With apologies for cross-postings
Call for Posters for GRI Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparency 2010
On 26-28 May 2008, the third Amsterdam Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparency will be organised by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Like the second conference, held in 2008, the conference will include a small-scale academic conference, chaired by Prof. Ans Kolk, University of Amsterdam Business School, The Netherlands. The academic conference will be held in RAI Elicium conference centre (<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Amsterdam</st1:place></st1:city>, The Netherlands) and will be an integrated component of the overall conference, thus offering ample opportunity for interaction and exchange between academics and practitioners. The previous conference, in 2008, was attended by almost 1,000 participants from diverse constituencies in 56 countries. The 2010 conference theme is Rethink. Rebuild. Report.
The academic conference will consist of two main elements. A series of debates with invited speakers will focus attention on important topics in sustainability/CSR reporting. These interactive sessions, put together by Prof. Ans Kolk and Prof. Brendan ODwyer (both University of Amsterdam Business School), will bring together prominent established scholars and younger researchers under specific themes, including Trends and issues in sustainability reporting; Assurance on sustainability reporting; Carbon disclosure; Carbon performance and measurement; NGO accountability; and Connecting sustainability reporting and international organisational processes. In addition, poster presentations will provide opportunities for young and senior scholars to discuss their latest research with those present at the conference. The posters will be placed (around A1 size format for each presenter) close to the meeting rooms so the idea is that people will be walking around and engaging in discussions around the boards in an informal and relaxed way. For those unfamiliar with poster presentations, see http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/speaking/poster/pop2a.cfm.
Submission requirements
Unlike other conferences, there will be no paper sessions, so all those who want to present their work at this conference can only submit for poster presentations. We are open to academic research on the broad topic of sustainability/CSR reporting and transparency, but will, in the selection process, also in view of the limited number of places, give preference to those that contain high-quality empirical studies.
Abstracts, with a maximum of 800 words (excluding references), should be submitted to gri-abs@uva.nl before 15 December 2009. Please note that this is the only address to which submissions for posters can be sent other types of submissions and/or those sent to other addresses will not be considered. When submitting your abstract, please include, in the e-mail message that accompanies your submission, the statement that you will, if the poster is accepted for presentation, indeed come to present it at the conference. If these formal requirements are not met, the abstract will not be considered. Final decisions on poster proposals that are accepted will be sent out around 15 January 2010. The conference fee for one presenter per poster will be waived.
More information on the conference as a whole, including registration, will become available on http://www.amsterdamGRIconference.org