Seminars
This year's extensive seminar programme offers interactive and challenging sessions for all our participants -
sustainable development practitioners and those from finance and procurement departments.
There will be six parallel sessions running each afternoon of the conference. The sessions will include input from
experts, but the main focus will be on your own participation in the discussions, sharing experiences with your colleagues
and exploring potential actions.
This programme has been developed in response to feedback from previous conferences and has been designed to provide
you with opportunities to:-
- Explore the conference topics which are unfamiliar to you and build an awareness of how constructive collaboration with
experts in other fields may be generated and improved.
- Hear about various tools for sustainable development accounting and procurement, how they have been used in other
situations, and explore how you could transfer the lessons to your own organisation.
- Become involved in the debates around the implementation of sustainable development principles in mainstream procurement
and accounting practices.
Session Choice
There are three different types of session:-
- Introductory Workshops will run on Day 1, covering each of the three conference issues - Sustainable
Development, Finance/Accountancy and Procurement. The workshops will give those who are unfamiliar with the topic a chance to
be briefed by an expert, to ask the basic questions and to discuss the implications of this topic on their own work. The aim
of the introductory workshops is to make cross-departmental work easier, and to build relationships between colleagues
working in different disciplines.
- Case Study Seminars will start with a presentation from an experienced practitioner who has been
directly involved in implementing good practice. They will then lead you through discussion and exercises to help you
consider how to transfer practice to your own circumstances. There are three case study seminars running on Day 1, and
four on Day 2.
- Roundtable Discussions will take place on Day 2 of the conference, looking at Sustainable Procurement
and Carbon Accounting. A panel of 'experts' will be involved in discussing the opportunities and the challenges of
the subject, from high level strategy to practical implementation. There will be opportunities for contributions, questions
and participation in current debates.
Please click on a seminar's name for more information.
Day 1 - Thursday 13 November
Case Study Seminars
Presenter: John Stocks, Manager, The Carbon Trust Scotland
With contributions from Gemma Roberts, Carbon Trading Councils Project, Local Government Information Unit; and Ross Spalding, Sustainable Development Officer, Fife Council
Carbon is an increasingly precious resource, and many speculate that it will soon become a second currency requiring organisations to run double-bottom line accounts. The Carbon Trust is at the forefront of this agenda, seeking to support those who have engaged with their Carbon Management Programme in starting to cost, budget and manage their carbon emissions, and address the future financial implications.
In this seminar John Stocks will explain how to understand carbon as a second currency and will challenge delegates to start to figure out how to construct and manage their own organisations' carbon budget. John will be joined by Gemma Roberts from the Local Government Information Unit's Carbon Trading Councils project who will give an insight into this pilot carbon trading project, and by Ross Spalding from Fife Council who will explain how one Scottish council is starting to integrate carbon into departmental budgets.
This seminar would suit local authority officers who are at the early stages of considering why and how they should start accounting for their carbon spend.
For further information, please visit The Carbon Trust.
Download Presentation (John Stocks)
Download Presentation (Gemma Roberts)
Download Presentation (Ross Spalding)
Presenter - Dr. John Barrett, Centre for Sustainability Accounting,
John is a director for CenSA where he leads on business development. John is also a senior research associate in the Stockholm Environment Institute where he leads a programme of research on understanding the impacts of both consumption and production patterns while also addressing the policy implications. John has advised numerous companies and government departments on sustainable consumption and production issues including the measuring of carbon footprints, having recently undertaken the carbon footprint of the NHS.
Triple-Bottom-Line accounting routinely covers social, economic and environmental indicators and enables decision-makers to quantify trade-offs between different facets of sustainability.
For many organisations the calculation of a carbon footprint excludes the impacts that occur along the supply chain of the products purchased by the organisation. In an analysis of the NHS, this accounted for two thirds of their total carbon footprint and a similar pattern can be seen in local authority analyses.
The workshop will explore the indirect impacts of local authorities relating to their procurement and consider how this can be included in the analysis.
Assessment of an organisation's procurement impacts enables meaningful benchmarking, avoids loopholes in reporting and gives you the capacity to reward and encourage the greening of supply chains and increase your organisation's sustainability.
This seminar will give you an introduction to Triple Bottom Line accounting and take you though the basics of using this method, with a case study of the carbon footprint of the NHS and local authorities.
More information about the Triple Bottom Line tool is available at CenSA
Download Presentation
Presenter - Ian Bateman, Climate Change Programme Manager, Devon County Council.
Ian brings practical experience of implementing Marginal Abatement Costing (MAC) as part of the carbon abatement project selection process with Devon County Council.
In 2010, larger local authorities will become mandatory participants in the Carbon Reduction Commitment, along with 5,000 other public sector organisations and large commercial businesses. MAC is an important tool in assisting organisations to assess the longer term financial impacts of their portfolio of potential carbon abatement projects, and for determining a carbon management and trading strategy.
This seminar will give you an introduction to Marginal Abatement Costing and take you though the basics of using this method. In groups you will then construct a MAC curve for a local authority and use it to develop a carbon trading strategy. This strategy will be tested by taking part in an auction of carbon allowances.
Download Presentation
Introductory Workshops
Is 'sustainable development' a phrase which you are hearing more often and from a range of different sources? Would you like to have a better understanding of the concept and, in particular, how it applies to your remit in finance, accounting or procurement?
This workshop will give you a clear and inspiring introduction to Sustainable Development from an internationally recognised expert in the field, Professor Paul Ekins.
You will also have the opportunity to ask questions and to discuss some of the implications of implementing sustainable development, both the challenges and the benefits.
The workshop will give you an opportunity to:-
- Make the link with your own area of expertise.
- Help you see opportunities and collaborations that might be possible with other council departments.
- Improve relationships with colleagues working in complementary fields.
Presenter - Paul Ekins, Professor of Energy and Environment Policy, King's College London; Head of the Environment Group at the Policy Studies Institute; and Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of Westminster since 2002.
Paul is Director of the Green Fiscal Commission, an independent body established in 2007 to generate information and evidence on green taxation. He is also a Member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution and, from 2003-2007, was on the UK Government's Sustainable Energy Policy Advisory Board. He is a Co-Director of the UK Energy Research Centre, in charge of its Energy Systems and Modelling theme, and leads King's College's involvement in large research consortia on Bioenergy and Hydrogen.
He is the author of numerous papers and articles, and his most recent book is Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability: the Prospects for Green Growth (Routledge, London, 2000). He is co-editor of the book 'Understanding the Costs of Environmental Regulation', which will be published by Edward Elgar in 2008.
In 1994 Paul Ekins received a Global 500 Award 'for outstanding environmental achievement' from the United Nations Environment Programme.
Facilitator Notes from This Seminar
This workshop will allow you to benefit from the expertise of one of the conference's key speakers - Roger Adams - who will provide a valuable introduction to the financial and accountancy theories essential to sustainable development. This session is specifically for those who do not have a financial or accountancy background or remit, and has been designed to provide a briefing for beginners by an international expert.
The workshop will also include group discussions which will:-
- Increase reflection and exploration of the topic.
- Provide a forum for discussing the potential for improved cross-departmental working when there is a common understanding of financial and accountancy methodologies.
- Increase your ability to communicate the financial aspects of sustainable development to other council departments.
Presenter - Roger Adams, Executive Director (Policy), Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
Roger has directed ACCA's work in the corporate social responsibility area for over 15 years. In 2002, ACCA became the first professional body to be awarded the prestigious Queen's Award for Sustainable Development.
He was one of the founding members of the Global Reporting Initiative (1997) and currently chairs the GRI Technical Advisory Committee. He is a member of the Executive Board of the "Accounting for Sustainability" project launched by HRH the Prince of Wales. He has served as a Council member for the Institute of Social and Ethical AccountAbility ("AccountAbility") and as an adviser to the Environment Committee of the 100 Group of Finance Directors in the UK. He recently served on the UK Government's Sustainable Procurement Task Force.
Currently Roger is supporting the three-year sustainability project established in 2005 by the IFAC Professional Accountants in Business Committee and representing ACCA on the Advisory Committee of the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB). He is also a visiting professor at the University of the West of England.
This workshop is for people who are not directly involved in procurement, but who wish to increase their understanding of the framework within which procurement professionals operate, and the varied and sometimes conflicting pressures which they need to balance.
Each Scottish local authority spends an average of £158m every year on goods and services. There is a growing opportunity to target this spend towards purchasing decisions with positive social and environmental impacts. In addition, the procurement environment in Scotland has been undergoing a major restructuring over the past year, with implementation of the McClelland report and the development of the new national procurement consortiums.
This workshop will provide an introduction to these new processes and local, national and European frameworks. The workshops will also include participative activities which will help you develop collaborative working with your procurement colleagues.
Presenters - Irene McCulloch, Head of Support Services, Scotland Excel, and Sam McLean, trainer and facilitator, Scotland Excel.
Download Presentation
Facilitator Notes from This Seminar
Day 2 - Friday 14 November
Case Study Seminars
Presenter - Janet Chapman, Sustainable Procurement Officer, Warwickshire County Council
Janet spent 20 years in the insurance and financial services sector, followed by a career change to the legal profession. Six years ago she transferred to the strategic procurement unit in Warwickshire County Council and has focussed on policy and strategy around sustainability issues. Warwickshire is now recognised as one of the leading authorities in sustainable procurement, having won national awards for its work.
Sustainable procurement can deliver economic savings in addition to social and environmental benefits. Developing a clearer understanding of where potential economic benefits could accrue, and the tools to present these economic benefits in the context of a business case, will support you to implement sustainable procurement in your own organisation.
In this seminar you will use practical examples to help you to:-
- Consider how sustainable procurement can really be efficient.
- Assess where your organisation is now, where you want it to go, and by when.
- Develop an action plan for writing your own Business Case.
Download Presentation
Presenter - Barry Mitchell, Manager for the North East Centre of Excellence LM3 Project
With a background as an accountant and project manager within a variety of private sector businesses, Barry has recently implemented a significant expansion of the LM3 methodology in the North East, primarily within the public sector - increasing awareness, providing verification of the impact of local spending decisions on local economies and showing how both public and private sector organisations can better support and develop local supply chains.
Local Multiplier 3 - LM3 - a measuring tool developed by the New Economics Foundation, identifies how money circulates within the local economy, and measures the multiplier impact of spending decisions.
The North East Centre of Excellence, based in Gateshead, has used the LM3 tool to identify and demonstrate the huge potential of increasing local spend on the regional economy. The project revealed that if local authorities in the North East made just a 10% increase in the amount they spent locally, an additional £312m would re-circulate in the immediate area. In the long-term, the project aims to engage across council departments and to link procurement strategies with local regeneration, community development, and value for money.
This seminar will explain the LM3 model and how it was used in the LM3 Project to generate baseline measures to complement regional procurement strategies. Specific case studies within business sectors will be used to illustrate the model and to demonstrate the impact of LM3 as a catalyst for economic regeneration.
Links for further information:
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Presenters - Robin Gourlay, Head of Facilities Management, East Ayrshire Council, and Osbert Lancaster, Director of Footprint Consulting.
This seminar provides a direct insight into the value of Social Return on Investment Methodology for a pioneering and successful project involving school food in East Ayrshire.
Robin Gourlay starts from the premise that; "… school food has a key role to play in producing educated consumers of tomorrow and that public sector food provides a unique example of where social, economic, and environmental service improvement can be successfully delivered."
East Ayrshire Council pioneered a school meals procurement strategy which focussed on providing fresh food and utilised a range of procurement strategies to support local producers to bid for contracts, without contravening competitive tendering regulations. The Council won a range of awards, including the Soil Associations Food For Life School of the Year Award. This successful initiative has now been rolled out to cover more than 40 East Ayrshire schools and is producing interesting benefits that extend far beyond the initial expectations of the project.
Foot-print were subsequently commissioned to carry out Social Return on Investment Research for the Council. Osbert Lancaster will explain his key findings which are relevant and revealing as we all look for a sustainable future and a paradigm in this case for public sector procurement and performance measurement.
The seminar will include a detailed presentation of how the pilot was developed and run, and how the lessons from the pilot are now being taken forward. The seminar will also include the opportunity to explore the potential to transfer the lessons of this pilot to your own council area.
Download Presentation
Facilitator Notes from This Seminar
Presenter - Dr Sarah-Anne Muñoz, Sustainable Development Research Centre (SDRC).
Sarah-Anne is a human geographer whose previous research includes the study of population dynamics, migration and community formation in Scotland. Her current work includes research on the development of social enterprise and how this business form can contribute to the creation of more sustainable rural communities and the alleviation of deprivation.
The BEST (Benefiting the Economy and Society Through) Procurement Programme was a 3 year research and capacity building project led by Social Enterprise East Midlands (SEEM) to which SDRC was Research Partner. It aimed to increase the ability of social enterprises to bid for public sector service contracts, and to improve how the public sector use their purchasing power to pursue economic, social and environmental objectives.
Dr. Muñoz worked as a researcher and project manager on the final year of the BEST Procurement Programme and will be sharing the breadth of experience which the project has uncovered - the challenges which both social enterprises and authorities need to overcome when developing a commercial relationship, and the benefits which can accrue when this is done successfully. Drawing on case studies from several authorities in the East Midlands of England, the seminar will explore how these opportunities can be replicated in Scotland.
Links for further information - http://www.sustainableresearch.com/research/seru2.htm
Download Presentation
Facilitator Notes from This Seminar
Roundtable Discussions
Many Scottish local authorities are making great strides in implementing sustainable procurement, and there are many cases of excellent practice. The new centres of expertise are developing training and other mechanisms to support sustainable procurement. But what kind of 'big picture' do all these good examples add up to? Is there a common vision for sustainable procurement in Scotland?
The SSN Sustainable Procurement Working Group has been meeting over the past 6 months look at this issue. Local and national initiatives have been discussed and a work-plan is being developed to address some of the gaps which have been identified. This roundtable will provide an opportunity for you to learn about the progress of the Working Group to date, to contribute to the on-going discussion and to feed into the development of the work-plan.
Roundtable Host - John Mason, Director, Climate Change and Water Industry and Environmental Quality Directorates
Roundtable contributors include:-
- Dorothy Cowie, Chief Executive, Scotland Excel
- Janice Pauwels, Chair of Sustainable Procurement Working Group and Sustainable Development Unit Manager, Edinburgh City Council
- Ashley Gould, Chair of Scottish Local Government Procurement Forum and Procurement Manager, Highland Council
Originally, it was hoped that this panel would include Michael Damn, one of our key speakers from earlier in the day. However, his travel arrangements have made this impossible.
This roundtable discussion session will give delegates the space to discuss how the carbon accounting and carbon costing agenda could develop in Scotland. The seminar will provide scope to reflect on plenary presentations and to engage with those who are active on carbon accounting, climate change economics and carbon cost methodologies.
This is your chance to explore how these new agendas are developing, ask the questions you want resolved, and discuss the implications and opportunities for Scottish policy and practice. The session will give delegates the chance to better understand the implications for their own work and to identify how practical steps can be taken to integrate carbon accounting, carbon costs and carbon economics into their own organisation's decision-making. The discussion group will be limited to approximately 20-25 participants.
Roundtable Host: Simeon Thornton, Head of Climate Change Economics, DEFRA
Roundtable contributors include:
- Justin Goodwin, National Carbon Expert and AEA Associate.
- Gemma Roberts / Andy Johnston, Local Government Information Unit
