This week I want to both celebrate the past and look forward to 2020. Over the next few days I will share the 2019 PRiMEtime review, highlighting some of the fantastic work PRME Signatories are undertaking across the globe. Then we will focus in on what we are looking forward to in 2020 with some thoughts from our 2019 PRME Champion Schools.
A big thank you to all of you who contributed, shared, read and commented on PRiMEtime over the past year. PRiMEtime has featured thousands of examples from around the world over the years so please look back at past posts to inspire your work moving forward, to explore common challenges, share our lessons learnt and celebrate our successes. This year over 150 different schools were featured from 57 different countries.
As we enter this new decade, I hope that we can all approach our new years resolutions in a different, more powerful way. We shouldn’t be afraid to try, to collaborate, to start new projects, to increase the impact and relevance of our work. It is encouraging to see so many new schools willing to share their work on PRiMEtime, schools who previously didn’t think their examples were strong enough. The reality is that good practices come from all of our 800+ signatories, regardless of how big or small, or how far a school is along their PRME journey. Whatever challenges you are facing, whatever question you have, the answer lies within the network.
It is crucial that we never forget the significant impact that all of our work has on countless individuals, students, alumni, businesses and issues locally and further afield, every single day. As I have noted many times before, while our role may be underappreciated by the global community, we should never underestimate our impact.
I encourage all Advanced signatories to contact me if there are projects, courses, initiatives, research and experiences that you or your students would like to share at gweybrecht@thesustainablemba.com.
Click on the links to access the original post. For part 2 click here.
Earlier this year I put together a summary of what business schools around the world are doing in terms of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as highlighted in their Sharing Information on Progress (SIP) reports submitted throughout 2018 (accessible here). Several posts expanded on the findings from this report with specific examples including 17 projects and initiatives focused on each of the 17 SDGs (SDG 1-9 and SDG 10-17). Another series of posts looked at several ways schools are engaging in the SDGs internally, from the development of new courses at the University of Guelph, case studies at Schulich School of Business, an innovative MOOC at University of Cape Town, a new degree programme at ALTIS Postgraduate School Business & Society, to hosting an innovation platform at the University of St. Gallen to name but a few.
Hanken School of Economics in Finland, Audencia Business School in France, La Trobe Business School in Australia and ISAE/FGV in Brazil created video based learning materials on each of the 17 SDGs as part of a CR3+/PRME Champions joint initiative. Information about the videos can be accessed here.
Equality and Health (1,2,3,10)
Students at UniCesumar in Brazil are training individuals in poor communities in information technology in order to help them find jobs. Koç University Graduate School of Business’s International service-learning certificate programme focuses on supporting disadvantaged communities around the world. Students at the University of San Diego School of Business Administration participate in microfinance projects at the beginning of their programme in collaboration with a local not for profit.
To celebrate World Food Day on the 16th of October, we featured 30 ways business schools are supporting SDG 2 focused on Zero Hunger. This series looked at food in relation to method and dialogue (part 1) research and partnerships (part 2) and in operations (part 3) . Examples included Seattle Pacific University’s on-campus food recovery programme, Brennan School of Business’ efforts to grow their own produce, research at Glasgow Caledonian University providing new evidence on the risks of food contaminants, support for long-term research projects on the efficiency of health systems and the management of healthcare services at Porto Business School and the University of Auckland Business School’s research on food security in relation to Indigenous people.
A growing number of schools are reporting initiatives relating to mental health, an important topic given the increasing demands being placed on students both in and outside the classroom and, in particular, throughout their careers. We looked at how Henley Business School in the UK has been approaching the mental health of not just its students but also its staff. Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in China hosts the Mindful Institute, which aims to enable students to perfect mindfulness practices. At Manchester Metropolitan University Business School in the UK an exercise and health literacy app was developed to help prevent accidents caused by falling among the over 65s.
Engaging youth (SDG 4)
Earlier in the year we looked at the result of the most recent Biennial State of CSR and RME in Business Schools. We also dove into a report released by the University of Wollongong exploring the multiple ways the WikiRate Student Engagement Project was being implemented in high education institutions around the world. Students who took part in the PRME Innovation Challenge in 2017 also shared their experiences and how the Challenge has impacted their careers.
On International Youth Day we looked at how Signatories are engaging not just their own students, but potential students in secondary schools and even younger in the SDGs. Examples included brief traineeships offered through TIAS School for Business and Society in the Netherlands and programmes at IRL School Cornell University, Fundacao Dom Cabral and Kent State University focused on giving low-income high schools students opportunities to transition from high school to adulthood. The HSG Children’s University Programme at University of St. Gallen teaches primary school students about the SDGs. Lazaridis School of Business, Ca’Foscari University of Venice and Ingolstadt School of Management all organizes different multi day events daylong youth conference on the SDGs for children while University of Beirut in Lebanon has a national wide video competition for students focused on the SDGs. A series of key documents diving deeper into the theme of transforming education and the SDG were the focus of another post including a deeper look at the Youth 2030 strategy of the UN.
Gender Equality (SDG 5)
Several posts featured examples of how business schools are pushing for gender equality, in particular through the support of women led businesses. The Universidad Panamericana in Mexico trains single mothers to become micro-entrepreneurs. Winchester Business School’s Women in Digital Enterprise project promotes the digital growth of women led businesses while the Peter J. Tobin College of Business provides micro loans to women globally. The University of St. Gallen has a programme designed for women who want to re-enter the business world and Bifrost University has a training development programme for Migrant Women.
A few schools shared their examples of eliminating gender bias internally including Newcastle Business School in Australia and Glasgow Caledonian University (both the recipients of the Bronze Award under the Athena SWAN Charter which recognizes efforts to eliminate gender bias and develop an inclusive culture that values all staff). Koc University hosts a UNESCO Chair on Gender Equality and Sustainable Development and works in collaboration with UN Women and the HeForShe campaign which aims to end gender inequality by 2030. IPM Business School’s research project on equal rights for women in business was featured along with a range of other initiatives focused on women on International Women’s Day. Finally 5 resources focused on Women’s empowerment and SDG 5 were featured including UN Women’s new flagship report outlining progress made on SDG 5.
Click here for part 2.
PRiMEtime 