How are you working to incorporate corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable development into Iéseg’s programmes and how are you measuring the success of initiatives to implement them? “This is our number one priority for the next year. We’ve had mandatory CSR courses since 2016 and our students now have access to several such courses, but we are aiming to have full integration of sustainability into all our different programmes and management disciplines by 2026. “We can only achieve that if we train all our H professors and staff to ensure that everybody speaks the same language and understands how and why we’re doing it. In February, we launched a compulsory training programme for all our staff and professors on the basics of climate change and planetary boundaries. “The programme ends with workshops where each academic department or administrative service develops roadmaps with KPIs or ambitions for the next five years. The objective is that by the end of the first modules, professors will be rethinking their courses. We then expect this to be reflected in curricula by September 2024. Of course, tracking this without making it too bureaucratic is a key challenge and we are still thinking about the best way of doing this. “This year, we are also asking professors and staff how they integrate sustainability into their day-to-day jobs as part of their annual performance evaluation.
SUSTAINABILITY
Salaries and promotions depend on these evaluations, so I think it sends a very strong signal in terms of the importance the school places on sustainability.” How has reaction to the programme been from staff and faculty? Are they concerned about the perceived implications for their workload? “We’ve had a few challenges and there has been some resistance. However, this has been from a minority and ultimately, we’ve been surprised by the positive reaction. We’ve also found that people have already started integrating some of these topics and conversations into their courses. Of course, we still need to help some of these faculty members do it in a more coherent, transversal way. “The question of the added workload was definitely raised, but we’ve tried to have more one-on-one conversations with those who were more sceptical initially. At the same time, a lot of faculty members are happy to learn more about the climate and planetary boundaries because it’s something they’re starting to see more and more in their own field and research.” Earlier this year, you took part in a panel on upskilling for a sustainable future as part of Economist Impact’s Sustainability Week. Could tell us what you spoke about? “I was speaking about the growing need to upskill and retrain managers, leaders and students. Specifically, how companies and higher education institutions can work in a collaborative fashion to drive this upskilling process. Companies have set very ambitious goals related to net zero. But without the right educational process, we won’t be able to achieve those goals.” Who do we need to get in the classroom? “We need to get everyone in the classroom. It needs to start with the governance and leadership because these changes cannot take place without them being on board. However, to drive change and achieve these goals, every single person in a company needs to go through this process. We also need to touch on every kind of job and industry and that’s a huge challenge.” How do you envisage collaborative processes working between schools and companies? “Sometimes companies forget that business schools are also there to help them drive transformation and
21
Business Impact • ISSUE 3 • 2023
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online