To the Gran Prize Officially established On December 12, 2012 by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hungary.

Annual prize awarded for outstandingly innovative solutions, papers and projects in response to the most pressing issues of our planet, in the field of environmental protection, sustainable development, design, medicine, health preservation and development and education.

The SCCH has taken into consideration that persons, students and student groups might not yet have official publications which can be evaluated by the professional associations invited to participate in the Gran Prize award process and on the judging panel of the Gran Prize. Having taken this into account and in accord with the professionals and associations participating in the judging panel of the Gran Prize, the Swedish Chamber of Commerce hereby announces an open call to entry to the Gran Prize Innovative Interdisciplinary Award, with the following conditions:

Entries will be judged with the participation with the persons appointed by the professional associations serving on the judging panel of the Gran Prize.

Deadline for entries : April 15, 2016

Entry requirements:

• Professional resume

• Exact description of the entry and it’s beneficial, in particular innovative aspects

• Maximum length : 10 pages, not including attachments

• Auxiliary documentation of the entry, relevant for the judging of the entry

GRAN PRIZE INNOVATIVE INTERDISCIPLINARY AWARD

Submission:

Please upload the applications to www.swedishchamber.hu (Gran Prize submission / pályázat feltöltése) in the following file formats: Word, Excel, pdf and jpeg.

Criterias of evaluation:

• Novelty ( innovative performance, original idea )

• Social responsibility

• Sustainability

• Environmental aspect

• Potential of economic utilization

• Technological aspect

Further information:

Tel: : +36 309/708/433

Email: swedishchamber@swedishchamber.hu

Web: www.swedishchamber.hu

The Board of Judges will shortlist 5 projects to the shortlist. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted and scheduled for an interview of 10 minutes.

The background and aims of the GRAN PRIZE Interdisciplinary Innovative Award established by the SWEDISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN HUNGARY

In October, the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hungary (SCCH) decided to establish a prize to stimulate innovative thinking aimed at improving the quality of life.

The SCCH chose a popular Swedish symbol, the pine tree, as the emblem of the prize. For most of the planet it represents Christmas as well as being a metaphor for Nature.

Ancient philosophers discussed happiness and living in harmony with nature and this aspiration is becoming vital to modern man.

GRAN in Swedish means pine tree, pointing to the characteristics of this award, as focused on sustainable development and environmental protection. The Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hungary’s aim with this prize is twofold, firstly to support and award outstanding innovative achievements and to facilitate GRAN PRIZE INNOVATIVE INTERDISCIPLINARY AWARD intercultural communication.

In the spirit of the open, consensus-based thinking that is such a vital part of Swedish society and with the aim of furthering Swedish-Hungarian cooperation, the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hungary has opened entry to the GRAN PRIZE to every progressive company and private person in Hungary.

DESCRIPTION OF THE GRAN PRIZE

The prize can be awarded to private persons, groups, companies, associations, organisations, institutions, students or student teams as decided by the judging panel of the GRAN PRIZE. The judging panel has the right to invite persons, associations and companies to submit applications for the competition.

The prize is in response to the most pressing issues of our planet, annually awarding outstanding, innovative solutions and projects in the area of environmental protection, sustainable development, design, medicine, health preservation and development, as well as education.

The members of the judging panel of the GRAN PRIZE might change from year to year, the permanent members being 3 directors from the SCCH. Members of faculty from institutions of higher education, as well as representatives of professional associations will form the judging panel of 2014. The SCCH announced to the press and public that it will set aside HUF 5 million from its capital to finance this innovative prize from the annually accrued interest, and it will invite other progressive decision makers and private individuals to participate with their sponsorship.

The annual award gala of the GRAN PRIZE will take place in May. The award will be in the shape of a pine tree, and it is currently being created by the Swedish artist, Anna Lundin. Each year, in the week following the award gala, the so called GRAN WEEK, the winner of the award will present the winning entry and members of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hungary will hold presentations for university students.

The 3rd year of the ‘Future Leaders’ Talent Program will start in January, 2016. We are looking forward to the nominations of our member companies. This year a guide helps the selection of the most appropriate candidate(s).

More information: http://bcsdh.hu/topics/future-leaders/

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The international conference entitled ‘Business that Changes the World’ is the highlight of the year-long celebration of the 15th anniversary of CSR partnership in Poland, conceived and initiated by the Responsible Business Forum (to read more about our organisation, please follow the link to the English version of our website: http://odpowiedzialnybiznes.pl/english/). This two-day event will take place on 20–21 October 2015 in the Praha cinema in Warsaw (see map). Invited participants include representatives of companies from Poland and Central and Eastern Europe, NGOs, public administration from Poland and other countries.

To register for the event, please go to:  odpowiedzialnybiznes.pl/konferencja2015/en/

Participation is free of charge. Registration is mandatory.

The first day will follow a classic conference format. As a special guest of the conference, we invited Prof. Guy Standing from the University of London, who coined the term ‘precariat’ and wrote a book entitled ‘The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class’. During two discussion panels specialists and practitioners will try to look at the development of CSR over the years. The first panel will be a round table for CEOs from various companies who will consider the benefits of CSR to business and the society to date. This will be followed by an expert panel, attended, among others, by Prof. Guy Standing and Prof. Jerzy Hausner (Deputy Prime Minister in 2003–2005, a government minister in 2001–2005, an economist, a lecturer at the Cracow University of Economics). The discussion will aim to provide critical reflection on CSR. The panels will be followed by a presentation of the most recent results of the ‘CSR Managers’ survey in Poland and similar research results for Central Europe. The studies were conducted in collaboration between the Responsible Business Forum, PBS (a research services provider) and Deloitte.

The second day is divided into three parallel sessions. The first one will be organised by the Responsible Business Forum, the second one by Ashoka Polska, whereas the third one will include film screenings. The guests of the session organised by the Responsible Business Forum will include inspiring speakers from the business community, organisations or NGOs who will talk about responsible business and sustainable development. This will provide conference participants with a starting point for an exchange of opinions.

Participation in the conference is free of charge. Participants are required to complete an online registration form available at http://odpowiedzialnybiznes.pl/konferencja2015/en/.  The number of attendees is limited.

Preliminary conference programme
‘Business that Changes the World’* 

DAY 1 (20 October, Tuesday), 9:30–5:00

10:00–10:30 Greeting speeches (RBF, Partners, administration representatives)

10:30–10:50 Keynote Speech

Professor Guy Standing, University of London

10:50–11:50 What has CSR given to business and society – Presidents of Boards round table

Confirmed participants:

• Marcelo Catalá, president of board, CEMEX;
• Janusz Gołębiowski, president of board, Henkel;
• Feliks Szyszkowiak, member of board, Bank Zachodni WBK;

Moderator:

• Michał Kobosko, journalist

11:50–12:10 Coffee Break

12:10–1:10 Expert Panel – Critical Reflection on CSR

Guests include:

• Prof. Guy Standing, University of London
• Prof. Jerzy Hausner – a Polish politician and economist,
• Kathryn Dovey – Tax Policy Analyst at OECD,
• Stefan Crets, executive director CSR Europe,
• Prof. Elżbieta Ziemacka-Mączyńska, president of board, Polish Economic Society (Polskie Towarzystwo Ekonomiczne),
• Sławomir Sierakowski, president of board and editor in chief, Political Critique (Krytyka Polityczna),
• Kamil Wyszkowski, general director, Global Impact Poland;

Moderator:

• Przemysław Pohrybieniuk, managing director, ACCA

1:10–1:40 Presentation of Jubilee Partners achievements in CSR

1:40–2:00 Coffee Break

2:00–3:05 Comparison of the conditions and factors determining the concept of CSR in Central and Eastern Europe

Research results presented by: Mirella Panek-Owsiańska, President of the Responsible Business Forum

Research results: CSR Managers – Poland

Research results: CSR Managers – CEE Deloitte

The ‘CSR Managers’ study is intended to provide a picture of Polish CSR managers and their view on corporate social responsibility in the contexts of various actions taken. The presentation will cover a similar study conducted in countries of Central Europe

3:05–3:20 Conference summary

3:20 Late lunch

Conference moderator:

• Michał Kobosko, journalist

DAY 2 (21 October, Wednesday) 9:00–1:00

Parallel sessions:

Session 1: Responsible Business Forum

Confirmed participants:

• Jean Pierre Gattuso, CNRS and University of Paris, scientific co-ordinator of the European Free Ocean Carbon Dioxide Enrichment Experiment, expert at the ‘Oceans 2015 Initiative’, invited by BGŻ BNP Paribas;
• Kamila Sidor, co-founder of Geek Girl Carrots in Poland;
• Łukasz Kaliciński, founder of NotJustShop, a clothing label from Cracow, based on the social business concept since the very beginning;
• Kamil Baj, founder of Pszczelarium, an organisation which monitors apiaries in cities to promote the idea of sustainable development in cities;
• Bartek Stodulski, founder of LaboratoriumEE, a Polish company designing innovative web solutions;
• prof. dr hab Andrzej Markowski, University of Warsaw;
• Łukasz Jadaś, expert on Internet and social media studies, Institute of Media Monitoring (Poland);

Session 2: Ashoka Polska

Debates and meetings with social entrepreneurs and business people in the context of innovative social solutions.

Session 3: CSR in Films

 * The programme will be updated and its most recent updates will be available from the organiser’s website: odpowiedzialnybiznes.pl.

The conference language will be Polish but organisers provide simultaneous interpreting into English. Free vegetarian meals and refreshments will be available for the participants during the event.

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International conference ‘Business that Changes the World’ support:

Organiser: Responsible Business Forum in Poland

Conference Partners: CEMEX Polska, Henkel, Totalizator Sportowy

Supporting Partners: Institute of Media Monitoring (Poland)

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The 15th anniversary of the CSR Partnership is the most important CSR jubilee in Poland in 2015. The aim of the celebration is to sum up the achievements and developments during the 15 years of CSR work which were enabled by co‑operation between many people, companies and institutions. The celebration of the 15th anniversary of the CSR Partnership has been initiated and organised by the Responsible Business Forum. The accompanying motto is: ‘Business that changes the world. People that change business’.

Main Partners: Bank Zachodni WBK, Polski Koncern Naftowy ORLEN

Partner: Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo

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Responsible Business Forum in Poland is the largest non-governmental organisation in Poland, and an NGO with the longest history of operation in the country (15 years). It approaches the idea of corporate social responsibility in a multifaceted way. The Forum is a think-and-do-tank, which promotes a responsible approach to business in a way which takes account of the environmental and social impacts. we inspire business that changes the world and provide a meeting place for people who change business. We promote sustainable development. To find more about us, please visit www.odpowiedzialnybiznes.pl/english/.

Irén Márta will take over the position of Managing Director of the Business Council for Sustainable Development in Hungary from 15th October.

The new leader will take over this task from Ida Petrik, with whom BCSDH has been through significant development.

During Ida’s tenure as Managing Director the number of member companies rose to 70, and moreover, the organisation became an important player in the field of sustainable business solutions in Hungary. Ida Petrik is carrying her third child and would like to spend the next two years with her family.

Irén Márta is an economist and communications expert who has supported the Business Council’s work as an Executive Board Member for more than six years. She has played a major role in several of the Council’s programs, including the elaboration of the Leaders’ Recommendations (concerning the principles of sustainable leadership) and the launch of the International Vision 2050 program in Hungary.

Her professional work in disseminating the principles of sustainable construction in Hungary was recognised with two prominent, international awards in 2011: the Sabre Award and the European Excellence Award.

The primary objective of the new leader is to further promote our successul, pre-existing programs (namely, Action 2020 and the Future Leader program) with the involvement of members, and further develop the organization itself.

Another of her important objectives, beside promoting the ’good practices’ of the parent organization of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in Hungary, is to involve members in the programs of the central body.

She considers the deeper engagement of the organisation in the sustainable development-supporting regulatory environment to be extremely important.