china-event


ARIZONA, USA, – October 23, 2013 –
Following The Sustainability Consortium® (TSC) fall Member Summit in Atlanta, Georgia, TSC will be hosting its first event in China: Improving Business Practices with Sustainability Measurement and Reporting. The event, which will be held on October 24th at the Wenjin Hotel in Beijing is expected to draw a diverse group of participants including current TSC members and partners, government officials, academics, manufactures, and non-profit organizations.

Attendees of the event can expect to learn about TSC goals and strategy in China as well as the partnership with Nanjing University. Wei Dong Zhou, Managing Director of Greater China will speak on The Sustainability Consortium two-step strategy to help local organizations become more successful by incorporating sustainability into how they conduct business.

“Our first phase will include working with manufacturers and help them to understand their sustainability hotspots and find cost-effective ways to make improvements. We will do this through training programs, seminars, management tools, and other activities. We are initially targeting four industry sectors to pilot this project: toys, electronics, general merchandise, and clothing, footwear, and textiles,” said Zhou. “The second phase will be focused on retail and consumption. We will be looking for ways to help companies with cost-effective initiatives to improve sustainability and to help people make sustainable choices.”

Dr. Jun Bi, Dean of the School of Environment at Nanjing University will join TSC Chief Executive Officer Kara Hurst; Michael Fredskov Christiansen, China President, Novozymes; Andrew Lee, Vice President of greater China, BASF and Yan Yan, CTIC CSR Office of CNTAC, Director in a panel discussion about how to improve business practices through sustainability measurement and reporting. Nanjing University, which joins Wageningen University as the second academic partner of The Sustainability Consortium located outside of the United States, will ensure that TSC products are relevant to the Chinese market and can be used to help Chinese organizations find real business benefits in sustainability.

“Nanjing University has an excellent reputation and a very good relationship with the Chinese government, local organizations, and other stakeholders. Dr. Jun Bi has a world-class team of experts that will make sure TSC has the best available science and he will assist Chinese organizations in capturing all the business benefits from becoming more sustainable,” said Euan Murray, Chief Strategy Officer at TSC.

About The Sustainability Consortium
The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) is an organization of diverse global participants that work collaboratively to build a scientific foundation that drives innovation to improve consumer product sustainability. TSC develops transparent methodologies, tools, and strategies to drive a new generation of products and supply networks that address environmental, social, and economic imperatives.

The Sustainability Consortium advocates for a credible, scalable, and transparent process and system. The organization boasts over 90 members from all corners of business employing over 57 million people and whose combined revenues total over $1.5 trillion. The Sustainability Consortium is jointly administered by Arizona State University and University of Arkansas with additional operations at Wageningen University in The Netherlands and Nanjing University in China.

About Nanjing University
Based in Nanjing, the capital city of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing University (NJU) has a history of more than one hundred and ten years. It has developed multi-disciplinary teaching and research programs in natural sciences, business and humanities — which are among the leaders in their fields in China. NJU is also taking the lead on the integrated research of environment, energy, climate and policy. With a motto of “Sincerity with Aspiration, Perseverance with Integrity”, NJU believes in academic achievement, practical knowledge and social impacts. Learn more at www.nju.edu.cn.

Media Contact 
Elizabeth Kessler, Marketing Coordinator
The Sustainability Consortium
Arizona State University
Elizabeth.Kessler.1@asu.edu | 480.965.3810