Aarhus University signs Declaration for Higher Education and Sustainable Development

Dean Svend Hylleberg has – on behalf of Aarhus University – signed the Declaration for Higher Education Contribution to Sustainable Development announced at the Rio+20 conference.

DECLARATION

“As Chancellors, Presidents, Rectors, Deans and Leaders of Higher Education Institutions and related organizations, we acknowledge the responsibility that we bear in the international pursuit of sustainable development. On the occasion of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, held in Rio de Janeiro from 20-22 June 2012, we agree to support the following actions:

• Teach sustainable development concepts, ensuring that they form a part of the core curriculum across all disciplines so that future higher education graduates develop skills necessary to enter sustainable development workforces and have an explicit understanding of how to achieve a society that values people, the planet and profits in a manner that respects the finite resource boundaries of the earth. Higher Education Institutions are also encouraged to provide sustainability training to professionals and practitioners;
• Encourage research on sustainable development issues, to improve scientific understanding through exchanges of scientific and technological knowledge, enhancing the development, adaptation, diffusion and transfer of knowledge, including new and innovative technologies.
• Green our campuses by: i) reducing the environmental footprint through energy, water and material resource efficiencies in our buildings and facilities; ii) adopting sustainable procurement practices in our supply chains and catering services; iii) providing sustainable mobility options for students and faculty; iv) adopting effective programmes for waste minimization, recycling and reuse, and v) encouraging more sustainable lifestyles.
• Support sustainability efforts in the communities in which we reside, working with local authorities and civil society to foster more liveable, resource-efficient communities that are socially inclusive and have small environmental footprints.
• Engage with and share results through international frameworks, such as the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, led by UNESCO, the UN University system, the UN Academic Impact, the Global Compact, the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Management Education initiative and the UN Environment Programme?s Environmental Education and Training initiatives, in order to exchange knowledge and experiences and to report regularly on progress and challenges.”

Aarhus University is also a signatory to the Academic Impact program

BSS is a signatory to and very active member of the UN Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME)

ICOA at BSS is member of Global Compact Nordic Network. Aarhus University is the first university to become member of this network of 140 companies in the Nordic Region as part of the Knowledge Exchange Activities at BSS and ICOA.

Associate professor Martin Brynskov: Rio+20 comment on CITIES

One of the main themes of Rio+20 was CITIES. Before we left for Rio, I interviewed associate professor Martin Brynskov about CITIES:

Cities is one of the themes in Rio. Why are CITIES important for a sustainable development?

There are several reasons. First, cities can make a big difference. They consume most energy, but they are also hubs of innovation and change. This means that cities are both the level where change is most likely to happen, and that is where we will see the biggest impact as a result of sustainable change.

Second, cities are different. The problems facing cities with more than 10 million people are not the same that smaller cities of 1 million people struggle with. At the same time, size is not the only parameter that matters. A big city within an emerging economy in Africa, has a very different set of options than a Western European city of the same size. There is a need to address issues of sustainability in a way that is sensitive to these differences.

Third, sustainability has many meanings: environmental, economic, cultural etc. More than the nation or state, more than the federal or transnational unions, cities are hubs that combine these meanings into culturally distinct units. Involving a city perspective on sustainability highlights many of the pros and cons of solutions that may inform other perspectives.

Finally, the role of digital technologies is especially important for cities. Urban populations are early adopters of new technologies that pave the way for new types of solutions — and problems. So when discussing sustainability, digital urban perspectives are central.

What do you think is important for the politicians to focus on, when discussing CITIES?

The most important thing for politicians is to acknowledge the importance of the urban perspectives. And while doing so make room for different strategies for different kinds of cities. Big, smal, poor, rich, culturally different etc.

To then create the basis for political action, it is vital that the knowledge and visions that are generated are explored and documented in a way that allows cities to understand their options to pursue sustainable development.

Finally, the politicians must understand how new technologies are fundamentally changing the spaces cities occupy. Digital media, crowd sourced information gathering, the internet of things, media architecture — these developments create a digital layer that integrates with the existing physical space of a city, hereby creating a hybrid space. In the hybrid space, sometimes the physical is at the foreground of our attention, sometimes the digital layer is, and at other times the two are blended. That is a huge challenge when formulating visions for future sustainable cities because so little is known about how these hybrid spaces work.

What do you hope will be the results of Rio+20 regarding CITIES?

I would hope that Rio+20 can send a strong signal to the world that cities are key to sustainability efforts, both locally and globally.

Furthermore, I would like to see global leadership promoting the smart integration of digital technologies in urban life. That is one tough challenge, but a necessary one.

How will this influence your research in the future?

Being a researcher of digital urban living, trying to understand the hybrid spaces of future cities, it would be good to see more large-scale initiatives across the planet so that we can attack this problem of sustainability from many angles. It is indeed a grand challenge.

Rio+20 should make it a top priority to support research and development in digital urban living to drive actual change.

Martin Brynskov, Ph.D.

Associate professor, interaction technologies

Center for Digital Urban Living

Aarhus University

Want to know more?

UN on Sustainable Cities

The Rio+20 Outcome document (note: Cities 134)

Center for Digital Urban Living

Danish companies in Brazil looking for AU interns

The Brazilian economy is booming and attracts entrepreneurs and capital from all over the world – also from Denmark. We met a number of them at a special dinner arranged by the Danish-Brazilian Chamber of commerce and especially Jan Lomholdt had an interesting offer to AU students: come to Rio for a year internship and learn all aspects of business in an emerging market!

Jan Lomholdt (here with his wife at the dinner) is the Managing Director at Maritime & Offshore Partners do Brazil. He is also Vice President South America (Interim) at Umoe Mandal AS, Sales Director at Inventure Management and Director Geral (Managing Director) at Marine Cybernetics. Just to mention a few of his many exciting activities.

See also his book How to do Business in Brazil.

Prodean Frank Pedersen (BSS) will now hand over this exciting lead to the AU Carreer Center to build the relationship further.

Demand for visionary and open minded candidates

I met with Claus Stig Pedersen, Senior Director and Head of Sustainability Development at Novozymes, at the Rio+20 summit on sustainable development. He explained to me how sustainability has been an integrated part of the Novozymes DNA since Rio 1992. As such, sustainability has become a natural part of the mindsets of employees from CEO-level to operations level. Like any other company, Novozymes strives to become even better at what they do and their way of doing business. To drive more business value from sustainability Novozymes – as any other business – must always improve their ability to turn sustainability insights into relevant actions which create value in society and business simultaneously.

Why should students deal with sustainability?

I asked Claus Stig, if it would be worth student’s while to deal with sustainability issues and principles as part of their education. He immediately replied “YES!” Before elaborating on his reply, he felt it was important to stress three points:

1. It is vital to understand that sustainable strategies must permeate the entire value chain.
2. A company’s stakeholders are of great importance because they make the value chain either succeed or fail. They represent business with a “license to operate”.
3. There is a growing demand for sustainable solutions.

“There are a number of unmet needs and hence business opportunities in emerging and developing economies like Brazil, India and China. In countries like these, need is particularly great in environment and social development” – says Claus Stig. In other words, there is a need for an increased understanding of these demands and thus candidates who can reconcile sustainability agendas with business mindsets. Candidates must therefore be equipped to understand sustainability from a business point of view. “Candidates should see the possibilities and not least provide inspiration and knowledge relating to the opportunities inherent in sustainable business to opinion leaders (media, grassroots organizations, etc.), politicians and authorities” –says claus Stig.

If you have a background in communications, being able to convey a good story and identify the need for coverage of the good stories is vital. According to Claus Stig “Many of the success stories are already there. They just need to be disseminated and translated into solid marketing. It is through good communication you motivate change and “sell” ideas.”

What does it take to fully understand the sustainability challenges ahead and their strategic implications?

To succeed as a business, certain abilities are required. Claus Stig puts Novozymes’ requirements for candidates in three categories:

1. Mindset: Open minded, visionary, daring, out of the box thinker, see business opportunities, not become overwhelmed by the complexity and daring to make difficult decisions.
2. Skills: Ability to connect a variety of external and internal stakeholders, ability to facilitate cross functional collaborations from R&D to S&M as well as the ability to motivate colleagues for changes and ideas.
3. Knowledge: There is no need for sustainability experts but instead a good basic understanding of the needs to bridge gaps.

I think it is safe to conclude that should Claus Stig want to hire you, you have to be very ambitious!

Universities play a vital role in the transition to a sustainable and green economy

Here is a sum up of our Rio activities from the PRME Global Forum:

The 3^rd PRME Global Forum on 14-15 June 2012 was the official platform for management-related Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) at Rio+20 – the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development – and the Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum, hosted by the UN Global Compact.  A series of measures to inject sustainability principles into management and business school curricula were announced at the Forum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this past week. They include:

The Rio Declaration on the Contribution of Higher Education Institutions and Management Schools to The Future We Want: A Roadmap for Management Education to 2020: 300 leading business school and university representatives worldwide (including Aarhus University) agreed on a number of concrete commitments to action, including to:

• Form a leadership group to incentivize the most engaged PRME signatory schools to go further in their implementation of sustainability principles.
• Delist those signatories that fail to regularly share information on progress made in implementing PRME.
• Launch PRME Regional Chapters to better engage management education communities on a local level. (Aarhus University will take initiative to start a Nordic/Scandinavian Chapter).

A Practical Guide to the United Nations Global Compact for Higher Education: Offers guidelines for higher education institutions in implenting the ten principles of the Un Global Compact withint the orgniazation and then leading their global adoption (UN Global Compact Workshing Group)

Inspirational Guide for the Implementation of PRME: Provides answers to the most frequently  asked questions concerning the implementation of the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) and seeks to inspire further integration of PRME by highlighting examples of the Principles in pactice in signatory schools and universities (PRME). Aarhus University has written two cases for this Guide.

Corporate Responsibility and Responsible Management Education in the Eyes of MBA Students: Presents the results of a survey on perspectives and attitudes towards corporate resonsibility and management education copleted by 1,200 MBA and business students from around the world. The results – which demonstrate a growing commitment to responsible management – and their implications on management education are also analysed. (Macquarie Graduate School of Management/PRME)

The 50+20 Agenda: Management Education for the World: Presents the vision of the 50+20 project, which seeks to demonstrate how management education con contribute to a more sustainable  future. The report outlines steps for business and management schools to: educate and develop globally responsible leaders; enable businesses to serve the common good; and engage in the transformation of business and the economy. (WBCSB/GRLI/PRME)

Private sector must drive the sustainable development

“The private sector represents 2/3 of the global BNP and the employment. Companies are the most important economic stakeholder, so if we want to spur a transition into a green and sustainable economy, we need to change business and their role. We need a new business model”.  So says Pavan Sukhdev, a career banker and founder-CEO of GIST Advisory and a frequent speaker at sessions at Rio+20. As many others here he calls for new economic models and a redefinition of the role of business in society.

Coming from Business and Social Sciences at Aarhus University we therefore participated in the Corporate Sustainability Forum June 15-18.

2.700 participants from more than 100 countries – approximately half from the business and investment community, and half from civil society, academia, cities, Government and the UN. More than 120 sessions were held.

The resounding message emerging from this Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum is that the private sector is willing to be part of the solution. Corporate innovation and collaboration on sustainability are gaining pace, and in many cases leading the way.

Despite positive developments and shifting trends, corporate sustainability as practiced today is insufficient – a quantum leap is needed. With the right incentives and enabling environments, the private sector can make significant and lasting contributions to the sustainable development agenda – in Rio and beyond.

Corporate sustainability requires changing the mindset of corporate leaders, managers and other internal and external stakeholders such as investors, consumers, citizens and Governments.

Business schools and universities play a vital role in this transition.

Want to know more:

Overview and Outcomes

New tools and Resources

Information

High-level thumps up for AU and the PRME LEADERS+20

June 20 was a great day!

AU hosted a special event at State of Green – the award ceremony of our PRME LEADERS+20 competition.

Dean Brian Bech Nielsen hosted the event, emphazising that Aarhus University is ready to contribute to green and sustainable development, mentioning that we have signed the Rio+20 Declaration for Higher Education (200 universities have signed and we are now part of the so-called UN Rio-group to meet in Tokyo 2014).

Minister of Foreign Affairs Villy Søvndal spoke about the important role of universities in creating sustainable development and especially the importance of educating the future generation of leaders. They face great challenges. It may sound very serious, but as you can see here, it was quite relaxed…

Liz Thompson, UN assistant secretary-general and head of the Rio+20 conference had especially wished to join our session, in spite of an extremely tight schedule. She feels strongly about education as a tool to obtain sustainable development and she especially praised Aarhus University for joining the Rio-declaration and for the PRME LEADERS+20 initiative. (That was a great moment for Melissa and I, who have been working hard with this for months!). Liz Thompson is a energetic and inspiring speaker and we were quite proud to have her here for two hours shortly after she had announced that the Rio+20 deal was settled.

Then Villy Søvndal handed over the award certificate to the winning team from University of Auckland, New Zealand and we all clapped.

Dean Brian Bech Nielsen; Jonas Haertle, head of UN PRME, Liz Thompson, Villy Søvndal, professor Ross McDonald, student Sian Coleman, student Dan Cullum (University of Auckland, NZ) and myself. We only missed project manager Melissa McCann – she had already left Rio.

See the winning video here