Save the date ! The next GUBERNA Summer School ... June 30th 2022

The GUBERNA Summer School is part of our permanent education programmes and intends to keep our certified directors up-to-date on the latest trends and developments within governance.

After last years’ successful editions on digitalisation and sustainability (2020); on the human factor, the essence of board interaction and decision-making (2021), the theme of this year is in line with GUBERNA’s strategic theme “CAP2030 Governance in transition”: Sustainable Governance: The bigger picture.

Focus

Since the Paris agreements and the European launch of the Green Deal, sustainability and ESG are high on the agenda of professional board. Although our number one priority to save the planet is reducing greenhouse gas emissions, sustainability brings many more challenges and changes for boards. In our Summer School, we aim to show you the bigger picture. How can corporate social and environmental responsibility be a beacon for innovation capability and sustainable entrepreneurship? What is a sustainable value? How do you reduce a negative impact and increase a positive one? How do you tackle social themes in your board? How do experienced board member deal with crisis situations, be it an environmental, a health or a geopolitical crisis? Do boards need different capabilities and competencies in crisis? How do boards deal with the urgency of transition combined with business constraints?

Our academic experts and experienced practitioners will be providing answers and guidelines to these questions.

Prof. dr. Valérie Swaen (President of the Louvain Research Institute in Management and Organizations - LouRIM UCLouvain and leading the Louvain CSR network)
Prof. dr. Abigail Levrau (Knowledge & Research Officer GUBERNA)
Ingrid Lieten (Chairperson Jessa Ziekenhuis, Director Verso)
Delia Mensitieri (Ghent University, ATOLO)
Thibault Georgin (chairperson SNCB-NMBS)
Gilles Klass (Corporate director)
Maxime Goffin (CSR activist, Corporate Regeneration, Academic assistant UNamur & UCLouvain)

What to expect?

Q&A opportunities throughout the sessions to ask experts your questions
Crossed perspectives and exchange of experiences
Gain permanent education points as a GUBERNA Certified Director: 7 points
The sessions will be given predominantly in English
Certificate of completion for attending the full programme
Serendipity networking

Venues : Cercle du Lac, 1348 - Louvain-la-Neuve
9:30 -17:30

The sessions will be given predominantly in English

Fee 495€ including lunch

09.30: Casual get to know and coffee

10.00: Introduction: Sustainability in governance – GUBERNA

10.30: COFFEE BREAK

11.00: “How to put purpose into practice?”

Prof. Dr. Valérie Swaen (UCLouvain, IESEG School of Management -France).

- Considering the Sustainable Development Goals as a guide for innovation and sustainable value creation

- Delivering on purpose : Business Ecosystem Orchestration

- Measuring non-financial forms of capital and becoming a ‘positive’ company

- Certifying your commitment: a must, nice-to-have or a trap?

Valérie is Professor of Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility, President of the Louvain Research Institute in Management. She is also leading the Louvain CSR network that gathers and supports researchers and practitioners who seek to put responsible leadership and sustainable production and consumption at the heart of their research and strategy. She held different corporate chairs in CSR (with companies such as Solvay, Spadel, SNCB,…). Her research focuses on stakeholders’ reactions to CSR communication.

12.30: LUNCH

14.00: The S in ESG: the balance between diversity and inclusion in the board room

Delia Mensitieri (Ghent University, ATOLO)

Delia is doing research about micro-aggressions and inclusive behaviour. How can we create a board room in which everyone feels at home and is part of an inclusive community? Her research group has created a survey to gain a better understanding of what is going on at work and what the impact of (minor) insults is. Based on this survey, she wants to offer solutions to make this stop.

15.15: COFFEE BREAK

15.30: PANEL

Boards under pressure: urgency of transition and constraints to deal with

How do boards act in crises situations? In today’s world, environmental, sanitary, social and geopolitical are omnipresent. How can you prepare for unexpected events? Do boards need different capabilities in crisis?

Panelists: Thibaut Georgin (Chairman SNCB-NMBS); Gilles Klass (Corporate Director private sector); Ingrid Lieten (Chairperson Jessa Ziekenhuis, Director Verso)

Discussant: Maxime Goffin (CSR activist, Corporate Regeneration, Academic assistant UNamur & UCLouvain)

Moderator: Prof. Abigail Levrau (Knowledge & Research Officer GUBERNA)

17.00: Wrap Up & drink

Practicalities:

Venues : Cercle du Lac, 23 Boulevard Baudouin 1^er, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve

The sessions will be given predominantly in English