Sustainable Food Laboratory

June 11-13, 2008 West Greenwich, Rhode Island

Build a community of value chain researchers and practitioners.

The Sustainable Food Lab, World Wildlife Fund, and Society for Organizational Learning offered a second opportunity for business and NGO leaders to develop knowledge about healthy value chains—ones that provide triple bottom line benefits for producers, the environment, and companies.  They presented several cases of innovation for discussion.  Peter Senge moderated the meeting.

Whether in the food, textiles, or energy industry, today’s businesses face similar challenges.  How do we source the materials we need while minimizing our impact on the environment and providing benefits to farmers and other actors in value chains?

 The Food Lab, WWF, and SoL convened a group of NGO and business leaders in 2007 to begin sharing what experience and research tells us about healthy value chains.  The 2008 meeting built on what we learned and continued to develop a community of practice that advances that work.

“By coming together from a number of industries,” says Peter Senge, “We can help each other see the systems in which we operate, both the realities we face and the opportunities before us.”

Meeting details 

There were two parts to this meeting. The first was a Meeting to discuss the tools and methods we need to develop as a community of practice for experienced practitioners. The second was the Healthy Value Chain Clinic  open to business and NGO leaders involved in creating sustainable value chains.