İstanbul, Türkiye
21-22 May 2022
Click here to download symposium program
Understanding Sustainability in the context of Business Organizations and Philanthropic Institutions
The term and notion of “sustainability” are deeply popular but are nonetheless surrounded by ambiguity and confusion in terms of meaning, implications, and boundaries. The Brundtland Report (also known as Our Common Future), published in 1987, describes sustainable development as “development that addresses current needs without jeopardizing future generations’ capacity to fulfill their own needs.” Currently, the term “sustainability” is broadly applied to characterize improvements in areas such as the overexploitation of natural resources, harmful business and industrial manufacturing, inefficient energy usage and polluting by-products, as well as the linear consumption of products, quality of individual lifestyle, consumer buying behavior, technological development or shifts in businesses practices and institutions. Sustainability also often refers to the mechanisms and activities, which help mitigate and counteract degradation and depletion of natural resources to sustain an ecological equilibrium without lowering the quality of life in contemporary societies. Sustainability is informed by a variety of fields, domains, and disciplines, including politics, economics, and philosophy, as well as social sciences and hard sciences.
Sustainability is associated with three overlapping sectors: the economy, society, and the environment, and hence, emphasizes the concept’s simultaneous economic, environmental, and social dimensions. In 2015, the United Nations published “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, a “plan of action for people, planet and prosperity.” The publication outlines 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets, seeking to build on previous efforts by outlining a 15-year agenda that balances “the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental”. The document lays out 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 priorities, aiming to expand on past strategies by laying out a 15-year plan those balances “the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social, and environmental.” Both the configuration of the concept of sustainability and recognition of the diversity of associated perspectives and interpretations affect our approach and implementation of sustainable development, both locally and globally. The idea of sustainability reveals the necessity for contextual re-definition, re-interpretation, and adaptation in multiple sectors and fields, across varying historical and socio-cultural contexts, while also mandating the incorporation of related worldviews, ethical systems, civilizational outlook; all contributing to new original knowledge for the best interest and wellbeing of humankind and our planet.
The first symposium on “Understanding Sustainability” series was on “Circular Economy”. Theme of 2022 is decided as “Business Organizations and Philanthropic Institutions”. This symposium aims at contributing to the understanding and definition of sustainability in the context of business and civil society organizations, cooperatives, commercial entities, and Waqf (Islamic endowments). Particularly, it looks at how and to what extent the aforementioned actors are able to effectively drive and fulfill the goals of sustainability. This includes the mechanisms through which they incorporate, internalize, and operationalize values and ethics to produce ecological balance, social harmony and just societies. Critically, the symposium also asks in what ways do we learn from the actual practices, experiences and contributions of firms, commercial entities, and organizations to advance more holistic discourse of sustainability. Moreover, the symposium also addresses the question of how to effectively or better engage commercial and civil society actors within a framework that furthers the agenda of sustainability and SDGs in the 21st century.
Turkish Academy of Sciences (TUBA) is an autonomous apex body for the development and promotion of sciences in Turkey. The origins of the Academy go back to “Encümen-i Daniş” (Society of Scholars), which was founded in 1851 and known as the first Turkish science academy in the modern sense. TUBA is the single national academy in Turkey and it comprises all fields of sciences which are grouped under three categories namely a) basic and engineering sciences, b) health and life sciences, and c) social sciences and humanities. TUBA contributes to the promotion of sciences through its working groups, grants and awards, scientific reports and collaboration with sister academies in the world.
The Association of Academies and Societies of Sciences in Asia (AASSA) was established in 2012 through the merger of the Association of Academies of Sciences in Asia (AASA) and the Federation of Asian Scientific Academies and Societies (FASAS) to promote solidarity and cooperation among the scientific and technological academies in Asia and Australasia and to play a central role in cooperative efforts for further developing the region through science and technology. AASSA currently has a total of 34 member academies and societies representing 30 countries. It is one of the four Regional Networks of IAP, the Global Network of Science Academies.
Organizing Committee
Prof. Dr. Khairul Anuar bin Abdullah | Academy of Science Malaysia | The Association of Academies and Societies of Sciences in Asia
Prof. Dr. Muzaffer Şeker | Turkish Academy of Sciences
Prof. Dr. Ahmet Nuri Yurdusev | Turkish Academy of Sciences | The Association of Academies and Societies of Sciences in Asia
Prof. Dr. Yoo Hang Kim | Korean Academy of Science and Technology | The Association of Academies and Societies of Sciences in Asia
Prof. Dr. Mehmet Bulut | İstanbul Sabahattin Zaim University
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cem Korkut | Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University
International Advisory Board
Prof. Dr. Ahmet Cevat Acar | TÜBA Principal Member | İstanbul University
Prof. Dr. Mustafa Acar | TÜBA Principal Member | Konya Necmettin Erbakan University
Prof. Dr. Viktor Bogatov | Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Prof. Dr. Satryo Soemantri Brodjonegoro | Indonesian Academy of Sciences
Prof. Dr. Mehmet Bulut | TÜBA Principal Member | İstanbul Sabahattin Zaim University
Prof. Dr. AK Azad Chowdhury | Bnagladesh Academy of Sciences
Prof. Dr. Gülfettin Çelik | TÜBA Principal Member | İstanbul Medeniyet University
Prof. Dr. Nazım Ekren | TÜBA Principal Member | İstanbul Commerce University
Prof. Dr. Bayram Zafer Erdoğan | TÜBA Associate Member | Anadolu University
Prof. Dr. Naci Gündoğan | TÜBA Principal Member | Anadolu University
Prof. Dr. Zarinah Hamid | International Islamic University Malaysia
Prof. Dr. Tasawar Hayat | Pakistan Academy of Science
Prof. Dr. Muhsin Kar | TÜBA Principal Member | Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University
Prof. Dr. Erdal Tanas Karagöl | TÜBA Associate Member | Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University
Prof. Dr. Tariqullah Khan | İstanbul Sabahattin Zaim University
Prof. Dr. Halit Keskin | TÜBA Principal Member | Yıldız Technical University
Prof. Dr. Muammer Koç | Hamad bin Khalifa University
Prof. Dr. Mooha Lee | The Korean Academy of Science and Technology
Prof. Dr. Marcia McKenzie | University of Saskatchewan
Prof. Dr. Olanrewaju Olaniyan | University of Ibadan
Prof. Dr. Angelo Riccaboni | University of Siena
Prof. Dr. Jeffrey Sachs | Columbia University | United Nations – The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
Prof. Dr. Abbas Shakeri | Allameh Tabataba’i University
Prof. Dr. Ahmet Tabakoğlu | TÜBA Principal Member | İstanbul Sabahattin Zaim University
Prof. Dr. Supawan Tantayanon | The Science Society of Thailand under the Patronage of His Majesty the King
Prof. Dr. Ekrem Tatoğlu | TÜBA Principal Member | İbn Haldun University
Prof. Dr. Halit Yanıkkaya | TÜBA Associate Member | Gebze Technical University
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Benaouda Bensaid | İstanbul Sabahattin Zaim University
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Padraig Carmody | Trinity College Dublin
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rev. Daniel G. Groody | University of Notre Dame
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cem Korkut | Advisor to TÜBA President | Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Burhan Uluyol | İstanbul Sabahattin Zaim University
Asst. Lect. Raya Idrissa Ahmada | The State University of Zanzibar
Contact
For your inquires and questions (including submissions), please contact the Conference Secretariat at sos@tuba.gov.tr
For further inquires:
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cem Korkut
cem.korkut@tuba.gov.tr
+90 312 442 29 03 | 245