Environmental professionals attending the upcoming Green Business Seminar, particularly those consulting to clients on ‘green’ buildings and urban sustainability, will be especially pleased to hear from the likes of panelist, Richard Palmer — an engineer by training, a consultant by profession and an ecologist at heart.

Palmer, a Green Star accredited professional, Green Star assessor and member of the technical advisory group and faculty of the Green Building Council of Southern Africa, will partner Robbie Louw, Director: Promethium Carbon, to address the ‘whole-systems’ and infrastructure design needs of environmental professionals.

As an integral part of Sustainability Week 2012, the environmental leadership publication, Green Business Journal, is hosting a one day, six-session seminar on 26 July at the Sandton Convention Centre. The seminar’s cutting-edge ‘green’ content will take a precision-focussed look at the key issues concerning companies who acknowledge the competitive advantage of participating in today’s green economy.
The seminar is aimed at sustainability managers, business leaders, environmental professionals, government policy makers, city managers and all other green business stakeholders. The format of the Green Business Seminar comprises six, 45-minute panel discussion sessions, each of which has primary and secondary topic as well as defined objectives and outcomes.

Subjects for all sessions have been carefully selected to ensure that the most topical and pressing sustainability issues are covered for both private and government enterprises, ensuring maximum take home benefit for all those attending.

The individual sessions, in chronological order of presentation, are titled as follows:
• The Green Economy — how it works; why it works and what the drivers are.
• Greening Operations — the current regulations; methods of reducing environmental impact; new systems and technologies available and at what return on investment.
• Greening Products — the drivers of change to greener products; products affected by regulation and return on investment scenarios concerning product re-design.
• Sustainability Leadership — sustainability strategy, planning and management plus other key topics: leadership; employee participation and goal setting for success.
• Sustainability Reporting — the contents of a report; the level of reporting in an organization and the systems to use; plus the level of stakeholder engagement.
• The Business Case for Sustainability: Leverage — what it is; which type of organizations it’s applicable to; plus Green Marketing and avoiding Green Washing.

www.sustainabilityweek.com