LIST OF PANELS

This panel aims to analyse the key research, practical and policy/governance issues related to the promotion of business roles in peace and sustainability, in the context of planetary resource limits and overconsumption. Business (small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), social entrepreneurs and corporations), is perceived as an important partner in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and increasingly in peace efforts. The ‘Business for Peace’ (B4P) field (or Peace Through Commerce, Entrepreneurship for Peace) analyses business implementation of conflict-sensitive business practices (do-no-harm approach) (International Alert 2005), and support for structural peacebuilding (e.g. creating jobs, supporting good governance) and peacemaking (e.g. contributing to conflict resolution, social cohesion) (Miklian et al. 2018; Ford 2015). B4P supports SDG 16: peace, justice and strong institutions. B4P is increasingly considered in relation to Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) (Sharland, Grice and Zeiger 2017), and new areas such as renewable energy technology development (Ralph and Hancock 2018). Business links to inter-faith/cultural understanding are also explored (Global Compact and UN Alliance of Civilizations 2009).

The key research question is: what are the public and private policy and governance requirements for facilitating best-practice Business for Peace initiatives and networks at the local, national and international levels? Further, how do we responsibly take this B4P agenda forward while avoiding the promotion of corporate power and interests, and a global political economy which ignores significant challenges from the centrality of economic growth and consumerism overstepping planetary resource limits? Can we hypothesise that with greater support, employees and owners in SMEs and social enterprises (as well as corporations) could contribute more to local peace, social cohesion and sustainability efforts (Ismail and Nusrat 2014; Banfield, Gündüz and Killick 2006)? And finally, that the different contributions of various sectors and types/sizes of business could be better understood, and targeted towards local needs, revealing more innovative approaches aligned to each firm’s strengths?

References

Banfield, J., C. Gündüz, N. Killick (2006). Local Business, Local Peace: the Peacebuilding Potential of the Domestic Private Sector, London: International Alert.
Ford, J. (2015) Perspectives on the Evolving “Business and Peace” Debate, Academy of Management Perspectives 29, 4, 451–460.

Global Compact, UN Alliance of Civilizations (2009) Doing Business in a Multicultural World, New York, https://www.unglobalcompact.org/docs/news_events/9.1_news_archives/2009_04_07/DBMW_Final_Web.pdf.

International Alert (2005) Conflict-sensitive Business Practice: Guidance for Extractive Industries, London: International Alert.

Ismail, O., R. Nusrat (2014) Exploring the potential of the private sector to contribute to peacebuilding in Pakistan, London: International Alert.

Miklian, J., P. Schouten, C. Horst, Ø.H. Rolandsen (2018) Business and Peacebuilding: Seven Ways to Maximize Positive Impact, Oslo: PRIO.

Ralph, N., L. Hancock (2018) Exploring the Role of Alternative Energy Corporations in Ethical Supply Chains and Corporate Peacebuilding, Global Governance 24: 81-102.

Sharland, L, T. Grice, S. Zeiger (2017) Preventing and countering violent extremism in Africa: The role of the mining sector, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Australia.

Business (small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), social entrepreneurs and corporations), is perceived as an important partner in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and increasingly in peace efforts. The ‘Business for Peace’ (B4P) field (or Peace Through Commerce, Entrepreneurship for Peace) analyses business implementation of conflict-sensitive business practices (do-no-harm approach), and support for structural peacebuilding (e.g. creating jobs, supporting good governance) and peacemaking (e.g. contributing to conflict resolution, social cohesion). B4P supports SDG 16: peace, justice and strong institutions. B4P is increasingly considered in relation to Countering Violent Extremism (CVE), and new areas such as renewable energy technology development. Business links to inter-faith/cultural understanding are also explored. We invite papers which analyse the key research, practical and policy/governance issues related to the promotion of business roles in peace and sustainability, in the context of planetary resource limits and overconsumption. The key research question is: what are the public and private policy and governance requirements for facilitating best-practice Business for Peace initiatives and networks at the local, national and international levels? Further, how do we responsibly take this B4P agenda forward while avoiding the promotion of corporate power and interests, and a global political economy which ignores significant challenges from the centrality of economic growth and consumerism overstepping planetary resource limits? We invite papers that consider these issues and related issues including (although not limited to) increasing support for SMEs and social enterprises (as well as corporations) to contribute to local peace, social cohesion and sustainability efforts; identifying the different contributions of various sectors and types/sizes of business to enable better targeting towards local needs and more innovative approaches reflecting each firm’s strengths; the SDGs; global challenges such as renewable energy and climate change; and cross-disciplinary work with CVE scholarship.