About the Conference

The current developmental scenario envisages growth in a sustainable manner by transcending the principles of sustainability across different sectors. Innovation in entrepreneurship and management practices, leading towards the circular economy has come into currency among academia, industry, and policymakers with an over-arching objective of addressing environmental problems through trans-disciplinary research. Accordingly, there is a need to address the conceptual relationship among entrepreneurship, management, circular economy, and sustainability to understand the perceptions, opportunities, and challenges ahead. Sustainability is defined as the balanced integration of economic performance, social inclusiveness, and environmental resilience, to the benefit of current and future generations. The concept of sustainable economic development has its own continuous evolution in terms of defining dimensions. There is a need to emphasize reorientation of extant growth strategies, entrepreneurial models, management perspectives, and policy measures. To ensure a sustainable future, reconciling economic growth, social development, and conservation of the natural environment, better understanding of the global perception of sustainable development is important. Sustainable development is a multi-disciplinary process that encompasses all disciplines and topics such as science, innovation, technology, research and development, information technology and e-commerce, economic development, health, FDI and MNCs, international debt and aid, trade, politics, war, natural disasters, population growth, terrorism, and so on. Hence, sustainable development is not merely a concern of developing countries rather all countries, irrespective of their level of development, and current or past scientific and technological achievements. In 2015, world leaders agreed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, 17 goals to be achieved by 2030. These goals range from good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, decent work and economic growth, clean water, and sanitation. These goals are a catalyst for innovation and entrepreneurship across the planet, mobilising the ideas, and passion of young and old.

To bring about revolutionary changes, entrepreneurship needs to be boosted in a country like India making people (especially women) aware of sustainability issues at the nascent stage of their enterprises. New managerial capabilities, based on cooperation, knowledge sharing, innovation, business process reengineering, access to information through the web, and innovative communication technologies all need to be promoted to help prepare management for the “Enterprise 2.0” future as enterprise 2.0 structures produce, develop, and distribute goods and services using the latest innovations and open source principles. Green manufacturing research and applications aim at minimizing environmental damage and energy waste besides guaranteeing the quality and function of products and improving the profit of manufacturing enterprises. The circular economy is an emerging dimension that has attracted increasing research interest in the present-day scenario. It refers to the regenerative system in which resource input and waste, emission, and energy leakage is minimized by slowing, closing and narrowing material, and energy loops that can be achieved through long-lasting design, maintenance, repair, reuse, remanufacturing, refurbishing, and recycling. The International Conference on Ensuring a Sustainable Future: role of entrepreneurship, innovation in management practices, and circular economy, 2020 is keen to explore the dimensions of entrepreneurship, management practices, and the circular economy to ensure a sustainable future through creating awareness of the environment and stewardship. It is visualized that realization of stewardship roles will develop and strengthen the capacity of individuals, groups, communities, organizations, and countries to make judgements and choices in favor of sustainable development.

With the afore-mentioned conceptual understanding, the conference seeks to explore the following questions:

  1. What kind of business models, strategies, and innovations would aid in addressing sustainability issues around the world?
  2. What is the role of entrepreneurs in ensuring sustainable development?
  3. How do innovations and processes in IT, management, strategy, and policy help solving global change and sustainability issues?
  4. What is the scope of landscape and resource stewardship in enabling the circular economy?
  5. How can collaborative learning and action aid in realizing the sustainable development paradigm?
  6. What are people’s perceptions of progress and challenges on the way to ensuring a sustainable future?