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

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 –