ETH PhD Academy on Sustainability and Technology 2007
Managing Carbon Constraints
The program is available for Downloaddownload (PDF, 160 KB)
February 23-27, 2007, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich (Switzerland)
The aim of the annual ETH PhD-Academy on Sustainability and Technology is to promote excellent PhD research and to develop responsible leaders for tomorrow’s future. The topic in 2007 was “Managing Carbon Constraints.” Carbon constraints are widely discussed on the output-side of the value chain, for example in the form of climate change challenges. Furthermore, carbon constraints have become more important on the input-side of the value chain as illustrated by the increasingly debated disposition of fossil fuels. Therefore, it is currently under discussion to what extent business models and corporate risk assessments with respect to the natural environment are able to improve the management of carbon constraints.
To identify viable approaches the PhD-Academy on Sustainability and Technology in 2007 addressed these challenges from different perspectives. Four days of the curriculum focused on the research design and methodology of the various PhD projects. One day was reserved to discuss the topic with leading business representatives. We invited PhD students with a background in strategic management, technology management, and the economics of innovation or regulation to participate in the academy. Besides content-related discussions, students got valuable feedback from their peers and three well reputed professors.
Impressions
Andrew Hoffman is the Holcim (US) Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan; a position that holds joint appointments at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the School of Natural Resources & Environment. Within this role, Andy also serves as Associate Director of the Frederick A. and Barbara M. Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise. Andy has published four books and over fifty articles/book chapters on environmental and social issues as they relate to business. He was awarded the 2003 Faculty Pioneer/Rising Star award from the World Resources Institute and the Aspen Institute. His book, From Heresy to Dogma, was awarded the 2001 Rachel Carson Prize from the Society for Social Studies of Science. Prior to academics, Andy worked for the US Environmental Protection Agency (Region 1), Metcalf & Eddy Environmental Consultants, T&T Construction & Design and the Amoco Corporation. He holds a bachelors degree in chemical engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a masters and joint doctorate degree in management and civil & environmental engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Volker Hoffmann is assistant professor for sustainability and technology at the Department of Management, Technology, and Economics of ETH Zurich. Volker Hoffmann received a diploma in chemical engineering and in business administration. He worked as a visiting scholar and scientist at MIT where he investigated uncertainty propagation in large scale process models for the chemical industry. In 2001, he obtained his Ph.D. from ETH Zurich with a thesis on multi-objective decision making under uncertainty in chemical process design. From 2001 till 2004, he was a consultant and, later, project manager at McKinsey & Company where he worked in the chemical and electricity industry. He focused on strategy development for European utility companies, especially in the light of upcoming greenhouse gas regulations. Volker received several scholarships including a German National Merit Scholarship, an Ernest-Solvay-Scholarship, and an Exchange Fellow Scholarship of the Alliance for Global Sustainability. Volker’s work at ETH Zurich centers around the contribution of technology to sustainability and the design of appropriate management methods and tools to support companies on their way to sustainability. Besides his research activities, he serves on several academic steering committees.
Ans Kolk is Full Professor at the University of Amsterdam Business School, the Netherlands. She is also director of the research institute. Her areas of research, teaching and publications are in corporate social responsibility and environmental management, including climate change, especially in relation to the strategy and management of international business firms. Ans has published in a range of international journals. She has also written many book chapters and published Economics of Environmental Management (Financial Times Prentice Hall). Ans has been involved in organisational matters (including panel organisation, chair and board roles, review activities) and presented papers at various international academic conferences. She has been involved in many international projects on strategy, organisation and disclosure related to social and environmental issues, in cooperation with different private, public and civil society organisations (including the KPMG international surveys of environmental/sustainability reporting in 1998/1999, 2001/2002 and 2004/2005). More information can be found on www.abs.uva.nl/pp/akolk