Organised by:
Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IOeW), Berlin
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Berlin

Supported by:
German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Bonn
Ecological Economy Foundation (SÖW), Hanover

"Corporate Governance" so far predominantly refers to the responsibilities of the management towards their shareholders. This interpretation seems to be too narrow, not only in the light of the various corporate scandals of the past years, but also against the background of growing corporate power and scope, which particularly transnational corporations (TNCs) have gained in the course of liberalisation and globalisation. At the same time state autonomy and power are regarded as being declining, and governance deficits concerning environmental protection and sustainability can be witnessed. As a consequence, corporations are increasingly requested to take societal responsibility, in order to maintain their "licence to operate" and their societal legitimisation. At the summer academy, international experts discussed instruments of governance systems for sustainability including corporate self control, control by civil society, and background control by the state, particularly addressing the interfaces between them.