2021 Business & Society Research Seminar

The University of Namur is hosting the 2021 edition of the Business & Society Research Seminar for PhD students and emerging scholars.

• Are you a PhD candidate or an emerging scholar conducting research on Business and Society relationships, Sustainable Business, Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainable Development Goals, Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship or a related topic?
• Do you want to discuss one of your research papers or your PhD project with leading scholars in the field to enhance your ability to write and review scholarly publications?
• Are you looking for some mentoring from leading experts or do you want to develop your academic network?

... Then we encourage you to submit your contribution : deadline 21th Febuary 2021!

OBJECTIVES OF THE SEMINAR

The objective of this two-day seminar is to bring together doctoral students, emerging scholars, and more experienced academics to present and discuss their research projects and receive feedback in a stimulating, developmental and friendly atmosphere. We will explore commonalities as well as differences in each other’s research approaches and themes in an inspiring, sociable, and convivial academic setting. This seminar consists in a mix of plenary sessions, paper and poster presentation sessions as well as several workshops around career development and publications strategy. All sessions will involve fellow PhD students, emerging scholars, and more experienced researchers and journal editors.

CONFERENCE THEME

“Business and Society in Times of Crises: (Re)searching for New Directions”

Global societal and environmental problems like climate change, inequality, and mass-migration, as well as digitalization and dematerialization of human relationships, all call for attention. Given the increasing power of business in a globalized world and the resulting societal impacts - both positive social, environmental, and political engagement and negative externalities-, there is an urgent need to scrutinize the role of business in terms of contribution to the transition of society towards sustainability. To address these critical challenges, new ways of thinking and doing are required. Therefore, there is an urgent call for research to develop bold ideas and adopt less conventional methodologies involving social sciences, management and technology. This year’s seminar wants to explore novel approaches across the corporate social responsibility (CSR), sustainability, and social innovation agenda to understand how the aforementioned issues might redefine responsibilities, roles and opportunities of both business and society.

KEYNOTES

Our first keynote speaker will be Prof. Jean-Pascal Gond (head of ETHOS at Cass Business School). Our second keynote address will be delivered by Dr. Thomas Roulet (University of Cambridge).