Bhubaneswar: Xavier School of Sustainability (XSoS), hosted the fourth edition of XUB Sustainability Summit, on ‘Mainstreaming Sustainability: Role of Education and Reporting’ on Saturday, 17th November 2018 at Xavier University, Bhubaneswar. The theme of this year’s summit was Mainstreaming Sustainability: Role of Education and Reporting. The core agenda of the summit was to emphasize the need to mainstream sustainability in management education and especially within the academic fraternity, cement XUB’s role as a change agent and leader in the context of the highly relevant theme. The summit also focused on accomplishing goals by identifying materialities and practice the most consequential instrumentality – Reporting. The summit also holds importance in the background of the Sustainable Development Goals, adopted in 2015 by the United Nations’ General Assembly, where the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development clearly reflects this vision of the importance of an appropriate educational response. Education is explicitly formulated as a stand-alone goal – the SDG 4 of Quality Education; defining education to be the means, and not the end.
With 19 speakers and delegates, the 4th Annual XSoS Sustainability Summit 2018 was inaugurated on 17th November, 2018 at Xavier University Bhubaneswar by Father. E.A Augustine (Registrar- XUB), Dr. S. Peppin (Dean XSoS), Mr. Anirban Ghosh (Chief Sustainability Officer, Mahindra), and Mr. P S Narayan (Vice president and Head Sustainability, Wipro. Ltd). The other distinguished speakers from diverse fields that graced the occasion were Mr. Vishal Bhavsar (Ultratech/Aditya Birla), Mr. Gaurav Sarup (Vedanta/Cairn India), Mr. Debanjan Bandhopadhyay (ERM), Mr. Saunak Saha (Ernst & Young), Ms. Richa Pant (LTFS), Ms. Kiran (DNV-GL), Mr. Gyanesh Pathak (Bennett & Coleman/Times Group), Mr. Pratyush Panda (Lafarge ACC), Mr. Christu Das (ESAF), and Mr. Pradeep Mehta (CHINAR).
Fr. E.A. Augustine in his inaugural speech said, “Sustainability lies not only in the way we define it but also practice it”. Prof. Dean S. Peppin addressed the guests and highlighted the importance of Sustainability education and Global Reporting Initiative which is helping address the new indices and indicators that are being developed around 17 Sustainable Development Goals. According to Mr. Anirban Ghosh, “Sustainability is all about the endurance of business while enriching the environment and increasing the profits for stakeholders”. He quoted that sustainability is not only about making profits but also, “Enabling people to live extraordinary lives and be the light to the world”. Mr. P.S. Narayan through his words inspired us to have deep conviction and belief to take the road less travelled which is the path of sustainability. Followed by the inauguration, there was a book release by the esteemed guests.
The first half of the summit was neatly divided into three plenaries. The first of which was a panel discussion on “Careers in Sustainability”. It was moderated by Mr. P.S. Narayan and comprised of industry leaders like Mr. Vishal Bhavsar, Mr. Gaurav Sarup, Mr. Debanjan Bandhopadhyay, Mr. Saunak Saha, Ms. Richa Pant, Ms. Kiran and Mr. Gyanesh Pathak. Prof. Amar KJR Nayak moderated the second panel discussion comprising of young practitioners who through the topic “Mainstreaming Sustainability Education” emphasized on the critical role of education which has been re-confirmed recently in the formulation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development. It was graced by Mr. Aditya Batra, Ms. Arpita, Prof Mahendra Mohanty, Mr. Abhishek Mohanty, and Mr. Satish Mohapatra. The third panel discussion was moderated by Dr. U.S Saha and took place between Mr. Pratyush Panda, Mr. Christu Das and Mr. Pradeep Mehta. It revolved around acknowledging the fact that the “world is in a constant flux”, and “the imminent need to structure our education as well as business fundamentals accordingly”. They emphasised on the need to have a blueprint to understand the dynamic trends shaping tomorrow as well as today.
The second half was taken by Ms. Pallavi Atre in the form of a workshop. With an experience of over twelve years in the field of Sustainability, Ms. Atre introduced the importance of corporate reporting for Sustainable Development Goals. She emphasized on the mission and vision of the Global Reporting Initiative and its focus on mainstreaming sustainability and transparency alongside rapid economic growth. With the vote of thanks to the guests, the day came to an end with yet another successful summit of Xavier School of Sustainability, Xavier University Bhubaneswar.
