Creating a Global Centre for Learning in Green City Development – The Role of Business

Posted on Tue Apr 24, 2012

Carbon Talks, and the Vancouver Economic Development Commission are pleased to host a dialogue on the role of business in developping a Global Centre for Learning in Green City on June 13. This is an invitational dialogue.

Vancouver seeks to create a global centre for learning in sustainable urban development.  In 2011, 3C - The City, Campus Collaborative was created with the intention of bringing the assets of the academic and business communities together with the City to advance Vancouver’s greenest city goals.  In its first year of development, 3C has succeeded in bringing all six of the post-secondary institutions into a program of collaboration with the City and has worked with small and medium size enterprises in exploring employment issues.

The next stage in 3C’s development is to more fully engage global businesses with significant operations in Vancouver into this innovative collaboration.  On June 13, 2012, a small group of business leaders will gather to explore how to extend this collaboration in a manner that is meaningful and relevant to global businesses.  The goals of the dialogue include:

- Identifying the role, needs and offerings of businesses headquartered in a city aspiring to be a global leader in the green economy.

- Developing strategies to retain talent within Vancouver, particularly in the green economy sector

- Exploring synergies among academic, business and civic government that can be leveraged to accelerate knowledge mobilization and innovations in urban sustainability

- Identifying opportunities for policy engagement and global positioning in urban sustainability based on private sector experience.

This half-day session will be professionally facilitated by SFU Carbon Talks. Invited guests will include senior corporate leaders, representatives of the six academic post-secondary schools and key city officials.   The discussion will be governed by Chatham House Rules. 

The event is invitational only.

You will be able to read our discussion guide and our dialogue report in the resources section soon after the dialogue.