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RAPAPORT... CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, and Fiera di Vicenza will host a seminar on ethical social responsibility standards for the jewelry industry on January 25 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. in pavilion 7.1, room 7.1.2b at Fiera di Vicenza. The seminar is being held within the framework of CIBJO and Fiera di Vicenza's association with the United Nation's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which is dedicated to the development of educational programs promoting corporate social responsibility and sustainability in the jewelry and gemstone sectors.
Solutions experts Greg Valerio and Dr. Donald Feaver will present "Social Responsibility as the New Reality: Best Practice Initiatives, Tools and Business Success" to introduce practical standards.
Valerio, the co-founder of Fair Jewellery Action, is a British jeweler who pioneered ethical and fair trade business practices as the founder of CRED Jewellery, which became Europe's first jewelry company to retail fair trade green gold and platinum jewelry collections. Legal expert Feaver is the chief technology officer of Branded Trust Assurance Systems and a director of the Branded Trust Foundation. Branded Trust Assurance Systems, in association with CIBJO and the Gemmological Association (Gem-A) of Great Britain, has developed a suite of online courses as well social responsibility management tools, including a comprehensive ethical market and transparent supply chain and chain of custody solution.
Valerio said, "Over the last 10 years, the mining and jewelry trades have come under increasing ethical scrutiny from campaign organizations, governments and voluntary civil society movements. Business as usual for jewelers is now a thing of the past." Feaver added, "Traditional paper-based 'certification' approaches are fast becoming tools of the old era. New approaches are more constructive and a focus on business improvement through social responsibility has the potential to deliver a higher return on investment. The new approaches are more holistic with targeted tools for 'people, companies and products.'" Additional participants include Gaetano Cavalieri, the president of CIBJO; James Riley, the CEO of the Gem-A and Vivien Johnston, the chair of the Jewellery Ethics Committee in the United Kingdom. In the first part of the seminar, Valerio will discuss the new ethical realities for jewelers and suppliers, some of the key responsible sourcing initiatives that are available -- such as Fairtrade Gold -- along with conflict-free sourcing, transparency and traceability disciplines. He'll present practical steps that businesses can take to become leading "best practice" companies. Feaver will explain how a new era of social responsibility is quickly emerging, while identifying the types of businesses that are seizing this opportunity and the new breed of business leaders that they engage. He'll show attendees how to identify and use new tools to accelerate their businesses to meet social responsibility best practices.
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