Sustainable Value - WSOM, CWRU, NEO, and Beyond

*Originally written April 9, 2010*

At this afternoon's Public Affairs Discussion Group, organized by the Center for Policy Studies at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), Dr. Roger Saillant was to speak about Business and Sustainability. In the end, the discussion encompassed far more. centering around his vision for the Fowler Center for Sustainable Value, Weatherhead School of Management (WSOM), Case Western Reserve University, the Greater Cleveland Area, and beyond.

Dr. Saillant spoke hopefully about efforts to incorporate sustainability into all of its offered courses. The University itself is worker on a similar goal to coordinate curricular and research activities on sustainability. Meanwhile, collaboration on ideas abounds, from the city-wide Sustainable Cleveland 2019 vision, to  region-wide cooperation with Oberlin College, to larger efforts to exemplify a sustainability-centered system of values for the nation as a whole.

The talk was riddled with interesting information, views, and issues. Particularly striking was Dr. Saillant's metaphor for changing today's societal mentalities as a critical long-term goal. He described how centuries ago, when beginning work on a massive Cathedral, the lead mason knew he likely would not live to see the final building in all its glory. But he nevertheless dedicated himself to building the best quality foundation he could. Because without the proper foundation, the entire building could not survive, and no generation could enjoy it.

Short term goals of the Dr. Saillant and the Fowler Center include significantly raising Weatherhead's rank of #33 in the Aspen Institute's Global Top 100 business schools and boosting Case Western Reserve's grade of B- on the College Sustainability Report Card, which he believes can largely be accomplished by re-organizing the endowment information that CWRU already makes available (CWRU's Endowment Transparency grade was an F, two years running).

A good Q&A session followed, with recommendations to read Slow Death by Rubber Duck and to watch Janine Benyus's TED Talk on "Biomimcry in Action" (careful, TED Talks are addictive). The event ended with a poignant reminder of the stark truth: that the Earth's changing climate is already past tipping point. But Dr. Saillant's aim is to motivate through a positive focus, one of an achievable sustainable world. And he does a good job inspiring others to believe (and to act), too.