Dalhousie University and HSBC Bank Canada have announced a new five-year partnership to support environmental education efforts targeting both the academic and business community. The $125,000 gift will support two projects under the umbrella of Dalhousie’s Faculty of Management. This includes the creation of a new lecture series on Business and the Environment, and support for the ongoing operation of the Eco-Efficiency Centre.
The Eco-Efficiency Centre is a not-for-profit organization operating out of Burnside Industrial Park (one of Canada’s largest industrial parks) that assists small and medium-sized companies to achieve better environmental and economic performance. The Centre is a partnership between Dalhousie and governments, private corporations, and foundations. The Eco-Efficiency Centre has already achieved a national and international profile for its work in promoting research and action in relation to eco-efficiency and industrial ecology, especially in its application to industrial parks. The HSBC Bank Canada contribution will allow the Eco-Efficiency Centre to continue to expand its practice of offering practical information and hands-on experiences to businesses and assist them to take responsibility for the stewardship of the planet, an objective shared by the HSBC Bank Canada. It will also support students in meaningful work placements, and will expand research activities in the areas of eco-efficiency, pollution prevention, and industrial ecology.
“We are extremely pleased to be adding the HSBC Bank Canada as a corporate partner of the Eco-Efficiency Centre," notes the Centre’s Director, Professor Raymond Côté. “This sends a powerful message to small and medium-sized companies: that environmental management and environmental performance are important to financial institutions.”
The sponsorship money will also be used to promote the model of the Centre to other industrial parks and communities both in Canada and internationally. “One of our longer-term goals has been to facilitate the creation of other eco-efficiency centres on a local, national, and international level,” notes Professor Côté. “The Centre recently trained a manager from an industrial park in Indonesia and we’re seeing tremendous interest in programs to twin the Eco-Efficiency Centre with new centres being established in industrial estates in Asia.”
The Faculty of Management at Dalhousie will also create and name an interdisciplinary lecture series to recognize the investment by HSBC Bank Canada. The HSBC Bank Canada - Business and the Environment Lecture Series will provide an opportunity to attract high profile and knowledgeable speakers from the business world, academia and other influential organizations to Dalhousie and Halifax each year for the next five years. The lectures will attract students, faculty and people in the community to further engage the business community in a shift toward improved environmental and financial performance through stronger linkages with the university. This lecture series will be the only dedicated series of its kind on Canada’s East Coast.
“This environmental and educational initiative will further solidify the Faculty of Management’s reputation as one of the world’s premier schools,” says Abol Jalilvand, Dean of Dalhousie’s Faculty of Management. “This partnership between HSBC Bank Canada and Dalhousie University will reinforce the integrative management theme that has been applied throughout the Faculty of Management and strengthen the interdisciplinary and scholarly activities of the university. It will result in more opportunities for our students to be well-positioned as informed managers, and future leaders in their communities, and for Dalhousie University to continue its leadership in the promotion of the eco-efficiency business model. We see it as one more opportunity to add value for our students, faculty and the business community.”
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