Business schools are increasingly looking to establish partnerships with businesses around sustainability. These partnerships take a variety of shapes, from research to student projects, internships to co-lecturing, and the development of new programmes or new events. But one of the main challenges schools mention when it comes to developing business-business school partnerships is how to find the businesses to connect with in the first place. Here is the second part exploring various opportunities.
- Sustainable Development Goals: Adopted in September 2015, these 17 global goals and 169 related targets lay out a path over the next 15 years to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and protect our planet. The goals impact all stakeholders, including business, and require all stakeholders, including business, to engage in order to ensure that they are achieved by 2030. Business schools can translate the specific SDGs for business, locally, nationally, and internationally through research, consulting projects, tailored events and training, etc. For more, click here to stay connected to Global Compact news related to the SDGs.
- Specific Calls to Action: Beyond interest in similar thematic areas, there is overlap in the issues and topics that the PRME and Global Compact communities engage in. For example, the recent call to action in response to the refugee crisis provides opportunities for business schools and businesses to partner to support refugees by providing effective training/education to incoming refugees to ensure productive contribution to host country and helping to prepare refugees for return to rebuild home country. To see a list of current pledges click here. Partnering to address burgeoning refugee crisis
- Companies your school already engages with: Many businesses have already developed relationships with business schools, but perhaps not yet in the space of responsible management or sustainability. If organisations are already partnering with the school, why not propose to engage them through this topic as well.
- Join/replicate existing partnerships: Business schools around the world are already engaged in numerous innovative partnerships. Several are looking for additional partners, while others are scalable or replicable within different geographical areas. The Business Partnership Hub is a Global Compact platform that provides examples of current business partnerships around Global Compact focus areas. The recently launched resource Partner with Business Schools to Advance Sustainability: Ideas to Inspire Action provides a range of current business-business school partnerships within the PRME networks.
- Take advantage of opportunities through PRME: The PRME Secretariat regularly provides information of opportunities to interact with businesses from the Global Compact. A few examples include
PRiMEtime 