BURLINGTON, VT. April 28, 2009 - Imagine a new culture framed around quality of life not limitless growth and consumption. That is, arguably, a fair summary of the article, co-authored by Rachael Beddoe, UVM graduate student, Joshua Farley, an economist at the University of Vermont, Gund Institute director Robert Costanza, visiting scholar Norman Myers, and eight other members of a UVM course in the spring of 2008, "Overcoming Institutional Roadblocks to Sustainability."

Farley and Beddoe are the lead authors of a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that takes aim at traditional economic orthodoxies.

"We are facing a global crisis that requires that we change worldviews, institutions, and technologies - our sociological "regime" - in an integrated way," Beddoe says. In other words, the deepest threat is not a failure of banks, it's a failure of beliefs - and the ways those beliefs shape our institutions.

It is these types of innovative faculty and students who are converging at the University of Vermont to transform our systems. In an effort to create a place for business leaders to converge and reshape their beliefs based on the success of other sustainable businesses, the University of Vermont is offering an innovative week-long leadership program.

Sustainable Business: Practices in Support of People, Profits and Principles will convene in Burlington on July 6-10, 2009. Led by Jon D. Erikson, Fellow of the Gund Institute, the Sustainable Business program pairs socially responsible business leaders and UVM faculty for a well-balanced presentation of leading theories in and practical application of sustainability.

Key presenters include faculty from the University of Vermont's Gund Institute, the Rubenstein School of Natural Resources, School of Business Administration, a guest lecturer from the Netherlands, and professionals from businesses that include: Seventh Generation, NRG Systems, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, AHC Group, Inc., Gardener's Supply, Ben & Jerry's and more.

These innovative business owners have demonstrated that what works for the planet and for people also makes their businesses highly profitable.

For more information, visit the program's website: http://uvm.edu/sustainablebusiness. For questions regarding registration or fees, please call University of Vermont Continuing Education at (802) 656-2085 or toll free at (800) 639-3210.

University of Vermont, The

University of Vermont, The

Over the past decade, many leading businesses have applied the principles of environmental sustainability and social responsibility to "do the right thing" for the planet and for people and still remain highly profitable. The question is, "How?" Through this five-day, intensive summer program, you'll learn the design, organization and management principles and practices that make an enterprise sustainable and profitable. But even more importantly, you'll apply what you've learned. The spectacular summer setting of Burlington, Vermont - nestled on the shores of beautiful Lake Champlain and consistently ranked one of the nation's best cities for quality of life, the arts, and doing business - provides an ideal location for inspiration, insight, and immersion in creative thought led by recognized leaders in business and faculty at top-ranked University of Vermont. Like no other school, UVM leads the way in integrating green and environmentally responsible practices and has received numerous high rankings in ratings of green colleges by organizations that include Forbes Magazine, the Sustainable Endowment Institute, and Kaplan College Guide.

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