The 2024 GRONEN Conference organises several PDWs that are open to all conference participants:

1. Addressing Societal Challenges through Moral(ized) Markets 

The pressing social and environmental challenges the world is facing today have sparked interest in market-based solutions to societal challenges, such as the ‘moral markets’ for fair trade goods, ethical investment, (community-based) renewable energy, cage-free eggs, green buildings, or plant-based meat. With this interactive PDW we have two goals. First, to spark cross-pollination between research on moral markets and adjacent literatures, such as social entrepreneurship, logics, alternative organizational forms, sustainable policy and innovation, and societal transitions. Second, to reflect on how this interdisciplinary agenda can help us address practical questions critical for solving contemporary sustainability challenges. 

Organizers/panelists: 

  • Benjamin Huybrechts, Professor of Business and Society, IESEG School of Management 
  • Panikos Georgallis, Associate Professor of Strategy, University of Amsterdam 

Guest panelists (TBC):

  • Rodolphe Durand, Professor of Strategy, HEC Paris 
  • Julianne Reinecke, Professor of Management Studies, University of Oxford 

2. The Use of Virtual Reality to Support Research on Sustainable Behavior: Designing Experiences 

The challenges of sustainable development require a radical transformation of behavior in society. To support the change of behavior, Virtual Reality (VR) is a promising tool.  

We aim to help GRONEN scholars initiate into the possibilities of virtual reality and navigate design problems during their research projects in VR.  

The PDW will be divided in three parts: i) the basics of VR technology; ii) a VR ‘experience’ designed by SKEMA to explore individual sustainable behavior in VR; iii) a discussion and identification of the most usable elements of virtual reality for research on sustainable behavior. 

Organiser: 

PDW is restricted to max. 16 participants. Pre-registration via email is available. 

3. Engendering Sustainability, the Legacy of Ecofeminism and Beyond

The PDW will explore the importance of adopting a gendered lens in the context of sustainable transformation and climate change. It highlights various perspectives of ecofeminism, which challenge traditional views and emphasize the role of women in sustainability. Women are agents of change in implementing ecological changes in households and organizations, including sustainability management and entrepreneurship. An ecofeminism framework redefines sustainability by connecting the domination of women with the exploitation of nature. Ecofeminism offers a unique lens to promote a new model of leadership. Welcoming researchers and practitioners to join this discussion, we aim to develop new conversations and cross-fertilization of ideas concerning sustainable transition, gender, and ecofeminism.

Co-chairs: Stephanie Chasserio, Eliane Bacha, Corinne Poroli

Guest Speaker: Renaud Redien-Collot, Doyen du corps professoral, ESCE International Business School 

4. Mid-Career Academics: Purpose, Balance, and Mental Health

Explore the challenges and opportunities of mid-career academia in our interactive workshop at Gronen 2024, Paris. This session focuses on finding purpose, maintaining balance, and managing mental health in academia. Through reflections from scholars and group brainstorming, we’ll tackle topics like nurturing career meaning, balancing academic roles, fostering mental health discussions, and managing tasks effectively. Join us for a dynamic exchange of ideas and strategies to enrich your mid-career journey.

Organisers:

  • René Bohnsack
  • Valentina de Marchi

5. Integrating AI into Sustainability Research

Explore the integration of AI into Sustainability Research at the upcoming Gronen 2024 workshop in Paris. This interactive session offers an exciting deep dive into practical AI tools, effective prompting techniques, and digital sustainability, for those who have not yet worked much with Generative AI in a research context. Participants will engage in discussions and activities centered on leveraging AI for research in sustainability, while also understanding its impact on sustainability and reflecting on the digital and ethical footprint of AI technologies. Join us for a collaborative assessment of AI’s capacity for data analysis and knowledge management, and its advantages and challenges when used as an aid in research.

Organisers:

  • René Bohnsack (Universidade Católica Portuguesa)
  • Mickie de Wet (Universidade Católica Portuguesa)

6. Teaching sustainability ‘frugally’: experience teaching strategies to change the world 

Eager to exchange and experience practices and techniques for engaging students and driving them to change toward sustainability? Join our interactive workshop at Gronen 2024! During this session we will break the ‘closed door’ approach to teaching, giving us the opportunity to share with, and learn from, colleagues on ‘frugal’, cost-effective teaching innovations that can also be adopted in different education settings with scant resources.  Attending you will have the chance to learn in detail and experience yourself three different practices to teach sustainability topics – including role plays, board games and ChatGPT informed practices – to share your own practices and to discuss how to tight research and teaching practices and how to improve your teaching approach. If you already have a very long experience in teaching or are just starting off: this PDW will be an opportunity to learn turnkey new practices that you can replicate and to share with peers who are teaching similar topics and are approaching the same challenges. So join us for a dynamic exchange that will enrich your teaching toolkit – please do register upfront here (https://forms.gle/3Era2dZS5KWKC6pR6) so to enable us to organize the PDW at its best.

Organisers:

  • Valentina De Marchi (ESADE business school) 
  • Minna Halme (Aalto Business School) 
  • Rob Lubberink (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences) 

7. Special Issue of Organization & Environment – Mainstreaming Sustainability?

The aim of this PDW is threefold: First, to introduce the Special Issue of Organization & Environment on ‘Mainstreaming Sustainability?’ Although the concept of sustainability has been used for decades now, we can still ask many questions on whether and how it is (or should be) becoming mainstream. What do sustainability initiatives deliver, at what cost, and for whom do they deliver? Is institutionalizing sustainability, for instance in reporting requirements, investment standards or work practices doing enough to mainstream sustainability? Second, the PDW serves to provide participants with an overview of the latest research on mainstreaming sustainability, and address the following questions: What does mainstreaming sustainability mean? How will it impact the environment? Who will mainstream sustainability and for whom? Third, the PDW aims to give participants the opportunity to network and jointly explore the future of research on (mainstreaming) sustainability. This discussion will be based on participants sharing abstracts in advance, summarizing their ideas for future research or their work in progress on mainstreaming sustainability.   

The session is open to all conference participants. 

Participants who wish to contribute to the session with an abstract, can do so by sending the abstract (+/- 250 words) to the conference email address before 31 January (gronenconference2024@gmail.com). The email should be addressed to the O&E editorial team and the subject should mention ‘Abstract – PDW SI O&E’. 

Organizers and panelists (O&E SI guest editorial team): 

  • Frank de Bakker (IÉSEG School of Management) 
  • Frederik Dahlmann (Warwick Business School)
  • Carolyn Egri  (SFU Beedie School of Business)
  • Eva Niesten  (SKEMA Business School)

8. Sustainable Innovation: Navigating Intellectual Property for a Greener Future

This PDW will join scholars and practitioners to contribute to a dialogue on the intersection of sustainability and intellectual property (IP), exploring how these elements can synergistically drive a greener future. In particular, the following themes will be addressed:

–       The role of IP in the development and diffusion of sustainable technologies.

–       The impact of patents on the advancement and accessibility of green energy solutions.

–       Assessing existing IP policies and proposing innovations to better align with the UN sustainable development goals.

–       Collaborative and open innovation business models and their implications for IP in the context of sustainability.

Organisers:

  • Ludmila Striukova (SKEMA Business School) – ludmila.striukova@skema.edu
  • Prof. Thierry Rayna (École Polytechnique)
  • Prof. Charles De Grazia (EMLV Business School Paris)

9. Sustainable Business Horizons: Educating and Inspiring Managers for Positive Impact

The main aim of this PDW is to provide participants practical insights and strategies to effectively teach corporate sustainability to managers and collaborate with practitioners to implement sustainability within firms. Guest speakers will engage in discussions and best practices to address these challenges. The workshop seeks to foster meaningful partnerships between academia and industry, enhance teaching methodologies for managers, and ultimately contribute to advancing sustainability education and practice.

Organizers:

  • Javier Delgado-Ceballos, University of Granada (Spain)
  • Ambra Galeazzo, University of Padova (Italy)
  • Raquel Antolín-López, University of Almería (Spain)

Guest Speakers:

  • Alice Mascena Barbosa (Innovation North, Ivey Business School)
  • Professor Stefano Pogutz (Bocconi School of Management)
  • Pascual Berrone (IESE) 
  • J. Alberto Aragón Correa (University of Granada).