This year, the School of Business at UiA has joined the UN network PRME. It stands for Principles for Responsible Management Education, and is a network for business schools.
The network promotes sustainability-oriented education within economics and management disciplines, something that suits the School of Business at UiA well.
“Becoming part of PRME shows that we take sustainability seriously. We educate the decision-makers of the future, and for us it is important that they have a solid understanding of sustainability and ethics,” says Flåten.
Social responsibility
The network was launched by the UN in 2007, and over 850 business schools from 96 countries are part of it. The principles it works with are purpose, values, teaching, research, partnership, practice and sharing.
“We want to take social responsibility. Our bachelor students study ethics already in their first year, and we have also developed a master’s degree in sustainability management. We share many of the same goals that PRME works for,” says Flåten.
The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are integrated into all programmes at the School of Business at UiA, and the campus is decorated with the SDGs.
“They are ambitious goals, but fully in line with the faculty’s values: innovative, international and responsible,” says Dean Kristin Wallevik.
A mark of quality
“Membership is a natural consequence of us taking international responsibility. Our students encounter these values in many subjects. We want our students to enter working life with more than profit maximisation in mind,” says Wallevik.
PRME gives students access to a dedicated student network. It is called PRME Students and has over 500 affiliated student organisations. It offers opportunities such as mentoring and ambassador programmes. For staff, the network provides access to resources in pedagogy and research.
“Membership is a mark of quality in our work, but even more importantly, it provides direction for how we will work going forward. Ethics, responsibility and sustainability should be embedded in our students and in our subjects. You cannot simply follow a career path blindly – you must consider what are good choices for future generations,” says Wallevik.