MILAN – SCA is launching “Avance”, its first sustainability conference. The event will take place on 11-12 October 2017 in Guatemala City, at the headquarters of Anacafé, the national coffee association of Guatemala.
The conference is named after the Spanish word for “advance”, or “move forward”.
The title
This title reflects the tireless commitment of the association to foster the progress of the coffee industry and improve economic, social and environmental sustainability.
Spanish is the language of the hosting country and many of the participants attending the conference are native Spanish speakers.
According to the press release issued by SCA, Avance is the result of years of advocacy by members of the coffee community to include the voice of coffee farmers and representatives from coffee-producing countries in discussions around sustainability issues.
The Conference
The conference also builds on years of work by the SCA’s Sustainability Council and many conversations within the specialty coffee community around how our industry can work together to make coffee better.
The event is designed to be inclusive of roles and experience levels across the coffee industry and offers an unparalleled opportunity for individuals to connect to the fast-growing sustainability community.
Business representatives from coffee-consuming countries as well as farmers, development practitioners, and public officials from coffee-producing countries will be present to learn from experts and from one another about sustainability topics in the coffee sector.
The program
The two-day event will consist of lectures, workshops, panel discussions, and dialogue on topics like climate change and coffee production economics, with a focus on the Central American context.
Kim Elena Ionescu, Chief Sustainability Officer for the SCA, notes, “Avance is special in many ways, but there are two features that most clearly set it apart from other SCA events: it is our first sustainability-focused conference, and our first conference that will be held in a coffee-producing region.”
Ionescu adds, “The growth of the sustainability community in coffee, the need to include a more diverse set of voices in our dialogues, and the accelerating awareness of the challenges we face form the foundation for Avance and I can’t wait to see what we build on it.”
To learn more about Avance and to register, visit www.avance.coffee.
