Comments and Suggestions from the RIT Symposium
June 10, 2008 by John Morelli and | Filed under: Collaboratory, General
Comments and suggestions from the RIT Symposium were collected and are presented below.
Consolidation and Overview of Symposium Suggestions/Critiques
There seemed to be a general feeling among the moderators that most participants were quite receptive to the idea of environmental managers being more active players with their respective companies, however, the problem area tended to rest in the realm of leadership, as well as how exactly to accomplish what needed to be accomplished. This sentiment appeared in multiple workshop groups, and it was suggested by multiple moderators that perhaps at future symposia, there could be more focus on leadership techniques, as well as workshops outlining methods that environmental managers could employ in order to speak their company’s language so as to leverage for better environmental performance.
More than one moderator also mentioned the concept of “change agents”; this concept should be looked into more thoroughly and perhaps a future workshop should be included at upcoming symposia that will help to flesh out this idea. The use of case studies was heavily supported by moderators as a way to show specific, real-world examples of environmental managers successfully acting as “change agents”. In addition to case studies that explore “change agents”, some moderators also suggested case studies that show examples of companies that have employed greater
Also mentioned by more than one moderator was the idea of including on the website a glossary of key terms relevant to the profession that would help to clear up confusion over certain concepts (i.e. “environmental sustainability”, “ecological balance”, etc.).
A suggestion was also made that we seek to get on the annual conference agendas of key organizations; it was estimated by one person that about 20% of the attendees at such conferences would be receptive to such explorations.
It was mentioned more than once in our debriefing, as well as in the written suggestions from the moderators, that the website was too complicated to use and that perhaps a more intuitive format would facilitate greater online participation.
Overall, throughout the debriefing and the written summaries submitted by the moderators, the general consensus is that the intent of symposium is right on target and that the symposium provided motivation and inspiration, as well as social and professional networking. From a logistical perspective, the general feeling was that the typical workshop group at the symposium was just the right size (4-10 people) that allowed for the best results.
A few suggestions were made pertaining to the scheduling/format of the symposium; for instance, one moderator felt that the symposium needed an opening exercise to frame the workshop in order to get everyone on the same page; additionally, more specific guidance for workshop moderators was also mentioned. It was also brought to light that perhaps in future symposia, multiple workshops per room should be avoided, and that events should be more spread out so as to avoid overloading the participants (one moderator felt that there was too much scheduled for the first day).
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