Women, Responsible Leadership and the MBA (part 4): Women on campus

22 April 2013 by Leave a comment

imagesBusiness schools around the world have taken a wide range of approaches when it comes to providing specific opportunities to promote and empower women in business. In the first blog we looked at range of resources on this topic and in the second post we looked at schools that provide a range of free certificate programmes through the 10,000 Women initiative. The third post looked at programmes being developed to empower women in the corporate world. Now, this post will consider the range of ways that schools are bringing up these issues to campus. 

Social Enterprise Week is an annual event where student clubs at the Graziadio School of Business and Management host a range of events to communicate the value of social and environmental responsibility, as well as sound ethical practices in business. During this week, the MBA Women Club, part of an international network dedicated to the advancement of business women as corporate leaders, held a panel discussion on Achieving the Feminine Triple Bottom Line.

A large number of signatory schools, such as Queen’s School of Business in Canada and London Business School in the UK, are also members of the Forte Foundation, a non profit consortium of major corporations and top business schools working together to launch women into fulfilling, significant careers through access to business education and opportunities. The schools provide, among other things, scholarships for women with high potential.

The Simmons School of Management has done extensive research around how gender is explored at a range of different business schools around the world. In 2012 they had an intensive, interdisciplinary student experience entitled the Simmons World Challenge where teams of students are invited to work with a small team of faculty over their winter break to develop creative solutions for major world problems.  The 2012 World Challenge theme was “At the Edge of Poverty:  Empowering Women to Change their Lives and their Worlds.” The MBA concentration in Organizational Leadership continues to have as its primary focus the success of women in organizations. As part of this, Simmons added a travel course to the UAE, including attendance and active participation in the 2012 Women as Global Leaders Conference (WAGL).

Villanova School of Business in the US has a Women in Business Advocacy Committee, dedicated to proposing measures that will enable all students to explore and understand issues that confront women as business leaders. They collaborate with the university-level Women’s Executive Leadership Program to ensure that the needs of VSB undergraduate and graduate students, VSB alumnae, and VSB corporate partners are best served.

The University of New South Wales in Australia has several programmes focused on women. The Academic Women’s Employment Strategy 2012- 2014 positions gender equity as a strategic priority for UNSW. In 2012 for the eighth consecutive year, it was recognised as an Employer of Choice for its initiatives to support and advance women in the workplace by the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency. Initiatives developed under UNSW’s gender equity program include the Academic Women in Leadership program, the Vice-Chancellor’s Childcare Support Fund for Women Researchers and the Career Advancement Fund. The school has an Academic Women in Leadership Program, designed for women seeking to develop leadership capability and includes themes such as authentic style, executive influence, adaptive leadership, thought leadership and one-to-one coaching. Their AGSM Women Indigenous Leaders Scholarship is provided yearly to Indigenous women entering the Women in Leadership Programme.

Filed under 1-Purpose, 2-Values, 3-Method, 4-Research, 5-Partnership, 6-Dialogue, Australasia, Australia, Canada, North America, UK, United States, Western Europe Tagged with , , ,

Women, Responsible Leadership and the MBA (part 3): Empowering Women

15 April 2013 by Leave a comment

imagesBusiness schools around the world have taken a wide range of approaches when it comes to providing specific opportunities to promote and empower women in business. In the first blog we looked at a range of resources on this topic, while in the second we looked at schools that provide free certificate programmes through the 10,000 Women initiative. Here we look at a range of other approaches being taken to empower women in the corporate world.

Rotterdam School of Management in the Netherlands has an initiative called Women Empowerment which encourages women to empower other women in business networks and high-performance environments. These activities were designed to address the specific challenges that women face when climbing the corporate ladder – a subject of great interest to project initiator and RSM Associate Dean of MBA programmes, Dr. Dianne Bevelander, who has actively researched the subject. In 2011, also based on this research, the school offered an elective called Mount Kilimanjaro Women Empowering Women. Fifteen women from the MBA programmes joined the course which involved going to Mount Kilimanjaro and focused on developing a greater understanding of how to work with other women in high performance environments.

In a bid to encourage more women to join the science, innovation and technology sectors and raise the profile of women currently in the industry, Newcastle University Business School in the UK launched an initiative called “North East of England Role Model Platform for Innovative Women.” The scheme, which has been established to help women overcome personal and professional barriers to success in the science, innovation and technology sectors, was initiated following research carried out by Professor Pooran Wynarczyk of Newcastle University Business School’s Small Enterprise Research Unit that showed that women were massively under represented in certain sectors, namely, in science, technology and innovation.

Bentley University’s Center for Women and Business is focused on helping women reach their full potential in the workplace and helping corporations engage the full potential of talented women leaders. Among other things they organize Best Practices Forums to engage critical thought-leaders and business professionals around the world to provide solutions for helping businesses harness the full potential of talented women leaders within their organizations and incorporating a culture of inclusion.

University of St. Gallen in Switzerland has put together a Management Certificate  called Women Back to Business, which helps women returning from an absence re-enter the job market in managerial positions. The programme is in collaboration with the Executive School of Management, Technology and Law together with Swiss and international companies. It is a one-year training program which includes career coaching, skill training, reflection workshops and practical experience in a company, public organization or NGO.

 

If you would like to share your initiatives around this topic in future posts please contact me.

 

Filed under 1-Purpose, 2-Values, 3-Method, 4-Research, 5-Partnership, 6-Dialogue, Netherlands, North America, Switzerland, UK, United States, Western Europe Tagged with , , ,

Women, Responsible Leadership and the MBA (part 1)- Introduction and Overview

1 April 2013 by Leave a comment

imagesOn March 8th, countries around the world celebrated International Women’s Day. The focus of this annual event is to build support for women’s rights and greater participation of women in the political, social and economic arenas. Although this year’s date has already passed, it is still a good opportunity to take a look at what is happening in business schools around the topics of women, gender and sustainability.

Fortunately, there are many excellent examples of initiatives, research and programmes to choose from. In this series of blog posts, I will outline a few different approaches that schools are taking around entrepreneurship, empowering women and campus activities. In this first blog I’ll start by focusing on the range of resources available to provide more information on the topic.

Reading though the range of materials produced by business, NGOs and international organizations, it quickly became clear that there are too many quality resources to list here. There are now a very wide range of resources online that look at both the state of women around the world and also, in particular, the corporate world. UN Women’s Watch provides a range of links to publications on the topic. Goal 3 of the Millennium Development Goals is focused on promoting gender equality and empowering women. According to the Goal’s website, women occupy 25% of senior management positions and in 2008/2009 were on average paid 23% less than men.

The Women’s Empowerment Principles offer guidance to companies on how to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community. The Principles include leadership, equal opportunity, health and safety, education, enterprise development, community leadership and transparency. The initiative emphasizes the business case for corporate action to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment and is informed by real-life business practices and inputs gathered from companies around the world.

In terms of how this translates into management education, a key resource is the work being done by the PRME Gender Working Group, which was discussed in a previous post. The mission of the group, which has over 60 members, is to bring together academic and employers to provide support and resources for integrating gender issues and awareness into management education, business school curricula, and related research. The Global Resource Repository, a collection of syllabi, case studies and other teaching resources, is being expanded to include sections on Research and Good Practices. The group is also inviting contributions to a publication on Gender Equality as a Challenge for Business and Management Education as part of the PRME Book Collection. The Call for Contributions is open and may be viewed here. Abstracts are being accepted until 1 June.

 

If you would like to share your initiatives around this topic in future posts please contact me.

Filed under 1-Purpose, 2-Values, 3-Method, 4-Research, 5 Questions, 5-Partnership, 6-Dialogue Tagged with , , , ,

Approaching Sustainability from a Cross-Disciplinary point of view – Hanken School of Economics

25 March 2013 by Leave a comment

Preparing students to be responsible leaders does not just happen in one class. It is an on-going activity that involves students learning about these topics from a variety of angles in a range of different classes. For this reason the leading schools in this area are exploring how to approach sustainability from a cross-disciplinary lens: in teaching, research and on campus.

One example of a school that has made cross-disciplinary a key focus right from the start is Hanken School of Economics in Finland. I had the chance to speak with Nikodemus Solitander and Martin Fougère who jointly manage PRME implementation at Hanken.

1. Tell us a bit about the cross-disciplinary nature of your work?
When we became signatories of PRME we had two goals with our activities. First, we wanted to make sure it didn’t become a bureaucratic exercise. We wanted it to be a meaningful activity that added real value to our daily research and teaching activities. Second, we wanted our work to be cross-disciplinary. The issues around sustainable development are so complex and need to be dealt with in a cross disciplinary manner in order for the learning to be meaningful. To a large extent we see the value of corporate responsibility as a platform for dialogue – and the more voices you get in, the more interesting the dialogue will be. This starts with us as coordinators of PRME across campus. We represent two different subjects, Nikodemus from Corporate Geography and Martin from Politics and business.

Until now, the most important project that we’ve worked on is perhaps the cross-disciplinary minor in Corporate Responsibility (CR minor). We started working on this in 2008 – it had been in the works earlier but it got the necessary strategic leverage with our commitment to PRME. The CR minor combines perspectives on CR-related issues from five different subjects; (Supply Chain Management and Corporate Geography; Politics and Business; Commercial Law; Management and Organization; Marketing). Faculty from these different disciplines have created courses to be incorporated into the module. We also offer the CR minor to students from a variety of disciplines across our campus as well as the University of Helsinki. This has definitely contributed to student learning on CR-related issues at Hanken by bringing together an even bigger range of angles and perspectives.

2. What are some of the challenges you have encountered in taking a cross disciplinary approach?
Cross-disciplinarity, as we know, is talked about by many but practiced by few. One challenge is that departments tend to compete for resources, which in turn tends to hinder cross-disciplinary collaboration. We knew this from the beginning so we immediately looked for ways to address it.

Another challenge has been with faculty. Some faculty members have expressed unwillingness to have their course in the CR minor in fear that it would increase the class size and thus make classes too large to handle with current resources – and we can fully understand this. We’ve also interviewed a lot of students and one thing they said was that it is possible to take almost your whole degree (with the exception of the two mandatory courses that discuss CR issues) without being exposed to sustainability. The younger generation seems to be more convinced that business is inherently intertwined with social and environmental issues, but many of them lack the vocabulary to deal with these issues; it is clearly our responsibility to expose them to a variety of useful ways to discuss these issues. Since most faculty want to decide for themselves what is included in their courses, getting CR content into the courses is often a challenge.

3. What have been some of the advantages/success of taking this approach?

From the student learning perspective it’s evident that cross-disciplinarity within the context of CR adds a lot of value – we hear this constantly from the students.

As a teacher/researcher you also learn a lot from working with people coming from a different background and perspective.

In a paper we wrote for the Journal of Business Ethics we frame the learning that occurs through exposure to different disciplinary perspectives as one that develops ‘moral imagination’ for both students and educators. We believe that such moral development – not driven by the top-down imposition of normative ethical theories but rather by an exposure to different types of theories, situations, and stakeholder voices – is needed for “responsible management education” and to deliver the outcomes sought in the PRME. It’s great to see that cross-disciplinarity can work in practice – because you see it so seldom outside of the dinner speeches and policy documents, the incentives are not really there when push comes to shove.

We have also had the chance to work with and share lessons with a range of other schools around the world including from Audencia Nantes School of Management in France and La Trobe University in Australia, and this has led to some interesting research output (published in Journal of Management Education and Journal of Business Ethics) and created further synergies with our existing work.

4. What advice do you have for other schools looking to take a cross-disciplinary approach such as yours?
Our advice to others would be to build your sustainability strategy around cross-disciplinarity in relation to teaching, research and school activities. Make use of the resources that you have, informal networks, faculty that have an interest in this area, and build from that.

We have very little funding for our programmes but have still been able to make them work. Cooperation has been made possible by informal networks involving faculty across departments. From the beginning we’ve clearly taken the approach of using content that relies more on existing resources and structures – we wanted to move fast and develop this thing into something meaningful so by keeping the costs down, we gathered, correctly in retrospect, that it wouldn’t hit many snags on the way up the decision-making ladder.

5. What is next for Hanken in terms of this agenda?
We have many ongoing activities. First, this year we have initiated a course in social and environmental responsibility where student teams from different disciplines from both Hanken and the University of Helsinki work together on projects with local NGOs. Second, our International Management and Strategy master’s programme is being reframed as a masters in International Strategy and Sustainability starting in 2014-2015. It will include among its four core courses two courses dealing with ethics and sustainability, and will impose that at least one of the CR minor courses is taken among the electives, in line with our cross-disciplinary thinking and our commitment to PRME. Third, we continue to develop the CR3+ conferences with our partner schools (see the Inspirational Guide for the Implementation of PRME for more on this). Last but not least, we are among the founding members of the Global Doctoral Consortium on Sustainability and Social Responsibility which will involve giving one PhD course per year in the area of sustainability and making this course available to PhD students from other member schools. These are but four examples of the many projects that we are working on.

Filed under 1-Purpose, 2-Values, 3-Method

Creating a New MBA focused on sustainability, innovation and entrepreneurship– Deusto Business School

11 March 2013 by Leave a comment

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How do we create an MBA that fully incorporates sustainability and responsible leadership into its programme? How do we embed sustainability across the curriculum? Do we completely change the way that the MBA is structured?

Over the upcoming year I will be providing a range of blogs that explore how different schools have approached this question and the kinds of answers they have proposed. First is Deusto Business School in Spain. They have created a new, one-year programme, starting this April 2013, which embeds sustainability and responsible leadership into all aspects of the programme. I recently had the chance to speak to David Ruiz de Olano, Director of MBA Programmes from Deusto, about their new programme.

1. Why did you decide to create this new programme?

MBA programmes and Business School are at a crossroad right now. Companies, students and society are demanding a review of the objectives, curricula and outcomes of the MBA to really serve business and society. Therefore, we decided to start from scratch and create a programme that tackles the problems companies and executives are facing today and tomorrow.

We turned to the Principles for Responsible Management Education and created an MBA directly based on and inspired by these. We wanted to create an MBA that was both traditional and disruptive in the way that it is designed, providing a unique programme for students to gain solid management skills but also have a solid understanding of the future business agenda and be an integral part of shaping and pushing that agenda forward.

2. Deusto Business School is located in the Basque region. Why is Northern Spain an interesting place in terms of sustainability, innovation and entrepreneurship?

Northern Spain has a long tradition of entrepreneurship and industrial companies, with a high level of internationalization. Basque Country has always taken a clear position facilitating the internationalization and investment of its companies: for example an R&D Investment /GDP ratio of 2% that is higher than in Spain (1.2%) and similar to Europe (2.82% in Germany).

In the Basque region, there is also a long tradition of entrepreneurship (actually, the founder of the College was an entrepreneur who went to Las Americas). Our region has created some of the most important companies in Spain (such as banking group BBVA, or energy company Iberdrola). This provides a unique opportunity for students to study in the heart of the Basque country at our campuses in Bilbao and San Sebastian but also at our third campus in Madrid, the center of economic activity in Spain.

 3. Briefly describe the new MBA at Deusto

When designing the programme we decided that there were three elements that were key for future leaders.  These three elements are truly embedded into every class that is offered in the new MBA. This includes:

  • Sustainability: Sustainability is embedded into all areas of business looking at both the collective business and how to embed sustainability into organizational strategy and the global supply chain but also the students’ individual capacity to be sustainability leaders.
  • Digital strategy: The focus here is on the digital and networked world of individuals and organizations, looking at the impact of information technologies on people and companies as well as how to use technology to solve world problems.
  • Innovation and entrepreneurship: The focus here is on developing critical thinking and creative leadership with students, to give them the skills and mindset of an entrepreneur. Students have the chance to work with an innovative start up or to work on an innovative, entrepreneurial project with a company throughout the school year.

The new programme offers both a global and local vision of business with students spending time during the programme studying at one of the University of Deusto’s campuses (Bilbao), a term in New York City in the US as well as time in a developing or emerging country working on a service learning project focused on entrepreneurial activity associated with conflict resolution (including Kenya, Congo, Tanzania, Peru, India, Venezuela or Cambodia).

Also the new programme offers students the opportunity to really get engaged with companies on these topics. There will be a range of high profile events with the Spanish and European business community for students to participate in. In addition, students will have the opportunity to work with companies on specific projects, both short projects as well as a longer, full term project to have the opportunity to put their learnings into practice.

4. What tips would you have for other schools creating new programmes around sustainability or incorporate sustainability into existing programmes?

Engage faculty from the beginning, each institution has its own internal resistance to any change and this is a change. Faculty may be already working on these issues, you just need to give them room. Also, forget the “nice” approach of being sustainable, this is another framework for business that concentrates on the generation of new market opportunities.

5. What’s next?

We are currently accepting students for our first class starting in April 2013 which already contains a good mix of students from around the world. Students also have access to a large number of grants. The response has been very good due to the uniqueness of the programme. It is perhaps the only programme in the world that combines a focus of sustainability with one of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Because Deusto is a very well established university in Spain, students will have access to an excellent range of companies across Spain, Europe and the world for placements and post MBA jobs and we are continuing to work on ensuring that plenty of interesting opportunities exist for our graduating students. Moving forward we will continue to strengthen the programme and develop our growing network of partnerships with the business sector in this area.

Filed under 1-Purpose, 2-Values, 3-Method, 4-Research, 5-Partnership, Spain, Western Europe Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Developing the post 2015 agenda

4 March 2013 by Leave a comment

worldwewantIn the year 2000, world leaders came together to establish the Millennium Development Goals – also known as the MDGs – a set of eight goals which member states and international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015. The MDGs are to:

  1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
  2. Achieve universal primary education
  3. Promote gender equality and empower women
  4. Reduce child mortality
  5. Improve maternal health
  6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
  7. Ensure environmental sustainability
  8. Develop a global partnership for development

The MDGs have been a powerful tool for sustaining global attention and bringing together international support to promote development. The strength of the MDGs is that they focuse on a limited set of concrete human development goals and have provided a target for setting national and international development policies. The specific, time-bound targets and measurable indicators provide valuable and effective benchmarks for monitoring progress and achieving concrete results.

The target today, post Rio+20, is still on achieving those goals by 2015 but the process has started to develop a framework that could succeed the MDGs in the post 2015 era. Discussions are already underway as to what these new goals and targets may look like, taking the lessons learnt from the MDGs. This includes an intergovernmental Open Working Group, a UN System Task Team as well as over 50 national consultations being led by the UN Development Group (for more information about this process visit Post 2015 site).

It was felt, in particular by civil society organizations, that there were several important issues that were not addressed in the original MDGs, issues productive employment, violence against women, social protection, inequalities, social exclusion, biodiversity, malnutrition, the rule of law, human rights that could be included this time around. In order to ensure that the important issues are not overlooked and to make the goals and targets stronger, this time civil society is being invited into the process through a wide range of consultative processes.

In conjunction with the UN task forces and governments plans for the post-2015 agenda, a consultation process is being held online via a platform called The World We Want 2015. Here, nine thematic consultations are taking place led by various UN agencies including Inequalities, Governance, Health, Sustainability, Population, Water,  Employment,  Conflict,  Food,  Education,  and Energy. Each theme has regular online discussions, summaries of the consultation process, and ongoing Twitter updates of the live proceedings.  Currently there is an online consultation on Sustainability and Growth that will continue until the 8th of March. There are also a series of conferences around the different topic areas happening around the world.

Individuals are also being invited to take part in the process is via My World (www.myworld2015.org), a global survey asking individuals to choose priorities in creating a better world. The results will be shared with world leaders in setting the next global development agenda.

There are also a range of hubs bringing together research, reports and information about the Post-2015 discussions, all which invite contributions. Post 2015 is a hub for ideas, debate and resources on what comes after the Millenium Development Goals. Co-ordinated by the Overseas Development Institute, which has been working on a major research project on the post-2015 agenda, the site also collects information about new research, papers and other relevant information regarding this topic.  Several movements and organizations such as Beyond 2015 and Global Call to Action Against Poverty provide a space for civil society groups to discuss what the post 2015 agenda may look like and submit their recommendations.

The first report of the UN system on the Post 2015 Development Agenda – Realizing the Future We Want for All – provides a good overview of the whole process and the issues being discussed. Moving forward there are a range of events that will bring together the public consultations into the Post 2105 edition of the MDG. For example Feb 27-28 will be the 2013 Global MDG Conference in Bogota, Columbia and the topic will be discussed at length at the upcoming 68th UN General Assembly in September of this year.

To follow other Post Rio+20 activities visit sustainabledevelopment.un.org.

-  How do you incorporate the MDGs in your research and teaching? What are your thoughts on what the post 2015 goals and targets could look like? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. -

Filed under 1-Purpose, 2-Values, 6-Dialogue Tagged with , , , , , ,

Energy and Sustainability in Business Schools – Business School response (Part 3)

25 February 2013 by Leave a comment

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Energy and Climate Change are two very important issues for the business sector. Companies of all shapes and sizes are working both independently and together to reach various carbon reduction goals set by themselves or by the international community (see Part 1).

Business schools are also increasingly active with more and more schools reporting on their energy and carbon reduction activities. In Part 2 we looked at a series of measures that business schools are taking to raise awareness about and reduce their carbon footprints. Here we look at how schools are getting more deeply engaged in these issues through partnerships, curriculum and research.

Partnerships

Several schools are partnering with businesses, NGOs or governments to help them with their carbon reduction goals. Universidad del Pacifico in Peru collaborated with the Fundacion Ecologia y Desarrollo in Spain to create their carbon strategy. The project included an awareness raising campaign, a project to calculate the emissions on campus and work with the different parts of the campus to ensure that these efforts continue into the future. At Fordham University, they measured and implemented methods to reduce their carbon footprint, working to meet the City of New York’s program for carbon reduction of 30 percent by the year 2017. An energy and greenhouse gas emission study was completed as part of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s challenge to institutes of higher education to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent by the year 2017. The University of Dubai in the UAE, invited the Dubai Water and Electricity Authority (DEWA) to campus to conduct a workshop on conservation and present the latest developments in the fields of water and energy for students, faculty and staff. On February 16, 2012, the University was given the ‘Conservation Award – For a Better Tomorrow’ from DEWA for its reduction of water consumption by 9%, electricity by 23%. At Copenhagen Business School green technology are showcased regularly on campus to demonstrate new green IT solutions, electric vehicles or paperless systems to raise awareness among students and faculty. Companies such as IBM and Velux were the first corporate partners to showcase green technology at CBS.

Courses

A range of businesses are providing elective courses focused on the topic of energy. Babson has a course called The Norwegian Experience, an off shore course that explores the drivers of opportunities in the energy domain and examines ways new ventures are applying technologies in wind, water, solar and alternative fuel.

A growing number of schools have gone beyond providing single courses around energy related topics to creating whole MBA’s focused on Energy. Both Warwick Business School in the UK and Centrum in Peru have MBA programmes focused on Energy. The Energy MBA at Centrum was created to understand how to generate value in the energy field. The program focuses on the application of knowledge, techniques and best practices in order to ensure the management of hydrocarbon resources in different industries. In Switzerland the University of Applied Sciences HTW Chur has a Master of Advanced Studies in Energy Economics. Escuela de Organizacion Industrial in Spain provides an executive programme focused on carbon training. St. Gallen in Switzerland has a Diploma Program in Renewable Energy Management which provides training for future leaders in tomorrow’s energy markets.

Centres and Research

Many schools in all regions of the world have centres focused on the topic of energy and climate change or tackle these issues within their sustainability and other related centres. At the Rotterdam School of management the Erasmus Centre for Future Energy Business develops the business foundation for tomorrow’s energy markets. Their research focuses on bringing together energy practitioners, policy makers, and researchers from Economics, Computer Science, Behavioural Sciences, and Management Sciences to guide and to shape the transformation of the energy sector. The school will be hosting their second annual Erasmus Energy Forum in May 2013 focused on exploring the future of the energy business. In the US the University of California at Davis has an Energy Efficiency Centre which works to accelerate the development and commercialization of energy efficiency technologies, and to train future leaders in energy efficiency. University of Applied Sciences HTW Chur in Switzerland has a similar centre and also hosts the Swiss Alpine Laboratory for Testing of Energy Efficiency where they conduct measurements in the area of energy efficiency in line with established Swiss and international norms and practices.

- This is part of a series of blogs in 2013 focused on business schools and energy - 

Filed under 1-Purpose, 2-Values, 3-Method, 4-Research, 5-Partnership, 6-Dialogue, Denmark, Latin America, Middle East and Africa, North America, Peru, Spain, Switzerland, UK, United Arab Emirates, United States, Western Europe

Measuring your Carbon Footprint – American University in Cairo

5 February 2013 by Leave a comment

Screen Shot 2013-02-04 at 13.57.03Late in 2012, The American University in Cairo became the first institution in the Middle East and North Africa to conduct a comprehensive study of its impact on climate change. It released the publication Our Carbon Footprint , prepared by the Office of Sustainability and the Desert Development Center, which was  the result of campus-wide efforts incorporating the work of faculty, staff and students.

I recently had the chance to speak with the Marc Rauch, the sustainability coordinator at AUC, about this initiative.

1.    Why did you decide to create the report and do this research?

Egypt is especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change so it is important that we do what we can to curb our carbon emissions and convince others to do likewise to help sustain the long-term viability of Egyptian society. This project represents the first attempt in the region to measure a university’s impact on climate change, which not only enables us to work on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions on campus, but also serve as a model and challenge for others to also address climate change in their organizations.

2.    How did you go about putting together the report and gathering the information?

We used as a reference the Clean Air – Cool Planet Carbon Calculator which was adapted to the specific needs of AUC and Egypt. This is an excel workbook capable of quantifying an annual aggregate carbon footprint. We focused only on our New Cairo campus where the bulk of the University’s operations now take place. The report provides in-depth information about how we went about calculating our footprint and provides a foundation for continued efforts to improve AUC’s performance in this area.

3.    What were some of the interesting findings from the report

We expected the emissions rate to be higher than it was given AUC’s reliance on commuting to New Cairo and our extensive use of air conditioning. Most of the emissions came from three sources: 40% came from heating, ventilation, air conditioning and domestic hot water, not surprising since the campus is located in a desert climate; 27% came from commuting by bus and car since the campus is 35km away from downtown Cairo; and 21.5% came from lighting and use of other electrical equipment. We also found it useful to compare ourselves with other universities by greenhouse gases emitted per full-time equivalent student.

4.    What plans do you have for the future for sustainability and carbon reduction on campus?

We developed seventeen measures around which to reduce our carbon footprint: Air Conditioning, Heating and ventilation, Transportation, Lighting, Paper Use and Water Supply. This is a project that allows anyone on campus to engage in by adjusting temperature settings in their office to encouraging carpooling. The website also has an area for students and staff to submit ideas on how to reduce AUC’s Carbon Footprint further.

We have formed two separate university-wide task forces, one focused on reducing our energy consumption by one third overall within 3 years, and the other focused on conserving and recycling water. We have already achieved striking gains in energy conservation and efficiency, and are starting to make progress on water.

5.    What advice do you have for other schools thinking of doing the same activity?

Do a quick review of a widely used carbon calculator like Clean Air/Cool Planet’s to see the kinds of data you will need to calculate your carbon footprint. Then before going any further, do some research to confirm that the data required is available on campus or can be generated or retrieved without too much difficulty. In our case, the data was usually available in some form, even if getting it sometimes required a bit of coaxing!

To view the full Carbon Footprint Report click here.

Filed under 1-Purpose, 3-Method, 4-Research, 5-Partnership, 6-Dialogue, Middle East and Africa Tagged with , , ,

Spreading the word about PRME on campus

1 February 2013 by Leave a comment

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Signatories to the Principles for Responsible Management Education from around the world are using a wide range of strategies to integrate PRME into their curriculums and raise awareness about the Principles among their students and staff. One method that schools from all regions of the world are able to implement is to create posters with the 6 Principles of PRME on them and posting them in high visibility spots around campus as a way.

Several schools such as ISAE FGV in Brazil (pictured below) and the University of Hull in the UK created large posters with information about the Principles and their commitment to these which are placed on walls around the entrance to campus. In Peru, Centrum Católica (pictured above) displays a poster with the Principles on campus and in each classroom. This makes students aware of the school’s commitment and, as a result, students will often ask faculty and administration for more information about the initiative.

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In the USA, Thunderbird School of Global Management has posted information about the Principles across campus. They are also used as a guideline in curriculum development and as a pedagogical tool. Many of their students report that they chose Thunderbird based on its commitment to managerial professionalism and responsibility.

In Canada, MacEwan School of Business created a poster which was unveiled when they first became a signatory in January 2011 and is now displayed on campus.

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In the United Arab Emirates, the University of Dubai put the PRME poster with the six Principles in three locations on campus; at the main entrance near the reception, in the students’ foyer and in the MBA lobby. The purpose was to create awareness about the organization and UD’s commitment to the Principles. In addition, all students have to take a core course, “Business and Society,” in which students learn about PRME, the Global Compact, and how the UD is involved in each of them.

Uofdubai

In Jordan, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh College of Business decided to show the written Principles to increase the awareness of both students and faculty members and show how they are deployed in the school’s MBA program. Introductory sessions were held to raise awareness of PRME and explain how TAGSB is fully committed to the Principles, assuring the full understanding of how crucial it is to align them.

Many of the schools listed have created their own banners; however, the PRME secretariat also has a banner which is available to download from the PRME website at http://unprme.org/resources/display-resources-sub.php?scid=10.

- Do you have a poster on campus showing the Principles? Let us know and send us a picture. - 

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Filed under 1-Purpose, 2-Values, Brazil, Canada, Jordan, Latin America, Middle East and Africa, North America, Peru, UK, United Arab Emirates, United States, Western Europe Tagged with , , , ,

Energy and Sustainability in Business Schools – Business School response (part 2)

30 January 2013 by Leave a comment

clean_energyEnergy and Climate Change are two very important issues for the business sector. Companies of all shapes and sizes are working both independently and together to reach various carbon reduction goals set by themselves or by the international community (see Part 1).

Business schools are also increasingly active with more and more schools reporting on their energy and carbon reduction activities. In the next couple of parts of this series we will look at some of these schools and what they are doing.

Reducing Energy Use on Campus

In 2012, Cotsakos College of Business  was named a finalist in the 2012 Second Nature Climate Leadership Awards competition, which recognizes the most innovative climate leaders in the US. The university has embarked on several energy saving initiatives. In October 2010, the university opened what was then the largest solar energy facility on any university campus in the US. The initiative is projected to save an estimated $4.3 million in energy costs over the next 15 years, while also reducing the university’s carbon footprint.In the Netherlands, Rotterdam School of Management’s ‘Campus under Construction’ project, which is being implemented until 2028, focuses on modernizing the campus to make it more energy efficient. The university administration has been collaborating closely with both the city of Rotterdam and sustainability faculty concerning city planning and environmentally sustainable considerations. In 2013 a 15‐story building for international student housing, the Erasmus Plaza; a vibrant green esplanade; pedestrian‐avenue with underground parking; and the energy-neutral Erasmus Pavilion will be completed. Ashridge Business School in the UK switched in 2011 to a 100% renewable electricity supply contract.

Measuring the Carbon Footprint

One of the main efforts on campuses around energy is measuring and reducing their carbon footprint. Winchester Business School has a commitment to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per square meter by 30% below the 2006 levels by 2015. In 2011, the university set a target for carbon reduction of 43% by 2012. A growing number of schools are looking not just to reduce but to become carbon neutral. Pacific Lutheran University has a goal of carbon neutrality by 2020. In 2010 the university dropped its total energy costs by 10% by changing out light fixtures, adding motion sensors for lighting, and installing better insulation and window seals. Bentley University has made a commitment to become carbon neutral by the year 2030. The office of sustainability provides a website with information on Bentley’s current carbon footprint and an overview of their plans to reach this goal through energy system upgrades, green building and electronics recycling among other things. They have also constructed a 3,000 square foot solar thermal wall as part of the Athletic Center which traps heat from the sun. When the heating, ventilation and air conditioning is turned on, the air is pulled through the solar walls and is heated in the process requiring less energy to warm the air in a room.

Educating the campus about efforts

A large part of reducing energy use on campus is raising awareness of the issues with students and staff. In India, the Institute of Productivity and Management Green Initiative works to make its campus greener. They created ‘Save Energy’ guidelines which include conservation of water and electricity, which are widely distributed amongst staff and students. In Slovenia, the Faculty of Economics Eco Team encourages employees and students to get engaged by organizing and implementing a wide range of energy reduction activities. In Korea, Kyung Hee University ‘s Green Team also conducts a range of awareness raising activities and projects around Energy management and lighting efficiency across campus.

Taking part in International and National Initiatives

Another way that schools are raising awareness about these issues on campus is by participating in international energy related events. The University of Dubai takes part in Earth Hour every year on March 22nd. Students, faculty, and staff at UD signed up to participate in the world earth hour and participated by switching off the lights for one hour. Schulich School of Business also celebrate Earth Hour with their event ‘Earth Hour Every Hour’ in collaboration with IRIS, and the Ecologically Conscious Organization aims to provide environmental knowledge, and to inspire the creation of a future where waste and energy reduction are daily considerations. In France, Clean Tuesdays began as an association in 2008 to promote the development of Cleantech throughout France. On the first Tuesday of every month, an event or mini-conference is organized in a different location in France bringing together participants to share their expertise, their activities and their best practices in the field. Grenoble Ecole de Management is affiliated with this project and has hosted several Clean Tuesday events on campus.

Getting students engaged

Several schools, such as EADA in Spain, have student clubs focused on energy issues. At EADA, the Green Society is a voluntary student club for individuals who have an interest in Climate Change. Throughout the year the club organizes interactive seminars on the topics of Carbon Politics, New Sources of Energy, Creating a Low-Carbon Economy, and more. Grenoble Ecole de Management has a student engineer specialized in Quality, Security & Environmental analysis who is currently carrying out a comprehensive study of the School carbon footprint. The University of Victoria in Canada has instituted voluntary carbon-offset programs for students travelling as part of their exchange program.

- This is part of a series of blogs in 2013 focused on business schools and energy - 

Filed under 1-Purpose, 2-Values, 3-Method, 5-Partnership, 6-Dialogue, Canada, France, India, Korea, Netherlands, North America, Slovenia, Spain, UK, United Arab Emirates, United States

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