Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/535050
JULY | AUGUST 2015 BizEd 49 One year ago, France's Kedge Busi- ness School sponsored the first inter- national sustainability literacy test for higher education, which established the bar for the minimum level¬of¬knowledge students need to meet goals of econom- ic, social, and environmental responsi- bility. Today that test is available in eight languages and used by 275 universities. It has been taken by 26,000 students from 34 countries. Supported by major U.N. bodies, this program leads to great- er benchmarking, integration, and trans- parency in sustainable development. MORE ROLES TO PLAY Taken together, all of these activities and initiatives suggest that change is indeed occurring—but not at a rate fast enough to help us solve the real challenges we face. If the world is to achieve the SDGs, more corporations need to embrace the Business Engagement Architecture. More business schools need to develop the curricular innovations and research initiatives that will point tomorrow's leaders toward more sustainable out- comes. And the entire business school community needs to play an increasing- ly active role in creating the foundation that will enable us to reach these aspira- tional goals. Anthony F. Buono is professor of manage- ment and sociology at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts, and found- ing director of its Alliance for Ethics and Social Responsibility. Matthew Gitsham is the director of the Ashridge Centre for Business and Sustainability at Ashridge Business School in the U.K. Jean- Christophe Carteron is director of corporate social responsibility at Kedge Business School in France and developer of the Sustainability Literacy Test. Jonas Haertle is head of the PRME Secretariat for the U.N. Global Compact at the United Nations, headquartered in New York City. For more information on PRME's recent and upcoming activities, visit www. unprme.org/resource-docs/PRME2014 AnnualReportand2015Outlook.pdf. Responsibility-Based Initiatives Business schools around the world are focusing on the issue of sustainability, taking a variety of approaches: Hosting programs and events. For example, the Louvain School of Manage- ment in Belgium has organized the "LSM Cup: Ethics in Business," an interfaculty, multidisciplinary business game focused on corporate social responsibility. The College of Business at San Francisco State University in the U.S. hosts an annual Business Ethics Week packed with ethics-related modules and speakers. And the Venture Lab at IE Business School in Spain is an incubator for responsible startups. Developing new pedagogy. The Otto Beisheim School of Management in Ger- many allows students to access its Sustainability Lab through online tools. At HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, also in Germany, faculty co-teach classes to present issues of responsibility and ethics in an integrated fashion. La Rochelle Business School in France requires students to participate in a three-month service program called the Humacité Service Learning Mission. At Auckland University of Technology Business School in New Zealand, students who are on their nine-week work placements must reflect on ethical decision making as part of the experience. Sponsoring research. The Nova School of Business and Economics in Portugal is conducting research on business and economic development in Africa. The Universidad del Norte in Colombia is collaborating with the U.N.'s Global Compact to create a database of Colombian case studies focused on sustainability. The Gordon Institute of Business Sciences (GIBS) in South Africa has launched the GIBS Dynamic Market Index; the school also is the new host of the Network for Business South Africa, which it runs in partnership with the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town. Collaborating with public and private stakeholders. INALDE Business School in Colombia is partnering with ExxonMobil to develop the capabilities of NGOs and foundations. Universidad Anáhuac Facultad de Economía y Negocios in Mexico runs the IDEARSE Programme, which helps small- and medium-sized enter- prises integrate CSR into their supply chains. Kwansei Gakuin University in Japan is working with the Oœce of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on a program that admits three refugees to the university each year. Spurring dialogue on campus and beyond. The University of Leicester in the U.K. hosts a blog called "Management Is Too Important Not to Debate" (stažblogs. le.ac.uk/management/), which encourages discussion about sustainability issues among students and staž. Universidad EAFIT in Colombia created the Trade, Investment and Development Observatory with the support of the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD). There, students regularly write short articles focused on UNCTAD's work and policies to promote inclusive and sustainable development in international trade. Pursuing accreditation. Organizations such as AACSB International and the European Foundation for Management Development have included an added emphasis on ethics and social responsibility in their accreditation standards. Thus, schools that seek accreditation from these bodies are committed to promot- ing sustainability—giving them one more way to participate in activities that will further the SDG agenda.