The PRME were first published at the 2007 UN Global Compact Leaders Summit

1. Advancing Management Education for Sustainability: An Empirical Study of PRME Signatories 4th International Conference on Higher Education for Sustainable DevelopmentHigher Education for Sustainable Development: Moving the Agenda Forward14-16 September 2011Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Germany. Jasmin GodemannChristian HerzigJeremy MoonNottingham UniversityInternational Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (ICCSR)

2. “It's been described as one of the most pressing challenges that businesses are likely to face over the next five years, and one that could save them a collective £55bn a year in the UK alone – that is, the task of ensuring that business leaders and professionals have the skills they need to take their companies forwards into a sustainable economy.” (11.8.2011 the guardian)

3. The PRME were first published at the 2007 UN Global Compact Leaders Summit • Under the coordination of the UN Global Compact and leading academic institutions, the PRME task force developed a set of six principles which lay the foundation for responsible management education. • The PRME can serve as a framework for systemic change for business schools • Adopting the PRME implies that the signatory school is willing to report regularly on progress to all stakeholders. • By now, more than 380 organizations have joined what could probably be seen as the most important initiative in responsible management education.

4. Principle 1: Purpose: We will develop the capabilities of students to be future generators of sustainable value for business and society at large and to work for an inclusive and sustainable global economy. Principle 2: Values: We will incorporate into our academic activities and curricula the values of global social responsibility as portrayed in international initiatives such as the United Nations Global Compact. Principle 3: Method: We will create educational frameworks, materials, processes and environments that enable effective learning experiences for responsible leadership.

5. Principle 4: Research: We will engage in conceptual and empirical research that advances our understanding about the role, dynamics, and impact of corporations in the creation of sustainable social, environmental and economic value. Principle 5: Partnership: We will interact with managers of business corporations to extend our knowledge of their challenges in meeting social and environmental responsibilities and to explore jointly effective approaches to meeting these challenges. Principle 6: Dialogue: We will facilitate and support dialog and debate among educators, students, business, government, consumers, media, civil society organizations and other interested groups and stakeholders on critical issues related to global social responsibility and sustainability. We understand that our own organizational practices should serve as example of the values and attitudes we convey to our students.

6. Who Participates in the PRME initiative?

7. 100 first reporting signatories

8. What has been analysed?

9. Key messages from the analysis • The vast majority of business schools which have signed the UN Principles for Responsible Management Education aim to embed sustainability within all areas (research, teaching, operations); however most emphasis is placed on teaching • Business schools stress different goals of sustainable business education: some focus on critical thinking whereas others stress the necessity of innovation, to deal with societal problems or emphasise the value of traditional management knowledge • Several business schools have established research centres and research groups to carry out research dedicated to sustainability and to enhance the overall integration of sustainability in their organisations • Business schools have the tendency to integrate sustainability into postgraduate programmes, with a particular focus on the MBA programme

10. Key messages from the analysis • Business schools seem to see sustainability as a main research focus but they do not elaborate on their understanding of and approach to sustainability research • Business schools are committed to greening the campus activities (with a strong focus on the reduction of CO2 emissions) and community involvement • Although business schools mainly apply traditional teaching methods (e.g. case studies) they also offer interdisciplinary courses and new learning settings to teach sustainability • Business schools tend to develop new programmes or courses to address sustainability or critically revise the syllabus of individual modules; few business schools try to embed sustainability issues across the entire curriculum

11. Subjects taught

12. Options for integrating sustainability

13. Options for integrating sustainability 61 % 10 % 35 % 53 %

14. Discussion • Learning about sustainability (knowledge) vs. learning for sustainability (competences)? • Less mainstreaming more specialisation? • To reflect seriously on sustainability issues, time needs to be made available within the curriculum • To put elaborated methods in practice is probably more likely in specific modules that run a whole semester or even better within programmes such as MBAs • The creation of new modules or programmes means that the system itself remains largley unchanged • Embed sustainability in every module would require curriculum revision, staff development and reasonable time resources • Process of curriculum change: main barriers primarily take the shape of cognitive biases, organizational enablers are used to advance management education for sustainability

15. Thank you very much for your attention! Download of the full report (ICCSR Research Paper Series No. 58): www.nottingham.ac.uk/business/ICCSR/