RISC Academic Team Meets in Bangladesh

In February, the RISC academic team travelled to Dhaka, Bangladesh for work on the Regulation of International Supply Chains (RISC) project. This included Jeremy Moon and Erin Leitheiser, as well as project partner Jette Steen Knudsen of Tufts University. Over the course of the two weeks, the team held numerous events in addition to having lots of project work time together.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Student workshop on CSR and Supply Chains – more than 70 bachelors students in supply chain management attended this voluntary class (and just a week before exams!). Jeremy Moon lectured about CSR and Jette Steen Knudsen about global supply chains, while Erin Leitheiser facilitated a case study exercise about labor standards and buyer-supplier dynamics.  The session ended with a presentation from DBL – one of Bangladesh’s most sustainable suppliers – about their work to further sustainability in their factories which employ more than 35,000 workers.

• Faculty workshop on Grant Writing and Paper Development – Faculty from BRAC University Business School attended a workshop by Jeremy Moon about how write successful research grants and develop papers for publication in high-quality outlets.  The feedback from this session was so positive that the RISC team will offer a follow-up session during the team’s next visit.

• Consultation workshops with stakeholders – the RISC team held two consultation workshops to share information about the project’s work to-date, and to solicit feedback to help guide the project ahead.  The first meeting was held with representative of major civil society organisations in Bangladesh, and included Save the Children, Oxfam, Centre for Policy Dialogue Bangladesh, Action Aid, Transparency International, 3F, and others from local organizations.  The second session targeted those working in practice-related positions and included representatives from the ILO, Tesco, Gap, suppliers, and relevant branches of the Bangladesh government.

• Meeting with the Vice Chancellor of BRAC University – the RISC project leaders met with the university’s top leader to discuss the RISC project and BRAC University’s goals for internationalization.