Higher education can create an impact
CEMS Responsibility Week was kicked off at NHH this week with a panel discussion on how the Higher Education Sector impacts global efforts to meet the SDGs and the Paris Agreement.
Moderator and associate professor Lars Jacob Tynes Pedersen started Monday's debate by asking the CEMS-students and panel participants the following question:
- How can higher education lead us towards a more sustainable future?
The panel consisted of some of the most innovative people in Norway when talking about sustainability. Knut Moestue from the UN Global Compact Norway, Therese Jebsen from the Rafto Foundation, Anita Bui from the Sustainability Hub Norway, and Adrian Falck from Footprint.
CEMS 2020 Global Responsibility Week is celebrated each October by CEMS Clubs at CEMS academic partner schools worldwide to raise awareness for initiatives and individual action which contributes to a sustainable future.
A more sustainable future
The panel members provided viewpoints on how business schools and business-students are more concerned with sustainability, and how businesses can head towards a more sustainable future.
-First of all, we must acknowledge that we are a piece of the problem, and then we have to understand which elements of the problem we are a part of. As an organization, we help businesses to understand and then give them the tools they need, Therese Jebsen underlined.
She works at the Rafto-Foundation and linked human rights and sustainability together during the debate.
-Human rights and sustainability are intertwined, human rights are about people, and the sustainability part is also about people. There are various approaches, but the human rights aspects are important to include when talking about sustainability.
The discussion allowed both panel members and CEMS-students to discuss how business schools can think more sustainable and implement this in their courses.
What is CEMS?
CEMS is a strategic alliance of leading business schools and multinational companies dedicated to educating and preparing future generations of international business leaders. The CEMS alliance was established in 1988 and aims to pursue excellence with high standards of performance and ethical conduct, as well as to promote and inculcate professional responsibility and accountability concerning society.
The panel discussion brought up talking points on how business schools have implemented sustainability courses in their degrees but have not yet succeeded on getting enough students to choose these classes.
-Often, I see that young people who enter businesses are asked to work on sustainability, I think that is an increasing trend, Jebsen adds.
The deadline for applying to the CEMS MIM program is 1 November. The CEMS 2020 Global Responsibility Week at NHH corresponded well with the recruitment period for CEMS students for the next autumn semester.
What happens this week?
Tuesday:
08.00 Indo Naturals Sustainable Business Models in Practice
15:00 Rafto X NHHS
16:30 Oatly – the Original Oat Drink Company
Wednesday:
15:00 Sahara Forest Project – From Vision to Reality
Thursday:
15:00 CO2 Management – Take Action, Return Carbon
16:30 SAS – Welcome onboard a more sustainable journey