Global Brand Leaders Set to Redesign the Future of Commerce at SB’18 Vancouver

By MTS Staff Writer On May 28, 2018

Sustainable Brands brings P&G, Braskem, PwC, Clif Bar, LG Electronics & Others to Collaborate on Innovative Products and Services for The Good Life

Sustainable Brands recently unveiled the full programming and schedule for the Activation Hub at SB’18 Vancouver, running June 4-7 at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Activation Hub is the central hub of the Vancouver conference, an area where attendees gather to hear from solution-providers, to collaborate and co-create on market sector innovations, and to network with current and future partners.

This year’s Activation Hub will host pavilions dedicated to 12 different market sectors: Good Food, Good Fashion, Good Technology, Good Materials & Packaging and others. Beginning on Monday, June 4th with an Opening Night Reception in the Activation Hub, each pavilion will feature scheduled programming, business leader meet-n-greets, and Innovation Labs facilitated by subject matter experts from Forum for the Future, Futerra, Sustainability, Elevator, University of British Columbia and others.

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Pavilion highlights include:

P&G will host the ‘Good Growth’ pavilion and explore how large, growing brands can inspire and promote responsible consumerism while still growing their business. P&G will also be hosting a youth summit, inviting local youth to discuss the issues of oceans plastics, in preparation of World Ocean Day. The pavilion will also feature American Forests, World Scouts, CarrotNewYork, The Embedding Project, The Ocean Project, The Recycling Partnership, Arbor Day Foundation, and Makersite.
Braskem will serve as anchor host for the ‘Good Materials & Packaging’ pavilion, focusing on how brands are reducing packaging and incorporating circular economy practices into their everyday products. The pavilion will also feature BillerudKorsnäs, Vinyl Business Sustainability Council (VSBC), Boothster, Keurig Green Mountain, and Recycle BC.
A ‘Good Cities’ pavilion, hosted by PwC, will discuss how to make cities healthier places to live as they continue to grow. The pavilion will also include Vancouver Economic Commission, who launched a Startup City: Impact program to connect attendees from SB’18 Vancouver with up-and-coming social and environmental entrepreneurs from Vancouver.
A ‘Good Travel & Leisure’, hosted by Living Elements, will explore how the travel industry can incorporate sustainable practices. The pavilion will feature SoulBuffalo, who will bring their glamping tents onsite for attendees to collaborate in.
A ‘Good Earth’ pavilion will explore how brands are helping reduce their impact on the environment, focusing on oceans and forests, featuring The Plastic Bank, One Tree Planted, EREMA Plastic Recycling Systems, The Earth Group, Canadian Council of Foresters, Alive & Awake, World Tree and News Deeply as Media Partner.
A ‘Good Fashion’ pavilion, featuring UNIFI, Inc., Savers | Value Village, Bank & Vogue, Green Story, Looptworks, S’well and Biji Biji Ethical Fashion. UNIFI will bring back their popular Repreve truck to the Activation Hub, an interactive, walk-through truck that showcases how peat is turned into recycled materials while giving attendees the chance to win upcycled clothing. S’well will be distributing free water bottles to all conference attendees.
A ‘Good Food’ pavilion, focused on shifting tides in our food system, will feature Clif Bar, Nestlé, Padilla | Food Minds, Spoiler Alert, US Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA), Eagle Protect PBC and Trust in Food™ as a Media Partner. Nestlé will present attendees with ice cream and discuss how they’re working to support bee habitats through their widely-used ingredients.
A ‘Good Retail’ pavilion will explore how retail brands are optimizing sourcing and navigating emerging issues in the retail industry. The pavilion will feature the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), LUSH, Starbucks and Smarter Sorting.
A ‘Good Finance’ pavilion focused on cutting-edge financial models will host EY, iCompli, Tides and Corporate Knights as a media partner.
A ‘Good Workplace’ pavilion will explore how brands are attracting and retaining top talent by innovating their company from the inside out. The pavilion will feature Cupanion, Diversey, and Porpoise.
A ‘Good Supply Chain’ pavilion will showcase brands and solution providers that are improving transparency and accountability in the value chain. The pavilion will feature BullFrog Power, Intertek, Segura Weir-TS, The Sustainability Consortium, Trex Company, Water for People and WAP Sustainability.

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To complement their discussions in the Activation Hub, several sponsors are organizing special events and receptions for attendees. The conference kicks off with a tree planting event hosted by Arbor Day Foundation and a Greening Your Business Infrastructure tour, hosted by The Canadian Council of Forest Ministers. Clif Bar will host a 4-mile Great Trail hike on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The hikes on Tuesday and Wednesday will be led by Ultra runner and Vancouver local, Ellie Greenwood.

On Tuesday evening after a reception hosted by Salesforce.org, LUSH will host a tour of their cosmetics factory for attendees, providing vegan food and drinks. In partnership with LUSH, Hives for Humanity will host a walk to East Van Roasters and Hastings Urban Farm to learn about social entrepreneurship and sample locally roasted coffee, chocolate and honey. The Activation Hub will also host the SB Innovation Open (SBIO) semi-finals on Tuesday, whereby 11 social or environmental startups will pitch their innovations before a panel of judges and audience members.

Other sponsors and exhibitors at SB’18 Vancouver include BASF, Salesforce.org, SC Johnson, 21st Century Fox, Danone, The Nature Conservancy, Driscoll’s, Shaw Industries, 599 Labs, ECOR, Catalist, BSR, younoodle, Participant Media, lululemon, Visa, TD Bank, Target, Schneider Electric, Rolland, MGM Resorts, Do Some Good, MBDC, Future of Internet Power, Nice and Serious and Leger.

The Activation Hub at SB’18 Vancouver will run Monday, June 4th through Thursday, June 7th at the Vancouver Convention Center. This year, Community Passes are available for those wishing to participate in this immersive networking experience, in addition to the Opening Night Welcome Reception hosted by BASF and plenary session featuring Sadhu Johnston, City Manager of Vancouver, John Izzo, Bestselling Author, and Marcelo Lu, President of BASF Canada.