History and founders

The project initially gathered a small group of business schools and universities in France and the UK, with the aim of gradually bringing together a broad range of educational, research and activist members at the European level. Founders include the NGO Banana Link, the University of East Paris, the University of Montpellier, Birmingham University, and Kent University who organized two preparatory workshops hosted by The Charles Leopold Mayer Foundation in Paris, as well as academic sessions dedicated to teaching and research on responsible GVC management at the annual conferences of the European Academy of Management in 2013 and 2014. Seed money has been provided in 2015 by the Chair for Responsible Management at the University of Montpellier, France, to develop the RGVC website. A steering committee was formed in May 2015 with representatives of eight universities or business schools and six NGOs from nine European countries to collectively guide the launch and development of the initiative.

Members of the steering committee

Alliot, Christophe or Sylvain Ly, Founding partners, BASIC (France)
Bair, Jennifer, Associate Professor, University of Virginia (USA)
Barrientos, Stephanie, Professor, University of Manchester (UK)
Corbalán Sergi, Executive director, Fair Trade Advocacy Office (FTAO) (Belgium)
Egels-Znadén, Niklas, Associate Professor, University of Gothenburg (Sweden)
Flecker, Jörg, Professor, University of Vienna (Austria)
Lindsay, Anne, Private Sector Analyst, Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (UK)
Lund-Thomsen, Peter, Associate Professor, Copenhagen Business School (Denmark)
Overeem, Pauline, Coordinator, or Sanne Van Der Wal, Senior researcher, SOMO/Good Electronics (Netherlands)
Palpacuer Florence, Professor, University of Montpellier (France)
Smith Alistair, International coordinator, Banana Link (UK)