On October 20th and 21st the Centre for Project Management and Kemmy Business School hosted a conference entitled Delivering Social Good: Managing Projects in the Non-Profit Sector.
The conference was a stimulating and informative mix of practitioner and academic perspectives. Topics covered on the first day included strategy, stakeholder engagement and knowledge management, with a number of international development NGOs giving their perspectives. Case studies describing projects undertaken in Sri Lanka, Ghana, Iran and Zambia were also presented and discussed, while the keynote address by Professor Svetlana Cicmil of UWE Bristol and Dr Eamonn O’Laocha of Fairleigh Dickenson University in Vancouver looked at responsible management of projects in the context of international development and provided a critical overview of leadership, governance and power in the non-profit sector.
The conference was also addressed by Merrill Csuri who is a Senior Advisor to PRME Champions. PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education) is the first organised relationship between the United Nations and business schools under the auspices of the UN Global Compact Office.
Day two of the conference looked at demonstrating results in non-profit projects, as well as methodological approaches and sustainable project management. There were contributions from the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), plus a number of papers looking at projects in the public sector and support/volunteer services. There was also a track looking at non-profit organisations and initiatives as projects. This included a presentation on planning and project management in the Limerick-based ADAPT Domestic Abuse Services which is currently celebrating its 40th anniversary.
The conference concluded with an outline of a number of corporate/non-profit collaborations, including a case study of how these have contributed to local communities. Contributors included the Project Management Institute Education Foundation, Dell, I.T. Alliance and HP.
For more on the conference, visit www.pm4good.net.
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