On the 15th and 16th September, International Conference took place in Vilnius, Lithuania, devoted to “Pandemic Challenges and Opportunities for Corporate Social Responsibility”, organized by the Vilnius Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Arts in partnership with EUMMAS and Vilnius University (VU) Business School. The welcoming speech was delivered by D. A. Danilevicius, General Director of VCCIC, who told about the scale and scope of the conference, its main goals, and future directions of development. On the first day, Dr. Hanna Shvindina, the Chair of the Department and a member of EUMMAS presented the recent finding on her research in the sphere of regional competitiveness. The same day was devoted to sustainable labor relations, and how they affect or impact our understanding of corporate social responsibility. This day was full of fantastic talks worth of sharing, such as the presentation of Dr. Ignas Zimaitis, Academic Professor, and Lina Korizniene, CEO of Vilnius City Municipality Administration, both from VU Business School. Dr. B.B.L. Madhukar from India joined the conference online and shared his experience on changes in Corporate Social Responsibility During the Pandemic. The talks and panel discussions were quite insightful and energetic; they focused on the further development of CSR in a new era.
The second day brought the unforgettable experience of having a presentation by Dr. Dina Yacout, an EUMMAS member, who shared her expertise on gaining business sustainability during the coronavirus pandemic for businesswomen and start-ups in Egypt. Dr. Dina is a Chairwoman of the general committee of businesswomen in the federation of chambers of commerce in Egypt, and Vice president of the Advisory Board, and Vice president of Women forums at EUMMAS Board; she explained how the pandemic formed new social movements in Egypt. The way economic institutions and government were united to facilitate entrepreneurship among women became an inspiration for other social activists presented at the conference.
This event attracted the representatives of many countries, including Lithuania, Ukraine, India, Egypt, etc. The live session on YouTube allowed many participants worldwide to take part in such a fantastic event online. The conference became a platform for the ideas exchange in the sphere of CRS, in particular responsible consumption and production, recycling, social policy. This event became an opportunity to boost the existing cooperation between Association members, academic scholars, and business representatives and establish new contacts for future fruitful projects.
We would like to thank the organizing team of the conference, and Prof. Mile Vasic, President of the European Marketing and Management Association, for his careful guidance.
