THE BEES’ KNEES IN CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY? COUNTRY: France SCHOOL: Rennes School of Business Rennes School of Business has created quite a buzz around campus with its latest cohort. These keen ‘bzzzz-ness’ students might look slightly different to those that normally attend the School. They might also struggle to fit into their graduation caps, but they are no less important than the responsibly minded business graduates the School seeks to produce. Two thousand bees were introduced to Rennes Business School to aid biodiversity and further its commitment to sustainable development and corporate social responsibility. The School has installed two beehives – named ‘Openness’ and ‘Freedom’ in homage to two of the School’s core values – on top of one of its campus buildings for the bees to make their home. Why exactly are bees so important? The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations has warned that their declining numbers worldwide, together with those of other pollinators, could ultimately lead to the disappearance of key foods, such as coffee, apples, almonds, tomatoes and cocoa. The FAO estimate that two-thirds of the crops that the human population rely on to eat depend on pollinators such as bees. ‘It’s a small gesture, but concrete and easy to put in place. It also sends a message about the importance of biodiversity to our students, staff, and other stakeholders,’ said Chief Sustainability Officer at Rennes Business School, Don Minday. By mid-August, the hives are expected to produce honey which will then be sold as part of the initiative. This is just one of the activities which Rennes Business School has taken to make its campus more responsible and environmentally friendly. Other activities include a new recycling policy, the sale of organic food baskets, and the creation of its Chief Sustainability Officer post in 2019. / EB
ACADEMIA MEETS PHILANTHROPY IN NEW
PROGRAMME COUNTRY: South Africa SCHOOL: Wits Business School
Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand, has moved to help professionalise the field of philanthropy with the launch of a specialised postgraduate diploma in management. ‘A marriage between philanthropy and academia,’ is how Bhekinkosi Moyo, Professor at Wits Business School, described the new Postgraduate Diploma in Management in the field of Philanthropy and Resource Mobilisation, before adding: ‘We cannot wait to see our alumni use the skills and knowledge acquired in this diploma to make changes that ripple across Africa.’ The one-year, full-time programme is to be offered through Wit Business School’s Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI), of which Moyo is the Director. It will cover the complex world of grants, both from the perspective of those seeking them and those responsible for allocating them, and aim to further participants’ understanding of the thinking that shapes resource mobilisation and donor decision-making. The programme’s structure consists of six core courses – among which is a unit on ‘working with communities and ethical leadership’ – and a choice of three electives – including the option of a deep dive into ‘philanthropy and fundraising in African educational institutions’. The diploma programme has been developed in collaboration with Inyathelo, a non-profit focused on the development of philanthropy in South Africa. Inyathelo has received support from the Kresge Foundation, a US- based philanthropic foundation, on two multi-year projects that support institutionalising advancement at universities, showcasing community and individual philanthropy, and philanthropic research through workshops, research reports and networking events for university leaders. In 2019, Kresge President and CEO, Rip Rapson, described its partnership with Inyathelo as something that has ‘helped eight universities and one teaching hospital double, triple, and in some cases, quadruple private fundraising between 2006 and 2018.’ Coming in at a cost of R84,000 ZAR (c. $6,000 USD), the first cohort of the new diploma at Wits Business School will start classes in June 2021. / TBD
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