The Center for Social Impact and Innovation at GCNYC Presents its Fall 2021 Event Series
SERIES TITLE: Consumption and the Common Good
WHAT: The “growth at all costs” mindset that permeates global business today results in a litany of negative outcomes for people, communities, and the planet. To fuel economic growth, businesses continue to drive higher consumption rates among existing and new consumers, often utilizing tactics such as marketing to drive desire or planned obsolescence to reduce efficacy and longevity. This ever-increasing consumption interrupts the fabric of our lives from changes to architecture, the creation and growth of new industries which help manage all we now own, media which showcases overconsumption as entertainment, and the untold amounts of waste which fills our landfills and litters our waterways that now must be managed.
In light of these issues, a critical discussion about the nature and embeddedness of consumption in our culture has moved from the fringe to the forefront, engaging a range of stakeholders along the way. What systems must we rethink to reduce the volumes of consumption globally? What policy tools are necessary to combat overconsumption and the resulting waste? What must we personally examine to shift individual consumption behavior?
GCNYC and The Center for Social Impact and Innovation’s series Consumption and The Common Good brings together voices of researchers, advocates, and businesses to discuss the effects consumption and imagine solutions that support a sustainable and equitable world.
For more details, visit the GCNYC Center for Social Impact and Innovation events page.
SERIES TITLE: Building Back Better
WHAT: As we continue to be transformed by the far-reaching effects of the COVID-19 virus, we have the opportunity and the imperative to build back differently to create a better world, departing from practices which have gotten us to the challenging place we now find ourselves.
Whereas the mainstream now grants that sustainability and social impact are essential economic considerations as we build resiliency and learn from the pandemic’s recession and devastation, at GCNYC we know that simply layering “sustainability” and “social impact” onto business as usual is neither effective nor transformative enough to clean up and move past the deleterious effects of still-mainstream business practices. This trimester’s practice series examines how to transform business from within, by utilizing organizational models selected and designed to harbor innovative and collaborative pathways towards social and environmental good.
GCNYC and the Center for Social Impact and Innovation is excited to present Building Back Better, bringing experts from business and the academy to share practical insights for social innovators seeking to create successful, transformative organizations founded upon equity and inclusion.
For more details, visit the GCNYC Center for Social Impact and Innovation events page.