On October 20-23, BSR (Business for Social Responsibility) convened an extensive group of professionals from multinational corporations, consultancies, NGOs, and governments at its annual conference, titled “Reset Economy. Reset World.”

While discussions among the 1,000 participants – in both formal sessions and during networking – volleyed among aspirations for the future, case studies from the present, and criticisms of some existing practices and perceptions, one particularly thought-provoking conversation took place on Wednesday morning.

Ernst Ligteringen, CEO of the Global Reporting Initiative (and a past BCLC speaker), and Ricardo Young, Chairman of Ethos Institute, joined BSR President Aron Cramer in a forecast of sustainability issues in a “reset world.”

To summarize Young: The global economic crisis was a blessing, causing companies to rethink and reset their course. Going forward, transparency is needed and bold companies must lead.

And in summary of Ligteringen:  It is no longer “business as usual.” To lead in their industries, companies should take a systematic approach to seeking unusual partners and to creating dialogue between business and stakeholders.

One question to the panelists from moderator Cramer caught my ear: With so much attention on climate change, what issues are we not thinking about? The panelists suggested poverty reduction/bottom of the pyramid (BOP) issues, as well as ecological deficit, prior to delving into the question of whether today’s “incumbent” companies are the right ones to address them.

However, I’d like to add to the list of issues we need to pay attention to, as we, as a global community, continue to take measures to reduce our impact on the environment.

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While the battles continue to rage fiercely over headline issues such as health care, energy and financial system reform, the Obama Administration is also setting its priorities on policy and programs that don’t show up in the headlines every day, but are nonetheless important for the future development of our communities. 

When it comes to community and economic development, the Administration has so far jumped into the thicket of hundreds of federal programs (and more than $180 billion annually, funding everything from inner city community centers to revolving loan funds and rural broadband) with some well-established principles and a refreshing stated willingness to flip over the established order of some highly entrenched interests.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the early policy statements from the Administration (principally Adolfo Carrión Jr., the Director of Urban Policy Affairs in the White House) on these programs:

All Federal investments in community and economic development will be based on local planning undertaken on a regional basis.  There’s nothing radical or new in that principle, but most everyone recognizes by now that collaborative regional planning, unbounded by political jurisdiction, is the key to leverage economic and community development investments for most effective results.

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