In 2016 We Wish…

We have asked oikos members to send in a short sentence expressing their wish for 2016.

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Read them here, be inspired, be part of the journey towards making a difference!

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oikos International

posted December 30, 2015

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In 2016 We Wish…

In 2016 all oikos members will make a difference, how? See some of their wishes here:

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2016 EXPECTATION FOR OIKOS KUMASI

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Ana Gagoshvili

My wish for 2016

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oikos International

posted December 29, 2015

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Evaluating and Enhancing the Impact of Sustainability Reporting Tools (SRTs)

Sustainability reporting tools (SRTs) have proliferated in order to meet the demand of stakeholders for higher transparency on environmental and social issues. Despite the increasing reliance on SRTs in decision making, much is still unknown about their effectiveness. If SRTs prove to be ineffective, they may pose a serious obstacle to sustainable development as well as to the discourse associated with it. To address this gap, this thesis evaluates the impact of SRTs in the context of companies as well as the building/infrastructure sector, in order to enhance their impact. In evaluating the impact of SRTs, four investigations are conducted. First, the link between environmental, social and governance (ESG) and financial performance is analysed using univariate, multivariate and portfolio analysis. Data for the period 2008-2010 are used. Results show that there is a weak relationship between ESG and financial performance represented by a wide range of financial ratios and stock returns. The portfolio of ESG leaders does not outperform the ESG laggards. Although analysts’ forecast error is found to be negatively correlated to ESG, this observation is not significant. Second, the behaviour (price movement, index trend and trading volume) of the FTSE4Good Australia Index and its constituents are examined using a Markov chain analysis. Based on the results obtained, these company stocks do not seem to demonstrate superior performance. Third, an examination of building SRTs reveals that: variation in criteria scores and weights need to be accounted for; there is no large difference in occupants’ satisfaction levels between a sustainable building (ascertained by building SRTs) and a non-sustainable building; and criteria scores are inconsistent for buildings with similar sustainability awards. Fourth, the current state of sustainability reporting of publicly-listed Australian construction companies is investigated. Contrary to expectation, the state of sustainability reporting is found to be poor with high evidence of graph obfuscation. That is, there is a biased use of graphs to depict favourable criteria in sustainability reports. Corroborative evidence from all four investigations appears to suggest that the effectiveness of SRTs is questionable. To enhance the impact of SRTs, this thesis presents an alternative multi-criteria framework to assess sustainability performance of companies and building/infrastructure projects based on second order moment thinking. This framework is designed to overcome existing limitations and encompasses six different elements: (i) Criteria selection; (ii) Quantitative measurement scales for the criteria; (iii) Characterising each criterion by measures of central tendency and dispersion; (iv) The distinction of additionality; (v) Criteria weighting; and (vi) Combining criteria to give an overall sustainability score characterised by a measure of central tendency and a measure of dispersion. A tree form classification model of companies’ sustainability performance is proposed. This model is developed using a combination of agglomerative hierarchical clustering and classification and regression tree (CART) techniques. Extending this model, the link between different clusters of companies (‘Leader’, ‘Average’ and ‘Laggard’) and sustainability maturity levels is established. As well, the fuzzy-based approach is recommended as a way to measure project sustainability maturity levels. While the nature of return–risk efficient portfolio frontier has been discussed at length in the literature, it has not been extended to incorporate the analysis of sustainability issues, as done in this thesis. Leveraging on a few concepts such as the centre of gravity (COG) and Euclidean distances, the superiority of portfolios is differentiated by accounting for both return–risk and ESG–variance. These tools adopted are original contributions to help enhance stakeholders’ decision making process.

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oikos International

posted December 25, 2015

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Alumni Meeting in Warsaw

On 14th of December, new and old generations of oikos meet for a Christmas Meeting in Warsaw.

Happy Holidays from oikos Warsaw!

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oikos International

posted December 16, 2015

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oikos LEAP Webinar | Building Relationship and Partnership

Michèle Joanisse works as Head of Fundraising at DNDi in Geneva. During her career, she has raised over 200 million euros for medical education, medical research and humanitarian medical projects.
 

The webinar will take place on 16th of February, Tuesday

 
She will bring a little bit of her experience of fundraising and building partnerships to the oikos community.

Register now here: 

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oikos International

posted December 15, 2015

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oikos LEAP webinar | Creating and Driving a Vision

On 19th of January we will have a pleasure to have an oikos LEAP webinar with Martin Cadée,  an educational innovator and social entrepreneur. He will be talking with the oikos LEAP Advanced Track participants about “Creating and Driving a Vision”.
 
Listen to his TEDTalk here:
 
More information about oikos LEAP here: www.oikos-international.org/leap

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oikos International

posted December 15, 2015

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Call for Team Members | oikos FutureLab 2016

It’s that time of the year! We are looking for motivated and passionate individuals who would like to organize the biggest event in the annual oikos calendar – the oikos FutureLab. The FutureLab is a 2-day platform for the oikos community to be inspired and discover and develop joint perspectives on the future of sustainability in management and economics. It is intended as a catalyst for projects and collaborations in the oikos network. The conference is to be held at the end of October or beginning of November 2016.

As member of the oikos FutureLab Team you will have the opportunity to:

  • Design, develop and implement the concept of the oikos FutureLab 2016;
  • Organize an international conference in a highly international team;
  • Acquire leadership and management skills
  • Engage with the oikos community and support its development.

Your Task
The team will together develop the concept of the conference in 2016 and its members will work on tasks according to their areas of interest, such as, program, logistics, marketing and fundraising. You will be responsible for one of those focus areas, but you won’t be alone, since we foster a very collaborative environment.

Your commitment

  • 1-year commitment: February 2016 to February 2017

Meetings (virtually and/or onsite, depending on the budget):

  • We generally have monthly calls and, as we get closer to the conference, weekly calls.
  • Handover and Planning Meeting (in March: before/after the Spring Meeting in Lille, France)
  • One intense week preparing and implementing the conference (end-October or beginning of November 2016)
  • Reflection and handover days after the conference (to be defined with the team)

Requirement

  • Passionate about the oikos community and its mission;
  • Available and committed for a 1-year commitment;
  • Open to a very virtual team environment;

More information about the FutureLab: https://oikos-international.org/futurelab/.

Check out the experience of the FutureLab team 2015 here: https://oikos-international.org/news/in-the-eyes-of-the-futurelab-team-2015/

Application Process
Please send us your CV and motivation letter by January 17, 2016 to futurelab@oikos-international.org.

The timeline following this deadline is as follows:

Jan 20, 2016: Invitation for interviews

Jan 21 – Feb 5, 2016: Interviews (Conference Call)

Feb 8, 2016: Selection and notification

Feb 10, 2016: Start

The oikos FutureLab team 2015 will be responsible for the selection and handover of the new team.
We are looking forward to hearing from you!

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oikos International

posted December 14, 2015

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A View on the 20th oikos Conference on Food Labels

“Having been part of the oikos event calendar for more than 20 years, the oikos Conference is the oldest oikos initiative. Since its start in 1988, the aim of the project has been to organize a conference to increase awareness and knowledge about a selected environmental topic, and to generate an impact beyond the conference.

This year’s oikos Conference team, consisting of five and later six people, had the desire to try something new. The topic on the 12th and 13th November was “The Future of Sustainable Food Labels: Creation, Development and Impact”. In order to achieve the highest impact on the participants the team created a Simulation Game in cooperation with Ulrich Creative Solutions.

The two conference days were shaped by a speech, the simulation game, presentations and a panel discussion. This combination allowed the students to deepen their knowledge and actively participate throughout the whole conference and reflect what they have learned.

Beside the regular program participants had time to connect during shared meals and drinks, which created a really great atmosphere and a good working environment. The main challenge this year, beside financial troubles, was to find enough participants beside the 41 MBA students who took part.”

Learn more about the oikos Conference here. See more photos of the conference here.

Written by: Stella-Kristina Wiesner, Project Head, oikos Conference; oikos St. Gallen

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oikos International

posted December 9, 2015

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oikos Newsletter December 2015

Here we are, we have come to the final month of 2015. Whilst we put together the Annual Report of 2015, in this newsletter we look back at a packed Parisian oikos experience: the COY11, the Entretien de Royaumont (article to come soon) and the oikos alumni dinner. You can also read about the conference oikos ANU successfully delivered in November. The FutureLab videos are also almost all out on our channels, make sure you do not miss out on watching the inspiring speeches. And whilst we talk of videos, take a look at ARTE’s documentary that oikos collaborated with: Operation Climat.
This month, we have two special interns of oikos who share their experience in the 30seconds with… We hope to work with more committed interns in 2016! Finally, as we all move into 2016 and fill our agenda’s, do not forget to save the many dates in which you can meet oikos and be part of the oikos journey! Happy reading and happy December!

Read more here.

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oikos International

posted December 8, 2015

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Our Letter to COP21 Governments

oikos is part of the parties that signed the Open Letter on behalf of a global alliance of tertiary, higher education and student sustainability networks, associations and institutions.

As written on GRLI’s website:

The collective voice of the world’s universities, colleges and students needs to be heard at COP21 when the United Nations Climate Change Conference takes place in Paris, France during the first week of December.

A global alliance of tertiary and higher education sustainability and student networks and associations developed the Open Letter shown below. This “network of networks” was inspired by the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative.

Read the letter here:Open Letter to COP21!

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oikos International

posted December 4, 2015

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