, LLC