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First pan-Canadian public survey on sustainable development 

For Your Sustainability Communication Archives - 2

 

Fifteen years ago, in the fall of 2009, Solange Tremblay and Guy Lachapelle were thrilled to publish the results of the first pan-canadian survey on sustainable development prepared in collaboration with Leger − the largest Canadian-owned survey, marketing research and analytics firm. Their analysis entitled « Social Dialogue and Public Participation - A New Era of Sustainable Development and Responsible Organizations » featured in the books The Disloyal Company and in its French edition, L’entreprise infidèle.

And what a piece of information it was as it highlighted important citizens' concerns on these issues across Canada, their role in influencing corporate agendas and their criticisms of organizations' lack of communication about their achievements. At that time, communicators were just beginning to strengthen their role on these crucial issues, with the powerful leverage provided by the new sustainable development legislations adopted in 2006 in Quebec and 2008 in Canada.

Special thanks to Jean-Marc Léger for permission to reproduce this chapter, as both books are no longer available.

 

CHAPTER

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20 years ago

Public relations & the new millennium - THE TURNING POINT

Image English Research Millennium

 

Twenty years ago, a landmark study on the state of public relations in Quebec unveiled a detailed portrait of a practice that was rapidly entering the era of modernity. It was 2004, and PR was in full metamorphosis.

It wasn't yet the age of social media nor of smartphones, but new information technologies were changing how PR worked, as we moved from the 20th century to an era of ease... In fact, we had just said goodbye to fax machines and word processors still so popular in the 1990s.

A significant shift had also taken place. Formerly a male-dominated specialty, women had become [...]

 

 

FULL TEXT

 

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Titre coiffant english Années sans thanks

The first book on sustainable development communications to be published in Québec and Canada

Now available for free

1st book SD - English version finale

 

The first book on sustainable development communications published in Québec and Canada, Développement durable et communications ─ Au-delà des mots, pour un véritable engagement (Tremblay, Solange, ed. 2007) is now available in an open-access digital version. Sixteen years after its publication, Presses de l'Université du Québec has just made a free version available on its website.

Supported right from the start by Québec communications associations (Société québécoise des professionnels en relations publiques, IABC QC, Association des communicateurs municipaux du Québec, Alliance des cabinets de relations publiques du Québec, Forum de la communication gouvernementale), the book has circulated widely and is still circulating among communications and public relations professionals and students who find valuable information on the central role of communications in promoting sustainable development. Published a year after Québec's Sustainable Development Act came into force, and at a time when the values promoted by sustainable development were still very vague to many, the book answers essential questions: Why commit to such an effort? Who is concerned? Detailed figures, analyses, concrete examples and case studies are also provided. In French.

 

DOWNLOAD THE BOOK

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The SUSTAINABILITY|COMMUNICATION Group: Two decades of engagement in sustainable development communication

PPT-20 ans GRIS Cadre TIRETS csr

Yes, our group has turned 20. And for twenty years now (2003-2023), the SUSTAINABILITY|COMMUNICATION Group has devoted all its activities to the immense responsibility of communications with regard to social responsibility, sustainable development and climate issues. Originally known by its initial name, Centre for Sustainable Development, Ethics and Communications (2003-2010) at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), our team has become, over the years, a reference point for these concerns in Quebec and Canada.  For at the start of the new millennium, it was not uncommon, here as elsewhere in the world, to see members of the academic and professional communications community raise questions about these values, and wonder about their communication roles, then widely unknown among them.

A decade later, this path had taken root in our profoundly transformed world.  With essential groups who were pushing the doors wide open […]

 

FULL TEXT

 

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BLEDCOM - 30th anniversary

Saluting the worldwide commitment of communicators for a safer future

 

 

 

 

LinkedIn - Interdecom-Bledcom image cahier - No contour

 

In honor of its 30th anniversary, BLEDCOM – the International Public Relations Research Symposium held at Lake Bled, Slovenia – proudly dedicated its celebration to the theme ‘Public Relations and Sustainability’ on June 30 and July 1. Gathering researchers, academics and practitioners from around the world to exchange views on this important issue, BLEDCOM invited Solange Tremblay, president of INTERDECOM and SUSTAINABILITY|COMMUNICATION Group, to be part of this moment by opening the Research Focus. With her long-standing expertise in this field, she focused on the ‘Emergence and Evolution of Sustainable Development Communication Practices’, highlighting the steps taken in communications to pave the way for a more responsible and resilient future. She also saluted the ‘International Declaration of Communications Professionals and Researchers for a Healthier, Viable, Better World’ (www.interdecom.org) for its worldwide mobilization of solidarity in communications in the face of the global emergencies of our time. “As climate disruption intensifies and global threats increase, this worldwide surge of solidarity in communication that channels knowledge, expertise and the promise of unity through all adversities […] is increasingly essential to guide our societies towards building a safer world," she stated.

 

 

 

COP15 in Montreal

Quebec civil society mobilizes for biodiversity

Logo-collectif-cop15-couleurs

 

Over 75 civil society organizations in Quebec are mobilizing to make the COP15 on biodiversity, which will take place in Montreal from December 7th to 19th, a turning point for the preservation of life for the future of the planet. Gathered behind the Collectif COP15, actors from various backgrounds ─ environment, conservation, international development, Native organizations, youth, unions, associations, research, etc. ─ joined by the SUSTAINABILITY|COMMUNICATION Group, are calling on officials to show exemplary leadership at COP15 by committing to concrete actions to counter the unprecedented loss of biodiversity in Quebec and elsewhere in the world.

The most important global meeting concerning biodiversity in over 10 years, COP15 aims to adopt a new global framework that will be active until 2030 to stop the decline of the living world and make the protection of nature a fundamental value of our societies.

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New Edition

Responsible Communication

Guide de la communication responsable 2022 - Image pleine

 

Publication of the Guide de la communication responsable 2022 for a communication that takes into account social and ecological emergencies. This second edition, which offers even greater support in terms of content and response elements, has seen its size double since the 2020 edition. Produced in France by the Agence de la Transition Écologique (ADEME), this handbook provides insights from more than fifty French experts. It also offers a glimpse of the international mobilization signed by Solange Tremblay under the title « Une promesse d'unité en communication ─ Pour une vision commune à travers le monde ».

 

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Archives 2010-2011

Ethics in Public Relations

Ethics in PR - SCREENSHOTS - Photo Menu

 

The SUSTAINABILITY|COMMUNICATION Group is pleased to make available the web archives on Ethics in Public Relations ─ web pages created during the 2010-2011 period by the Centre for Sustainable Development, Ethics and Communications ─ the team that predated the creation of our Group. Published with the support of the Canadian Public Relations Society and several other organisations, these web pages, that proposed some guidelines, reflect the questioning of communications professionals on these issues at the end of this first decade. Here they are in booklet format: each page is a screenshot.

 

WEB ARCHIVES

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First anniversary

The Declaration continues to expand around the world

PROUD SIGNATORY 1st Anniversary - IMAGE for SOCIAL MEDIA

 

The International Declaration of Communication Professionals and Researchers for a Healthier, Viable and Better World continues to expand. After a year of mobilization, a large community of communication professionals and scientists have rallied in more than 40 countries, including over 25 associations active at the national and regional level, in every part of the globe, as well as 15 international and global organisations: a first for a joint commitment among so many international scientific and professional communication societies.

Five major international organisations – IPRA, Global Alliance, EUPRERA, ICCO and BLEDCOM – have also become important partners alongside INTERDECOM and its official sponsor, the International Network of UNESCO Chairs in Communication – ORBICOM. "Their active involvement since the very first months of this far-reaching mobilization has had a vibrant and direct role on the continuous growth of the Declaration at the global scale," stressed Solange Tremblay, INTERDECOM President.

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2021 ICCO GLOBAL SUMMIT

Embracing the Future

ICCO Global Summit

 

Invited to speak at the ICCO GLOBAL SUMMIT held in London in November, on the theme 'Embracing the Future,' Solange Tremblay stressed the importance of strengthening the bonds of solidarity between researchers and communication professionals throughout the world in the face of the global fragility that has resulted from the pandemic and the continuous assaults of climate disruption.

In her presentation, entitled "Our communication legacy in an era of devastating global crises," on November 18th, she emphasized the importance of a unified commitment of communicators around the world to fuel social resilience, inclusion and action, and to reshape our vision for a healthier future in every region of the globe.

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BLEDCOM 2021

The International Declaration at the Global PR and Communication Forum

BLED PAGE 7 LANGUES
BLEDCOM 2021 - OPENING SESSION - horaire

The International Declaration of Communications Professionals and Researchers for a Healthier, Viable, Better World, was part of the opening session of BLEDCOM's annual world public relations Forum dedicated to PR research.

Bringing together academics and practitioners in communication, this 28th edition, taking place on July 2 and 3, saluted the public commitment of researchers and specialists in communication for putting their expertise to work for our societies in the transition to a healthier, viable, better world. Solange Tremblay, lead author of the Declaration, was invited to present this commitment, which is now supported by more than 100 organisations around the world.

 

 

 

 

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Pandemic and Communication

RESEARCH

 

As part of an ongoing research led by Solange Tremblay and Jacques Baronet, preliminary results, revealing a multilayered picture of communications during the pandemic, were presented at the international Colloque Comment parler d'environnement ? at Aix-Marseille University on December 9, 2020.

 

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Back to December 2020

Round Tables - Symposium How to talk about the environment?

ger colloque comment parler d'environnement

 

The replay of the two opening and closing Round Tables organised by Solange Tremblay as part of the International Colloquium How to talk about the environment? in December 2020, are now available.

Exchanges from different geographical and cultural perspectives between specialists in communication who are very active in issues of sustainability, ethics and responsible communication.

Opening Round Table – Christophe Koninckx (Belgium) / Steve Connor (United Kingdon) / Mathieu Jahnich (France).  Moderator: Solange Tremblay  https://youtu.be/O4z6OO4wHek

Closing Round Table – Gildas Bonnel (France) / Marian Ventura (Argentina) / Valérie Martin (France). Moderator: Ana Carolina Lins Peliz (Brasil)  https://youtu.be/_zEQADegsjU

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Université de Sherbrooke

Nomination – Direction of the Department of Entrepreneurship

jacques_baronet

Our warmest congratulations to our colleague, Jacques Baronet, who has recently been elected Director of the Department of Entrepreneurship, at École de Gestion, Université de Sherbrooke.

Full Professor at Université de Sherbrooke and former director of its Institut d’entrepreneuriat, he is also a founding member of the Boosting Entrepreneurship Skills and Training in Genomics research consortium in Canada (known as BEST in Science). His researches are published in various academic journals and presented at international and national conferences.

In addition to his activities on entrepreneurship, creativity, intrapreneurship, innovation management, Professor Baronet's research interests also include the communication behaviour of large corporations towards sustainability.

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Global Alliance

Education and Training Month

Global alliance

 

During the April 2021 "Education and Training Month" organised by the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communications Management to support the profession through the pandemic, Solange Tremblay and Steve Connor (CEO, Creative Concern, UK) hosted a presentation on communicators' roles and responsibilities in addressing the issues of our time.  "We need to be a unified force in communication in all parts of the world to guide the transition toward a healthier world in these fragile times," they argued while highlighting the growing global mobilization within the scientific and professional communication community supporting the values of the International Declaration of Communications Professionals and Researchers for a Healthier, Viable, Better World, launched a few months ago.

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New executive direction at ECPAR

Congratulations to our colleague, Carole Villeneuve, on her nomination as Executive Director of ECPAR, a Canadian network of sustainable procurement leaders with an international reach.

With a specialization in sustainable development, communication and training management, Carole Villeneuve has also been known for many years for her multiple institutional, academic and governmental commitments and involvements in responsible communication and sustainable development.

We wish her all the best in her new position.

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Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management

New publication

Global Alliance - officiel
Solange Tremblay signe un article.

At the invitation of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management, Solange Tremblay authored an article for the 'Thoughts' column of its website. Entitled The International Declaration in Communication for a Better World - A Strong Call for Commitment and Action, the article explains the basis for the important mobilization in communication launched in January by the International Declaration of Communication Professionals and Researchers for a Healthier, Viable and Better World.

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The global health crisis at the heart of an international mobilization in communication

For a healthier, viable, better world

2021 begins with the continued spread of the pandemic around the world. It also begins with a broad mobilization of the communications community to bring together professionals and researchers into a unified force around the world in the face of the deadliest global health crisis of our time. The International Declaration of Communications Professionals and Researchers for a Healthier, Viable, Better World  is part of the solidarity and cohesion of communications experts towards this global health crisis and climate emergencies, and their commitment to support all our societies towards a healthier world.

Déclaration international en 6 langues

Supported by ORBICOM, the international Network of UNESCO Chairs in Communication, the declaration, which is circulating in six languages used in both hemispheres − French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and German − calls for a very broad involvement of the professional and scientific communities around the world. For ORBICOM’s Secretary General, Oumar Kane, “In these uncertain times, communication must emerge as a force that can nourish hope, action and social resilience. It is clear to us that inaction and withdrawal have no place in the face of the emergencies of our time.”

The SUSTAINABILITY|COMMUNICATION Group praises this international mobilization initiative driven by ORBICOM and its Secretary General, Oumar Kane, as well as the artisans − researchers and professional specialists − who have brought it to life: (DIRECTION)  Solange Tremblay, co-author (president ∙ SUSTAINABILITY|COMMUNICATION Group), Thierry Libaert, co-author (France), Steve Connor (UK), Christophe Koninckx (Belgique); (COLLABORATION)  Ana Carolina Lins Peliz (Brasil), Céline Pascual-Espuny (France), Andrea Catellani (Italia ∙ Belgique), Danielle Maisonneuve (Québec|Canada), Cristobal Duarte (España), Michael Adler (Deutschland), Simonetta Lombardo (Italia). More:

Symposium How to talk about the environment?

Meeting the scientific and professional communities

How to talk environment

The international symposium, How to talk about the environment? Heroes/heralds and environmental communication, organised by the Francophone research network GER CESS (Communication·Environnement·Science·Société) on December 9th, 10th and 11th, 2020 in Aix-en-Provence had a twofold program that included presentations by researchers from different countries as well as presentations from the professional community.

 

Very involved for many years in facilitating the links between the two communities, Solange Tremblay was responsible for the organization of the opening and the closing round table discussions. On Wednesday, December 9th, as moderator, she welcomed Steve Connor (UK), Christophe Koninckx (Belgium), and Mathieu Jahnich (France). On Thursday, December 10th, her guests, Valérie Martin (France), Marian Ventura (Argentina), Gildas Bonnel (France) shared their views with Ana Carolina Lins Peliz (Brasil) as moderator.

All recognized professional experts in sustainable development communication, the guests were able to share their perspectives and experiences while focusing their presentations on responsible communication and the ways in which it can be integrated into practice.

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U.S. presidential election and democracy under the radar

Since November 7, 2020, the political broadcast, Mordus de politique, hosted by Sébastien Bovet on Radio-Canada has welcomed our colleague Guy Lachapelle, professor of Political Science at Concordia University, and former politician Yolande James (formerly on Les ex). The evolution and the issues surrounding the American presidential election are examined in the course of current events.

La Chronique américaine − On weekdays around 1:30 pm

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PR at the dawn of the 2000s

A look back at a changing profession

RP-Aube 2000

Building on the coronavirus pandemic that has placed high demands on communications professionals since its first major outbreaks, a new text by Solange Tremblay highlights the progress made in communication practices since the beginning of the new millennium.

Les relations publiques au début du nouveau millénaire – Une pratique en route vers son avenir, looks at the evolution that has taken place since the publication of the results of the first major survey on public relations in Quebec (Danielle Maisonneuve, Solange Tremblay and André A. Lafrance), a little more than 15 years ago. Available on the website of the Société québécoise des professionnels en relations publiques: www.sqprp.ca/fr/ressources

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Rethinking how to communicate

Livre Des ventes porteurs

Without missing a beat, our colleague, Thierry Libaert, comes back with a new book that calls for mobilization in the face of the climate emergency.

He explains that to regain power over our future, we need to rethink all the discourse on awareness. Climate and environmental issues must be linked to our daily lives. He reminds us that specialists in communication sciences unanimously agree that climate action must refocus on positive messages, on the benefits of collective action against climate change. - A must read.

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A guide on responsible communication

Guide-communication responsable

Our French colleagues have just published Le guide de la communication responsable 2020, a book produced by the Agence de l’Environnement de de la Maîtrise de l’Énergie (ADEME).

With its clear content and relevant references, it is a most useful tool that fulfills its function of guide and support. The authors have called upon several collaborations, including that of Solange Tremblay, who authored the article  ̏La mobilisation des professionnels au Québec et au Canada˝ (p.74).

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Société québécoise des professionnels en relations publiques (SQPRP)

Modernization of the Code of Ethics 

Because a code of ethics must provide a concrete response to the many challenges that communications professionals regularly face in their duties, because ethics is one of the core values at the heart of their role, and because their responsibilities are constantly evolving, the Société québécoise des professionnels en relations publiques has just made the revision of its Code of Ethics one of its priorities. The SUSTAINABILITY|COMMUNICATION Group will be part of this process.

Modernisation code déontologie

Municipal environments

Sustainable Development Forum – 5th edition

On September 26th and 27th, the 5th edition of the Sustainable Development Forum organized by the Economic Development Corporation of Victoriaville and area (CDEVR) took place in Victoriaville.  The event, under the theme Sustainable Land Development, aimed to create innovative concrete projects that can transform municipal environments and make their vision a reality. The Forum brought together 22 Quebec municipalities, represented by Quebec mayors, city councillors, municipal directors and employees, as well as specialists in land-use planning and sustainable development, and many university students as volunteers. Carole Villeneuve facilitated the City of Granby workshop, that dealt with the issue of densifying the territory of Granby while preserving natural environments without enlarging its territory.

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Feedback on the book Développement durable - Une communication qui se démarque

A new article on the book Développement durable - Une communication qui se démarque is published on Sircome.

Mathieu Jahnich interviews Solange Tremblay on the responsibilities of communication in a context of climate urgency, growing tensions and intolerance on a global scale. An exchange on the very concrete perspectives that can be applied right now in the field and the analyses that are being developed

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International Conference on Public Policy

Commitment to a sustainable future - A call for concrete action

Citizen engagement, social mobilization, responsibility of decision-makers, these were the major issues defended by the 18 participants of the panel 'Engaging Communication for a Sustainable Future - From Commitment to Concrete Action', during the 4th edition of the International Conference on Public Policy. With climate emergency on everyone's lips and tensions growing across the globe, governments and organizations at all levels of decision-making must act, they argued. Gathered around these major issues, researchers and experts from 8 countries stressed the importance of dialogue, plurality of voices, ethics and innovation. And communication is central in order to put in place effective public policies for a sustainable future.

Photo groupe Conference politiques publiques-4e edition

Some participants in this panels:

Cristina Miranda Beas, Solange Tremblay, Anne-Sophie Gousse-Lessard (1st R);
Guy Lachapelle, Jacques Baronet, Ferenc Fodor, Andrea Catellani (2nd R)

Maria Spiliotopoulou_Conf politiques publiques

Maria Spiliotopoulou

Tze-Luen Lin_conf politiques publiques

Tze-Luen Lin

Dominique Dionne_Conf politiques publiques

Dominique Dionne

Chaired by Solange Tremblay, the group was composed of Andrea Catellani (Belgium), Anne-Sophie Gousse-Lessard (Canada), France Levert (Canada), Cristina Miranda Beas (Peru), Mariana Arguelo (Costa Rica), Tze-Luen Lin (Taiwan), Ferenc Fodor (France), Yvan Cliche (Canada), Dominique Dionne (Canada), Alexander Deliyannis (Greece), Maria Spiliotopoulou (Canada), Steve Connor (Britain), Christophe Koninckz (Belgium), Béatrice Jalenques (France), Céline Pascual Espuny (France); as well as Guy Lachapelle, Jacques Baronet and Solange Tremblay from SUSTAINABILITY|COMMUNICATION Group.

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Launch of the international Francophone research network

The first international Francophone research network on environmental communication and sustainability is well on its way. On June 17 and 18, about forty researchers gathered during the inaugural symposium in Aix-en-Provence to discuss the most recent research on these issues.

The organizers, Céline Pascual Espuny - Aix-Marseille Université, France (1st) & Andrea Catellani – Université Catholique de Louvain la Neuve, Belgium (3rd) and close collaborators, Françoise Bernard – Aix-Marseille Université, Nicole D’Almeida – CELSA Paris-Sorbonne and Solange Tremblay – Sustainability|Communication Group.

Les organisateurs, Céline Espuny - Aix-Marseille Université & Andrea Catellani - Université Catholique de Louvain la Neuve (Rangs 1, 3); et de proches collaboratrices, Françoise Bernard - Aix-Marseille Université, Nicole d’Almeida - CELSA Paris-Sorbonne, Solange Tremblay, Groupe Durabilité|Communication.

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From Commitment to Concrete Action

A colloquium on communication for a sustainable future

As part of its participation in the 4th edition of the International Conference on Public Policy, the SUSTAINABILITY|COMMUNICATION Group hosted the colloquium ‘Engaging Communication for a Sustainable Future: From Commitment to Concrete Action’. Ten presentations followed one another during three sessions on June 27, including those of three of its members: Jacques Baronet, Solange Tremblay, organizer of the colloquium and Guy Lachapelle, chief organizer of the ICPP4.

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Creation of an international research network on environmental communication

Good news for the field of environmental communication, a Study and Research Group on Communication, Environment, Science and Society, created on November 22, 2018 by the Société française des sciences de l'Information et de la Communication will be an official voice to express the deep embedding of environmental communication in society and its links with the scientific field; and to participate formally in the social debate on environmental issues (including sustainability, social responsibility…) and the relationship of humankind with the rest of nature.

An inaugural symposium

With more than forty francophone researchers, this international research network on Communication, Environment, Science and Society officially gets underway by launching its inaugural days on June 17 and 18, 2019, in Aix-en-Provence, France. On the theme 'Relationships, Tensions, Synergies', the symposium intends to initiate reflection on the best forms of contribution the information and communication sciences could bring to the ecological transition. Solange Tremblay will be one of the participants with a presentation entitled Déclaration de responsabilité chez la très grande responsabilité ̶ Le discours accordéon.

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The International Conference on Public Policy to be held in Montréal next June

Guy Lachapelle

Our colleague, Guy Lachapelle, is the chief organizer of the 4th edition of the International Conference on Public Policy that will be held for the first time in North America in 2019.

From June 26th to 28th, some 1,500 participants from more than 80 countries are expected at Concordia University in Montreal, to take part in a large program including 13 panels on Sustainable Development, Environment and Policy and two plenary sessions on major global issues: (1) Climate Disorder and Public Policy: Governing in Turbulent Times AND (2) Populism, Parties and Immigration Policy in North America and Europe. The SUSTAINABILITY | COMMUNICATION Group offers its sincerest congratulations for this immense responsibility.

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In the media

Review of the book Développement durable – Une communication qui se démarque in the Revue française des sciences de l’information et de la communication 16, 2019:

« Excellent récapitulatif des enjeux de la communication développement durable tout en ouvrant sur de nouvelles notions (…) contenu pratique, immédiatement utilisable (…) base théorique solide ». Éloïse Vanderlinden

Some others:

Quebec communicators recommit to sustainable development
Canadian Public Relations Society, June 27, 2018

Communication et développement durable
Actualités UQAM, mars 2018

Les communicateurs réitèrent leur engagement envers le développement durable
Infopresse, 9 avril 2018

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Becoming a committed citizen

Quintus_citoyen engagé

Thérèse Drapeau will participate in the QUINTSUS@7, on the theme 'Becoming a committed citizen', as part of the series of events « À la rencontre des acteurs du changement »: How to transform our individual practices into a collective movement and foster commitment that can transform our society. Friday, May 31, 2019.

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The next generation of professionals is active in Quebec universities

The Simulation of COP 24 in Articulated debates

Celia Barbotte_Patrick Cigana_Therese Drapeau

Best Woman Speaker: Célia Barbotte, HEC Montréal
With the members of the Jury: Patrick Cigana and Thérèse Drapeau

On January 26, some forty students from HEC Montréal, the University of Montreal, the University of Quebec at Montreal, the University of Laval and Polytechnique Montréal participated in a simulation of COP 24, held at the end of 2018 in Katowice, Poland: an exercise organized by the Humaniterre group of HEC Montréal for a 10th consecutive year. Grouped into teams, their debates focused on the reduction of GHGs due to transport and on the deforestation affecting several areas of the globe − two crucial themes on issues facing humanity in the face of climate change.

The jury was made up of Thérèse Drapeau and Patrick Cigana, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Development at École Polytechnique. Congratulations to all the participants, the best woman speaker, the best male speaker and the teams that stood out!

Discussion on the role of communicators

Paule Genest et ses etudiants

The teacher, Paule Genest, in class with Solange Tremblay

A dynamic new generation of sustainability communication professionals is preparing for the public relations certificate of the Faculty of Continuing Education - Université de Montréal - where the course 'Social Responsibility and Public Relations' familiarizes students with the role of communication in social responsibility and sustainable development. On February 9th, the discussion focused on the responsibilities of communicators in supporting organizations. Solange Tremblay participated.

France - A social and environmental responsibility label for communication agencies

On June 4, 2018, the Association des Agences-Conseils en Communication (Association of Communication Consulting Agencies) created, with the support of AFNOR Certification, the French leader in the field, the Label RSE Agences actives that testifies to the commitment of the communication agencies in matters of environmental and social responsibility in France. The criteria of this CSR reference adapted to the communication professions focuses on issues of vision and governance, services provided, human and social responsibilities and the environmental impacts of the agency. During an interview, Gildas Bonnel, Chair of the AACC Sustainable Development Commission, underlined the importance this recognition will have for communication agencies on all issues of sustainable development in the years to come: "This is more than a simple added value,’’ he explained.

Gildas Bonnel et Solange Tremblay

Gildas Bonnel and Solange Tremblay

Responsible Advertising Initiative Award

On February 19, 2019, the label was awarded the Prix d’initiative pour une publicité responsable (Responsible Advertising Initiative Award), for its overall commitment program for consulting agencies in a dynamic of social and environmental responsibility: a prize awarded for the first time by the Autorité de régulation professionnelle de la publicité (Professional Advertising Regulation Institute).

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Launch of Développement durable - Une communication qui se démarque

Discours de solange au lancement du livre.

Développement durable - Une communication qui se démarque, the second book published in Quebec and Canada about this important communication issue, was launched on March 21, 2018 ten years after the first book, Développement durable et Communications - Au-delà des mots pour un véritable engagement, published by Solange Tremblay in 2007.

This new title, coauthored by Solange Tremblay, Nicole D’Almeida and Thierry Libaert, argues for an active role by communication professionals on sustainable development issues in society. In a world afflicted by precarity, poverty, social upheavals and violence on a global scale, the authors point out the urgency of reinforcing our concrete commitment, responsibility and action.

The event was held in the presence of Danielle Maisonneuve, now retired, she was the founder and first chairholder of the Chair in Public Relations and Marketing Communication. Also in attendance were association leaders and many professionals, researchers, teachers, colleagues and friends working in the field of communication and sustainable development.

Reprinted four months after its publication

Written with the collaboration of communication experts and renowned academics from both sides of the Atlantic, this new title which was first put in circulation in Quebec (March) and then in Europe (June) received a great response. In the beginning of July, four months after its publication in Quebec, Développement durable – Une communication qui se démarque had to be quickly reprinted to meet the demand.

Several members of the SUSTAINABILITY | COMMUNICATION Group participated: Thérèse Drapeau, Guy Lachapelle, Jacques Baronet and Solange Tremblay, co-director of the book. Published in the Presses de l'Université du Québec.

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On March 21, 2018, during the launch of Développement durable - Une communication qui se démarque, Quebec communicators renewed their pledge to enhance sustainable development values in their activities within organizations and society. The signatories include the Alliance des cabinets de relations publiques du Québec, Association des communicateurs municipaux du Québec, IABC/Montréal, Public Relations without Borders and Société québécoise des professionnels en relations publiques.

Signed twelve years earlier in October 2006, the original commitment − Declaration of the Public Communicators and Public Relations Professionals of Quebec on Sustainable Development − was an international first. On March, 30, 2007, it was cited at a ceremony at UN headquarters in New York, as a model for communication professionals around the world.

 

New Commitment

Engagement des communicateurs

The co-signatories: Maria Constantinescu, IABC/Montréal, Yvon Desautels, Alliance des cabinets de relations publiques du Québec, Annie Paré, Société québécoise des professionnels en relations publiques, Guy Versailles, Public Relations without Borders. Rear: Solange Tremblay, coauthor.

Absent from the photo: Louis Latraverse, Association des communicateurs municipaux du Québec (below).

Signature du document en différé. Louis Latraverse, président de l’Association des communicateurs municipaux du Québec.

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A new book on sustainable development communication

The SUSTAINABILITY|COMMUNICATION Group is pleased to announce its association to the publication of a new book on sustainable development communication.  Directed by Solange Tremblay, Nicole D’Almeida and Thierry Libaert, Développement durable - Une communication qui se démarque offers an in-depth understanding of the role of communications in a climate of global upheavals, intolerance, and tension.

The result of a close collaboration between specialists on both sides of the Atlantic, it tackles local and global issues and various problems observed in today's communication practices. This book is a plea for an open and plural communication that does not evade the complexity of situations or the plurality of voices. It is aimed at communication professionals in all fields of practice, managers, researchers and teachers in communication and sustainable development.

Besides Solange Tremblay, codirector of the book, other members of the SUSTAINABILITY|COMMUNICATION Group have participated in this work : Thérèse Drapeau, Guy Lachapelle and Jacques Baronet.

At Presses de l'Université du Québec.  INFOS

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An award for excellence in teaching for Carole Villeneuve

Prix excellence Carole Villeneuve

Congratulations to our colleague, Carole Villeneuve, who was awarded the Prix Reconnaissance de la qualité de l'enseignement en environnement et développement durable by the Université de Sherbrooke.

The award was presented at a ceremony on February 27, 2018, with the Rector of the University, Pierre Cossette, and the Vice-President of Studies, Christine Hudon.

Photo: Université de Sherbrooke

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