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Latest news in relation to PRME Secretariat or PRME activities at Hanken!

 

FOOD FOR THOUGHT – Implementing the UN SDGs in the curriculum

In the calendar year 2016-2017 Hanken’s PRME efforts had the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the thematic focus. Independently from each other, three courses in the MSc programmes challenged our way of thinking how responsible management education can contribute to the implementation of SDG 2 (End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture), while at the same time explored the relations and connections to other SDGs (Particularly SDG 12 - Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns). The three courses took different approaches to engage with the SDG, all outcomes showing the inherent complexity of the SDGs.

Historically cross-disciplinarity, impact, and collaboration have been the cornerstones of Hanken’s PRME implementation. The three courses, ‘CSR: From Principles to Practice’; ‘Project course in CSR’; and ‘The world in the making: Tackling world challenges’, in different ways held true to these principles. Two of the courses focused particularly on food waste. In the Project Course a team of students teamed up with Fazer, one of the largest corporations in the food industry in Finland, and one of its corporate customers, retail giant Tokmanni, with the aim of developing a collection of practical and innovative ideas for the establishment of a closed loop Fazer restaurant at Tokmanni’s corporate HQ.  “The world in the making” course was a collaboration between Hanken, USI Lugano, Switzerland, Stockholm School of Economics (SSE), it also engaged International Food Waste Coalition (IFWC), Sodexo France, Sodexo Sweden and a number of smaller organizations to tackle the wicked problem of food waste through developing a set tool kit for tackling the issue. Finally, “CSR: From Principles to practice” took student to task to deconstruct SDG 2 and its targets, collaboratively producing wiki-based learning modules related to key concepts of the SDG, attaching to each concept examples of the impact business can have in particular geographical contexts. The course was also a PRME Champions pilot project that investigated how the learning method could be used as a collaborative, ”crowd-sourced” knowledge platform between PRME schools and students.

All three courses had as their explicit aim of engaging the students to produce something tangible, lasting and societally useful – the point being change. All courses’ outcomes are however, to be considered first steps in a longer journey towards change. In the project course the students produce a range of tangible and creative ideas for the establishment of a closed-loop Fazer restaurant for Tokmanni’s personnel and during transition to a closed loop restaurant it showed how to reduce the food waste, and what business models are available to make it economically feasible. The project was carried out in collaboration with the two firms and some of the suggestions in the final report will be implemented by the organizations in the future. The final report can be found below:

 

fazer_tokmanni_circular_restaurant_1.pdf

In The World in the Making course student teams from the three business schools worked on and experimented around solutions to the challenge at hand, worked with local organisations and presented their approaches in a virtual Summit conference that ended the course. The findings and thoughts of the participating students are published in the World Challenges Blog: https://worldchallengesblog.wordpress.com/articles/

In CSR: From Principles to Practice the outcome were 43 wiki-based learning modules derived from SDG 2 and its targets, following a standardized structure. Each module were produced by students overseen by faculty experts. The material is produced as open access and the plan is to further develop the learning modules in collaboration with of PRME Champion schools, as well as using the knowledge produced as learning material in other courses.  The learning modules can be found at https://unsdg2.wikispaces.com/

For more information contact us at prme@hanken.fi

PRME statement in defense of universal values and principles

Hanken is one of 29 higher education institutions worldwide in the PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education) Champions and stands behind the statement in defense of universal values and principles made by PRME on 8 February 2017.

Hanken supports the notion that the global community has thrived on the ideas brought by people from around the world and Hanken wishes to contribute to global knowledge through the free movement of students, teachers and researchers. Furthermore, supporting the UN-backed initiative, Hanken speaks up to defend equality, non-discrimination, freedom, and diversity. Therefore, as a university, Hanken is deeply concerned about growing protectionism, nationalism and populism on the global stage and even considered cancelling the 7th PRME Assembly scheduled for New York City in July.

The mission of the PRME initiative is to transform management education, research and thought leadership globally. This is done by providing a framework of principles, developing learning communities and contributing to the achievement of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

Hanken remains committed to our mission to prepare a new generation of globally responsible leaders and to preserve the freedom of research, teaching and learning in an international community. It is part of our responsibility to critically address any threats to these fundamental values and principles.

Read the statement in its entirety on the PRME website.