Webcast now availabe! Enhanced spaces for stakeholder participation and access to information through mHRDD

On April 26th Professor Martin-Ortega participated in the exciting discussion organised by the Raoul Wallenberg Institute on THE MOMENTUM FOR mHRDD IN THE EU. The webminar was the first one of a series that explores With this Webinar series RWI brings together experts to discuss the EU announcement that it would adopt a Directive on mandatory human rights due diligence (mHRDD) for companies. This decision, motivated by the need to prevent human rights abuses, as well as environmental harm, has taken many by surprise. The text has not been adopted yet, but the European Parliament approved a resolution on 10 March 2021 which includes recommendations to the Commission. The webminar series discusses the initiative to address human rights due diligence through a new where this initiative is coming from, what it is likely to lead to, and what are the limits of due diligence as a tool to protect human rights in global supply chains.

Olga discussed enhanced spaces for stakeholder participation and access to information through mHRDD and the potential for the EU initiative to address corporate transparency and due diligence from a human rights approach and cristalise a right to know for all stakeholders impacted by corporate abuse.

Webcast available here and on the RWI On Human Rights podcast. The participants for this first Webminar were: Chair: Malin Oud (Raoul Wallenberg Institute); Radu Mares (Raoul Wallenberg Institute) – EU’s CSR journey from voluntarism to mHRDD; Cecilia Ekholm (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) – Why Sweden supports mHRDD and where does this law fit in the ‘smart mix of measures’ on Responsible Business Conduct; Olga Martin-Ortega (University of Greenwich) – Enhanced spaces for stakeholder participation and access to information through mHRDD; Greg Priest (Head of Social Impact and Human Rights at Inter IKEA Group) – How do companies reason about this new EU Directive and why some companies came publicly in support of mHRDD.

EU Horizion 2020 Marie Sktodowska-Curie Actions Funding awarded to BHRE

Professor Olga Martin-Ortega leads the project on sustainable public procurement and the Business, Human Right and the Environment Research Group (BHRE), which is one of the leading centres of research on socially responsible public procurement in the UK and Europe.

The project, called SAPIENS -Sustainability and Procurement in International, European, and National Systems- has been awarded with €3.9 million. and combines 10 universities from 8 countries. The network is an interdisciplinary collaboration, pooling world-leading researchers from relevant disciplines of law, economics and business studies from European Universities. Moreover, 18 partners, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organisation, George Washington University, Fair Trade Advocacy Office, Electronics Watch and Eating City, as well as national agencies and public purchasers are contributing to the training programme. The project will fully fund one Early Stage Researcher who will be primarily based at Greenwich developing her research under the supervision of Professor Martin-Ortega and another ESR who will be co-supervised by her and based at the University of Turin.

SAPIENS aims to significantly increase European knowledge base and research capacity on the law, the economics and the business sciences of sustainable public procurement, thus helping Europe in addressing social and environmental challenges. At the heart of the project are 15 PhD projects on various multidisciplinary aspects of Sustainable Public Procurement linked to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The project will also produce significant research results in law, economics, business studies and social science, make them openly available, facilitate the utilisation of that knowledge by policymakers, think tanks, business, and the legal and other professions, and to train a uniquely qualified cohort with professional prospects inside but also beyond academia.

This award confirms the leadership of the University of Greenwich in the field of sustainable public procurement research and will also allow us to grow our team and our European network to advance our research and knowledge transfer activities. We are looking forward to working together to advance the Sustainable Development Goals and make public procurement a force for change in public supply chains.

Research and development project launch: DATUM

Research and Development Project Launch: Datum

DATUM is a research and development project of a collaborative multi-player locative game experience for Shopping Centres. The game aims to promote ethical consumption by supporting the re-opening of sustainable commerce. It explores and engages players in mindful consumption behaviours through small data mining activities following audio prompts on your mobile.

The Business, Human Rights and Environment Research Group, alongside Law, Emerging Tech and Science Lab (LETS Lab) is proud to exchange its knowledge and collaborate on the components required to create a mobile augmented reality (AR). Our focus is on encouraging ethical consumer behaviour through nudging the consumer part of corporate human rights due diligence and technology as a tool to modify behavioural patterns.

DATUM is created and produced by ZU-UK, body\>data\>space and University of Greenwich, with support from the Innovate UK Sustainable Innovation Fund: Round 1 (Temporary Framework) 2020. This project is partnered with CLEI – Co-creating Liveness in Embodied Immersion, BHRE and LETS Lab Research Groups at the University of Greenwich.