Centers and Institutes

Bernard L. Schwartz presents the keynote address on effective communication with Provost David P. Christy at the 14th Annual Symposium on Communication and Communication-Intensive Instruction hosted by the Bernard L. Schwartz Communication Institute.

Key authors of ISO 55000 will introduce this new global language of asset management to the real estate and infrastructure communities.

The Gowanus Canal, a nearly two mile body of water in Brooklyn, is one of the most polluted sites in New York City. In 2010 the Canal was placed on the EPA’s Superfund Priorities List. With this designation, the EPA can compel parties responsible for the pollution to pay for the Canal’s cleanup. Holding the appropriate parties responsible, however, is not a simple matter.

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The Canal has been the entryway for contaminants almost continuously since the nineteenth century. Determining which entities – factories, shippers, New York City itself – caused harm and determining their proportion of liability is almost impossible decades after the event. Indeed, many of the original polluters are companies that no longer exist. Nonetheless, the EPA is in the process of identifying “potentially responsible parties” and is prepared to bring legal action to force them to pay their share of the cleanup.

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The EPA’s actions raise a number of compelling legal, ethical and policy issues regarding our approach to the restoration of polluted public areas. br /br /In this program, the panel addresses the question of who should pay for the Gowanus Canal cleanup.

Three basic options have been articulated in how to confront climate change: mitigate, adapt, suffer. For approximately the last two decades, the emphasis has been on sustainability, which principally has a mitigation focus. The emerging scientific consensus is that the window to avoid unmanageable climate impacts is rapidly closing; therefore, additional attention must be paid to the adaptation option. br /br /

Resilience, as a concept and term, has received a great deal of attention since Superstorm Sandy pounded the New York metropolitan area. Indeed, months after the event large tracts of area still look like disaster zones and thousands of people continue without energy or water and, in many cases, homes. Resilience addresses both mitigation and adaptability, while at the same time addressing minimization of, or relief from, economic and social suffering. As the functional realities of the weather impacts of accelerating climate change become more apparent, resilience increasingly seems to be an appropriate replacement concept for sustainability as an organizing principle for urban planning and growth.br /br /

This panel discussion focuses on the economic challenges, opportunities, and pathways to creating urban regions that are more resilient physically, socially, and economically. In a dynamic and multifaceted way, diverse experts address the key economic problems, discuss potential economic solutions, and the potential pathways that can bridge these problems and solutions. Using the New York metropolitan region as a case study, the goal of this high-level meeting is to focus on the costs and benefits of remaking our urban built and natural environments into areas that can effectively confront a future of a new normal.

Nonprofits stand little chance of receiving funding, having their voices heard, and creating impacts with the communities they serve without excellent communication strategies. br /br /

Drawing upon the expertise of communication practitioners whose work covers public relations, campaign development, advertising and promotions, social media, and the applications of new mobile technologies for public causes, the panel explores questions about what’s new and what should be done by nonprofits seeking to improve their communication strategies.

At the 2014 Symposium on Corporate Reputation, panelists discuss the stability of the global financial and commercial markets, and the confluence of factors that pose risks and opportunities for corporate performance and reputation. Panelists also talk about the unique perspective corporate communication professionals can provide when counseling corporations on these issues, and the role and strategic thinking they should adopt when doing so five years after the financial meltdown.

At the 2014 Symposium on Corporate Reputation, panelists discuss the stability of the global financial and commercial markets, and the confluence of factors that pose risks and opportunities for corporate performance and reputation. Panelists also talk about the unique perspective corporate communication professionals can provide when counseling corporations on these issues, and the role and strategic thinking they should adopt when doing so five years after the financial meltdown.

Income inequality is the topic of the day globally, throughout the nation and in New York City. The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks 2014 report notes that “Widening gaps between the richest and poorest citizens threaten social and political stability as well as economic development.” In his 2014 State of the Union address, President Obama said “…corporate profits and stock prices have rarely been higher, and those at the top have never done better. But average wages have barely budged. Inequality has deepened.” Here in New York City, Mayor de Blasio was elected in large-part due to his criticism of “the two New Yorks” and his promises to work to combat the increasing income disparity in this city.br /br /

What will it take to turn de Blasio’s rhetoric into reality? Can he substantially improve life in New York City for the nearly 2 million residents living below the poverty line? Can he protect and restore the disappearing middle class? Can the Mayor accomplish all of this without alienating Wall Street and other industries crucial to the city’s economy? Can he keep the city solvent and avoid a repeat of the catastrophic budget failures that have plagued the city’s past? The Sustainability Practice Network and Baruch College’s Robert Zicklin Center for Corporate Integrity convene a panel to address these questions and more.

Dean Starkman, editor and Kingsford Capital Fellow of the Columbia Journalism Review talks about his new book, “The Watchdog that Didn’t Bark: The Financial Crisis and the Disappearance of Investigative Reporting.” Mr. Starkman focuses on why he feels mainstream journalists missed the looming financial crisis and failed in their investigative abilities to alert the public. He discusses about how financial journalism can regain its status as the public watchdog.

Larry Doyle speaks on the close relationship between Wall Street and its regulators, and their effects on the global economy.