RIT Symposium Conclusions
May 28, 2008 by Brian Butler | Filed under: 1, 2-From Eco-Efficiency to Eco-Effectiveness, Overview
Consensus was reached during this workshop that Eco-Efficiency is simply not enough, with regard to “proper” environmental performance. Essentially, the main agreement throughout the course of the workshops was that a move toward a new paradigm was needed; a paradigm in which Eco-effectiveness is more sought after than is Eco-efficiency.
The summary statement for this workshop could be explained as Eco-efficiency being the desire to minimize our footprint (with regard to environmental impacts) as opposed to Eco-effectiveness being the desire to stabilize our footprint.
There was much discussion on the topic of how to bridge the gap between Eco-efficiency and Eco-effectiveness; disruptive innovation was one method that was discussed as a driver for the move toward Eco-effectiveness. Also discussed was the idea of creating incentives for industry to adopt more Eco-effective activities, as opposed to only thinking Eco-efficiently. Improved purchasing decisions and volunteer programs were other suggestions in this regard.
You can view the powerpoint from the symposium HERE.
