Tracking UPLB's role in green enterprise development : focus on business ventures that adopted UPLB- developed technologies
Professorial Chair Lecture
UPLB Centennial Professorial Chair Lecture
Place
Tamesis Hall, UPLB College of Forestry and Natural Resources
Date
4-23-2012
Abstract
Being green has become the trend on how the world has confronted pressing global environmental challenges. Many companies began to realize how inextricably linked their businesses were to the natural environment. This realization resulted in a shift towards achieving what is called the triple bottom line among business enterprises, which means simultaneously meeting the three requirements of sustainable business - financial benefits, natural world environment, and social advantages for employees and local community members.
UPLB has been at the forefront of environment, climate change and natural resources research. While it has adopted "UPLB leads Green" as its theme for its 2011 Loyalty Day celebration to highlight its commitment to resource sustainability and the protection of the environment, little has been made in terms of University wide programs to affirm such commitment. At the same time, UPLB has been increasing its competency in entrepreneurship education and technopreneurship. Many technologies were developed by UPLB which are ready or have been adopted for commercialization by the private sector, while academic programs are being strengthened to incorporate entrepreneurship as a core competency of UPLB graduates, including those pursuing technology-based programs.
We assert in this lecture that these twin efforts — environment and entrepreneurship - need not go separate ways. Further, we assert that UPLB's niche in environment makes it the rightful locus for green enterprise development, which results in businesses that are sustainable and do not negatively impact the environment, society and the economy through excessive carbon emission, waste generation, and reckless use of resources in the production and delivery of products and services. To pursue this, UPLB must ensure that the technologies that its scientists and experts develop will also pass the green criteria before these are disseminated for use. We have demonstrated in this paper, through a cursory review of the "greenness" of technologies generated by UPLB, that this can be done and that it would result in a positive assessment of available UPLB technologies. Our SWOT analysis showed where and how UPLB can start to pursue a university-wide "green" program, including providing leadership in green enterprise development and the pursuit of campus-based green tourism as its flagship venture, as component strategies. The proposed Green Tourism Program will showcase UPLB as a sustainable tourism destination while providing an opportunity to promote green enterprises development focusing on UPLB's traditional strengths in agriculture, forestry, biotechnology, forestry and environmental sciences. We have also put forward a set of recommendations that address policy issues, articulate the need for environmental leadership, and list institutional reforms and programs to make "green" a reality and not just a dream for UPLB.
Location
UPLB Main Library Special Collections Section (USCS)
College
College of Forestry and Natural Resources (CFNR)
Language
English
Recommended citation
Razal, Ramon A.; Calderon, Margaret M.; and Cereno, Roberto P., "Tracking UPLB's role in green enterprise development : focus on business ventures that adopted UPLB- developed technologies" (2012). Professorial Chair Lecture. 965.
https://www.ukdr.uplb.edu.ph/professorial_lectures/965
