More and more business schools are embracing sustainability. This is the positive finding of a study published by the International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility, part of Nottingham University Business School. The Centre conducted the analysis on the integration of sustainability in business schools amongst the first 100 schools that have signed the UN initiative „Principles for Responsible Management Education“.
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The reviewed business schools have all integrated sustainability in their research and teaching. Some schools have even opened research centres and groups to further foster the integration process. Sustainability research itself, however, is still at a low level according to the study. Regarding operations, the schools were committed to greening campus activities. This involved actions to reduce CO2 emissions as well as community involvement. Some business schools received certification for their environmental management system or were awarded for their environmental performance. Another finding was that most business schools preferred to develop new programmes or courses to address the topic. Only a few schools embedded sustainability across their entire curriculum.
One of these holistic schools is the business school at the University of Technology in Sydney. The Australian school has even established a professorship in sustainable enterprise, appointing Professor Suzanne Benn in 2011. She brings environmental sustainability, innovation, human resources and organisational change together and is working closely with academics from the accounting and management disciplines to integrate these key themes across the curriculum.
In autumn 2011, the biennial business school survey "Beyond Grey Pinstripes" (managed by the Aspen Institute's Center for Business Education) had rated the so called green MBA programmes of the world. The survey had placed Stanford University (U.S.) at the top of the list, followed by York University in Canada, IE University in Spain, the University of Notre Dame and Yale University (both U.S.).