SUSTAINABILITY
Continuous improvement SDG Inside is one of several mutually supportive initiatives launched by Emlyon as a part of its 2020-25 development strategy. This emphasises the need to integrate sustainability and social responsibility as a central pillar of each student’s educational experience. Other school-wide activities in this area include becoming a mission-driven benefit corporation, becoming a signatory committed to the global UN PRME initiative, breaking ground on a new green campus and benchmarking the school’s carbon footprint to support becoming a net carbon-zero institution. Taken together, these initiatives signal a strong commitment at an organisational level to walk the talk and embrace imperfection with the goal of supporting and improving practices over time. This commitment trickles down to help create a supportive culture and ecosystem in which faculty-directed projects, such as SDG Inside, can emerge and scale naturally. First rolled out on Emlyon’s international MBA programme in 2021, this initiative has subsequently been introduced to all programmes offered by the school. With each iteration, the process, tools and resources have been adapted and evolved based on the feedback and observations of the participants. In fact, a second initiative is already underway to revise the original 34 competencies developed during the first two years using a double-loop learning approach. The objective is to improve the depth and clarity of each competency, making them more mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive. This new project also aims to enhance communication of the SDG Inside framework at both programme and course level, as well as to begin exploring how the assessment tools used to measure competency acquisition can be improved. The ultimate goal is to promote and support a culture of continuous improvement in the SDG Inside framework akin to that of a ‘living lab’, with the ability to complement innovative
pedagogical approaches for integrating the SDGs and ERS principles into business management education. This work is being conducted in collaboration with faculty, administration, MBA students and alumni. It is also supported by an action-based research project led by a graduate of Emlyon’s executive MBA that has resulted in the development of an SDG Inside handbook, a robust ERS diagnostic tool and other resources. curriculum, SDG Inside aims to create a common ‘red thread’ across all programmes and enhance student acquisition of the competencies needed to achieve the SDGs. Progress towards this goal is measured through faculty and student self-evaluations completed before and after each course, together with feedback obtained after the completion of a certificate or programme. A common thread To integrate the SDGs effectively into Emlyon’s MBA A critical aspect of SDG Inside is the opportunity it offers for faculty members to learn, collaborate and exchange ideas on the UN goals and their respective courses. This leads to improved communication with students, particularly in terms of learning outcomes and students’ alignment with the overall programme. Emlyon is also exploring ways in which students can be involved even more directly in the curriculum design process, as well as offering additional ERS pedagogical activities, such as Climate Fresk workshops, sustainability induction days and CSR company challenges. Furthermore, the initiative has benefited from numerous collaborative efforts with external stakeholders, including NGOs, industry experts, company executives and other business schools, who are united by the common goal of enhancing the impact businesses can make on achieving these goals. In alignment with the UN SDGs and the UN PRME initiative, Emlyon is committed to sharing its knowledge and leading practices with other schools to advance its contribution to the global dialogue.
BIOGRAPHIES
Christine Baldy-Ngayo is associate dean for executive education at Emlyon Business School. She has extensive experience in management consulting and executive education from prior roles at Accenture and HEC Paris. Baldy‑Ngayo holds a PhD in management from HEC Paris and an MSc in management from Emlyon
Rhoda Davidson is a professor of strategy and director of MBA programmes at Emlyon Business School. Her prior experience includes five years at McKinsey & Company and nine years at IMD in Switzerland. Davidson holds a PhD from Geneva University and an MBA from Insead
Dan Kreuger is an executive MBA alumnus of Emlyon Business School. He is also the director of global business development and innovation at Omnia Discovery, a UK travel consultancy that designs and delivers educational learning experiences for business schools, universities and corporate executive programmes around the world
Ambition | JUNE 2023 | 27
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