Accountability and Human Rights:
ESRC Research Seminar Series
One-day Symposium hosted by: CSEAR, Centre for Applied Ethics &
Legal Philosophy,
University of Glasgow and ESRC
September 1st 2009, 9.15am - 5.00pm
The Gateway, University of St Andrews
Background
2008 marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the publication of the
Ruggie Report - "Protect, Respect and Remedy: a Framework for Business and Human Rights" (http://www.business-humanrights.org/ Links/Repository/965591). Increasing demands for and commitment
to corporate respect for human rights are reflected in political initiatives such as the United Nations Global Compact
programme (http://www.unglobalcompact.org/) and the work of nongovernmental organisations including Human Rights Watch (http://www.hrw.org/) and Amnesty International (http://www.amnesty.org.uk/).
This symposium is one of the ESRC Research Seminar series being run in 2008 - 09 under the main tite of
"'When worlds collide': Contested paradigms of corporate social responsibility". This symposium on Accountability and Human Rights is being organised by CSEAR together with colleagues Ken McPhail and
John McKernan from the Centre for Applied Ethics and Legal Philosophy, at the University of Glasgow. The intention is to help us understand what such matters as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
and a
respect for human rights means for accounting, finance and management. The particular focus of this one day symposium will be
on business ethics, accountability and human rights within the broad areas of business corporations, shareholder investment and organisational accountability.
We are delighted that the following speakers will be attending:-
- Professor Miller, Chair of The Scottish Commission for Human Rights, (www.scottishhumanrights.com).
- Peter Frankental, Director of the Economic Relations Programme of Amnesty International UK. He has previously worked as a business analyst, as a systems analyst within the UK National Health Service and
has worked in the fields of community development and inner-city regeneration. Peter is co-author of ‘Human rights – is it any of your business?’, a management primer on human rights jointly published in April 2000 by Amnesty International and the International Business Leaders Forum. He is also co-author
of the report, ‘Business and Human Rights: A geography of corporate risk’. (www.amnesty.org and see also the Corporate Responsibility (CORE) coalition's website at http://www.corporate-responsibility.org)
The programme will include a number of invited plenary speakers but most of the day will be concerned with a
series of parallel workshop streams covering a range of related topics with two conveners for each session. It is hoped that each parallel stream will provide some key feedback to enable a conference conclusions to be
prepared following the day’s activities
Details of other invited speakers and workshop topic areas will be announced later in the year.
If you would like to be kept informed about this one day event please email the CSEAR office. There will be
nominal charge for the day
but it is anticipated that sponsorship will enable support to be provided for some PhD students to attend the day.
21st International Congress on Social and Environmental Accounting Research: (The CSEAR Summer School)
September 2nd - 4th 2009
The Gateway, University of St Andrews
(Held after one-day Symposium on Accountability and Human Rights 1st September 2009)
Introduction
The 2009 Annual Conference of the Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research (CSEAR)[1] will be held at the University of St Andrews[2] from the 2nd – 4th September 2009. The Conference is a deliberately informal gathering of researchers, teachers, students and practitioners concerned with social and environmental accounting, teaching, practice and research in the very widest sense. Attendees include academics, practitioners
and doctoral students at all levels of experience, worldwide who are involved with all aspects of social, environmental and sustainability accounting, reporting, theory and practice. The emphasis is placed upon a high
level of interaction, discussion and debate in a friendly, supportive and relaxed atmosphere.
The programme will include invited plenary speakers plus a series of parallel paper presentations and parallel workshop streams; research methods session and a practitioner’s forum. The main keynote speaker this year
will be Professor Robin Roberts, from the University of Central Florida, USA – others speakers to be announced.
Program
| 1st September 2009: | Accountability and Human Rights: One Day Symposium: Seminar 4 of the ESRC Research Seminar Series |
| Evening of 1st Sept 2009: | Informal Dinner at Restaurant in St Andrews |
| 2nd September 2009: | CSEAR Registration from 9am Welcome to CSEAR Annual Congress Research Methods and Master Classes Parallel Plenary Sessions and Workshop Sessions Meeting of the 3rd CSEAR Executive Council[3] |
| 3rd September 2009: | Parallel Plenary Sessions and Workshop Sessions Plenary Speaker: Robin Roberts Meeting of the 3rd SEAJ Executive Editorial Board |
| 4th September 2009: | Practitioner Workshop Conference close 2pm. Lunch provided. |
This conference will be preceded by a one day symposium on Accountability and Human Rights, co-hosted by CSEAR, the Centre for Applied Ethics & Legal Philosophy, University of Glasgow and the ESRC. This symposium will be held on 1st September 2009, also at the School of Management, the University of St Andrews.
For additional information about the symposium email: csear@st-andrews.ac.uk
Wednesday 2nd September 2009 - morning
Registration available from 9.00am
Research Methods Workshop & Master Classes
The Conference will open with a half-day Research Methods Workshop. This normally comprises of a combination of lectures and small group sessions covering all aspects of the research and publication process. The topics covered are determined by attendees’ preferences - If you have not received the form on which to
express your preferences or you have not submitted your form please contact the CSEAR office
by e-mail to have this form sent to you. (If you feel that your level of research expertise is beyond that assumed
for a research/doctoral colloquium then please attend and share your expertise and help with the small group sessions).
Following the success of last year’s `Master Classes’ which followed morning tea as part of the Research Methods Workshop, this option will be continued. Currently four Master Classes are planned, with final details available later in the year. Provisionally the topics of these classes will be:
- Sustainable Development: Jan Bebbington and Ian Thomson Prosperity without growth?
Download pdf at: http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/ which should be read prior to class; - Finance and Social and Environmental Issues: Richard Taffler and Andreas Hoepner;
- Research Methods 1: Rob Gray
- Research Methods 2.
Wednesday 2nd September 2009 - afternoon
Parallel Sessions
Call for Papers: Parallel Plenary Sessions and Workshop Sessions
There are two types of parallel session planned for this conference – parallel plenary sessions which include a presentation with a full paper available and workshop sessions which are run for a shorter time period and may include for example PhD outlines; details of the beginnings
of research projects which are still at the development stage for comment etc etc. Both are based on small group sessions. All sessions will be lively and interactive with parallel plenary sessions having one chair and workshop sessions
having two co-chairs.
Paper Titles and Abstracts (50-100 words) are currently invited for parallel paper presentations and workshop sessions. Please email the CSEAR Office for any further details.
The Conference programme will be organised and finalised later in the year, and further information about delegate presentations, will be available then. Some of the titles of papers that have been offered so far are:
- Determinants of voluntary social and environmental disclosures: A research note
- Building legitimacy: A discursive perspective on a controversial case study
- What counts as `Theories’ in academic social and environmental accounting research? A literature review
on corporate social and environmental disclosures - Governmental guidance and voluntary environmental disclosure in standalone reports: An analysis of differences across South Korean and U.S. companies
- Carbon in the public service
- Environmental accounting: Environmental rights and liabilities translated into the annual accounts of Belgian firms
- Does (or can) Confucianism inform social and environmental accounting and reporting in China?
- The use (and misuse) of graphs in sustainability reports: an international comparison
- Corporate Social Responsibility Governance Practices and Stakeholder Engagement
in Corporate Social Responsibility Reports - Engagement in SER: Experiments and theoretical frameworks
- Institutionalization of SER: a narrative from an Italian case study
- Internal Determinants of CSR Reporting
A number of other delegates have also offered papers, but details of the full title of their papers are still awaited.
Thursday 3rd September - morning
Plenary Sessions and Parallel Workshops
Further parallel sessions and workshops will be held on Thursday, plus an invited speaker plenary session. We are delighted that Professor Robin Roberts, (Director and Burnett Eminent Scholar, Kenneth G. Dixon School of Accounting, College of Business Administration, University of Central Florida, USA) has agreed to present one of the plenary presentations and he will be focusing on social accounting.
Friday 4th September - morning
Practitioners’ Forum
Each CSEAR conference includes a half-day practitioners’ forum, which allows practitioners and academics to consider and debate areas of current interest. This section of the conference will take place on Friday morning and this year we are exploring the topic of Carbon Footprints and Accounting. Two speakers have been approached and further details will be made available later in the year.
Conference Housekeeping
Accommodation Arrangements
En-suite accommodation is available from Monday 31st August 2009 at a University Hall – New Hall – which is on the same campus as where the conference will be held. For those delegates arriving on the Monday an evening meal is available at New Hall if booked in advance.
Accommodation for longer periods before and after the conference is available both at New Hall and also in University self catering facilities at David Russell Hall. Accompanying partners are also welcome; with both double and family rooms available if booked in advance. Please contact us for further details and charges.
On the Tuesday evening prior to the start of the CSEAR conference all delegates – residential and day delegates - are invited to meet for dinner at a restaurant in St Andrews. Further details of location and menu will be available later in the year. For those delegates who prefer to eat at New Hall on the Tuesday, this will also be available.
Please see Registration Form to book accommodation.
How Much
The full residential conference fee will be UK£300 for CSEAR members (UK£390 for non-members). This charge covers the cost of the conference, meals and refreshments including single en-suite accommodation on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, plus meals and refreshments until 2pm on Friday. (All accommodation is available in en-suite rooms.)
Please note that the conference fee does not cover Bed and Breakfast accommodation for the Monday and/or Tuesday evening - this requires additional booking. The charge for B&B accommodation is £45 Bed and Breakfast rate per night.
A Day Delegate Conference Package is also available including evening meals on Wednesday and Thursday – at UK£190 for CSEAR members and UK£280 for non-members. Please see the conference registration form.
Delegates who are attending the one day Symposium on 1st September will also be able to add this charge to their account for their stay in St Andrews.
ACCA Bursaries for Attendance by PhD Students
We are delighted that the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants is providing additional conference sponsorship, and bursaries are available for a number of full-time PhD students to cover conference registration. Complete the registration form and provide additional information explaining why you are a deserving case, and return to the CSEAR office. Please note the discount relates to the cost of the conference but not to any travelling expenses, and is available only to deserving cases who are also CSEAR members and who will be presenting a conference paper.
For Conference Registration [4] [5] [6]
Please complete the Registration Form and e-mail it to the CSEAR office. We will then contact you by email to confirm that your place and accommodation is booked. Please note do not assume you have a place/accommodation booked without receiving prior email confirmation from CSEAR. A waiting list system may be operated if demand exceeds places available.
Method of Payment
- An on-line E-commerce system will be available shortly at the CSEAR website for those delegates wishing to pay by credit or debit card. A link into this system will be shown on this conference web page
- Payment can be made by cheque which should be made out to `St. Andrews University’.
- Payment is available via the BACS system, and
- Using an invoice is also available just get in touch with us to arrange this.
For CSEAR members attending this event the residential delegate rate is £300; or £190 as a day delegate. This Conference has also been generously sponsored by the ACCA, and bursaries are available for a number of full-time PhD students who are presenting at the conference, covering the full cost of the congress. (See notes above)
Accommodation is also available before and after the event at £45 Bed and Breakfast rate per night. Accompanying partners are welcome
email us for further information.
If you would like to take part either by attending, and/or presenting a paper please complete the Registration form and email it to us.
Please get in touch if you would like this form sent to you.
Conference information and related sites
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~csearweb/conferencesnews/
Copy of Conference Programme 2008
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~csearweb/conferencesnews/prevsschool/ConfProgSeptember2008.pdf
Any further enquiries and submissions should be sent to Sue Gray
Email: csear@st-andrews.ac.uk
For Any Further General Information, please contact
The Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research (CSEAR),
School of Management, The Gateway, University of St Andrews ,
North Haugh, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9SS, Scotland
Tel: +44 (0) 1334 462805 Fax: +44 (0) 1334 462812
Email: csear@st-andrews.ac.uk URL: www.st-andrews.ac.uk/management/csear
Useful Websites
ACCA:
www.accaglobal.com
New Hall, University of St Andrews:
http://www.discoverstandrews.com/
How to find the University of St Andrews, including maps:
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/getting.shtml
Information about St Andrews:
http://www.standrews.co.uk/
http://www.visit-standrews.co.uk/
Other Travel Information: (air) http://www.baa.co.uk
(rail) http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
Information about Scotland: http://www.visitscotland.com
[1] CSEAR is based at the School of Management, St Andrews University, Scotland. More details about the Centre can be found at www.st-andrews.ac.uk/management/csear
[2] This conference will be held at the School of Management for the conference sessions and New Hall for the residential accommodation.
[3] All CSEAR members are requested to take an interest in both of these meetings.
[4] If the University of St Andrews adopts a cancellation charge policy – CSEAR reluctantly reserves the right to recover any costs incurred by last minute cancellations.
[5] For further details about accommodation facilities see http://www.discoverstandrews.com/
[6] Please note under the UK’s Data Protection Act 1984, details of conference delegates are kept on a computer database.
Proposed Dates for the CSEAR UK 2010 Conference
1st Sept - 3rd September 2010
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