The blog Canadian Conference Explores Transformational Collaboration for Systems Change was originally posted by Robyn Hall of Justmeans.

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The Natural Step Canada will be gathering sustainability leaders next week to learn about and experience the collaboration needed for transformational change. Over two hundred participants are expected in Guelph, Ontario from June 10 to 11 for the Accelerate: Collaborating for Sustainability Conference.

Why this conference now? According to Chad Park, Executive Director of The Natural Step Canada, "Many of us are used to addressing problems and issues at an organizational scale and do not have experience engaging diverse groups and being effective contributors to multi-stakeholder change processes." But he notes that "Most of the organizations we work with mention that they can only go so far on their sustainability journeys before they run up against barriers - policy, market, financial, and so on - that require them to work with organizations they are not used to working with."

Some of the experts who will be sharing their insights on effective collaboration include Dr. Karl-Henrik Robèrt, Founder of The Natural Step, Charmian Love, Chief Executive, Volans, Dr. Bryan Smith, Co-author, The Necessary Revolution: How Individuals and Organizations are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World, Kathy Bardswick, President & CEO, The Co-operators Group Ltd., and Bart Houlahan, Co-founder, B Lab. The full roster represents agreat group of Canadian and international sustainability leaders.

If you are in the area, Dr. Karl-Henrik Robèrt, Founder of The Natural Step will also be giving a free public lecture in Guelph on Monday, June 10 from 12:30 - 2pm.

Breakout sessions tackle some of the collaboration issues businesses face - building a vision, how to do multi-stakeholder collaboration, embedding sustainability in organizational culture and community-level engagement. Therewill also be opportunities to participate in collaboration through open space sessions and dialogues.

The conference presenting sponsor is Canadian sustainability leader The Co-operators.

The Natural Step Canada has over a decade of experience in helping organizations with sustainability advancement. It is part of the global organization The Natural Step, which uses a science-based framework for sustainable development.

For more information and registration information visit:
http://www.naturalstep.ca/accelerate-collaborating-for-sustainability-conference
Follow on #accelerateCFS2013

Written by: Robyn Hall