“If we want to save the world, we have to reinvent business education”.  This is the recommendation of an Engaged Business Leaders’ Forum held on Friday 1 April. A group of 17 distinguished senior executives of leading companies, environmental organisations and foundations attended the event, including and H.R.H. Prince Carlos de Bourbon de Parme, director of the Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Development.

The theme of the forum was ‘How to Educate managers for a Sustainable Planet’ and was part of the celebration surrounding the inaugural lecture of Professor Gail Whiteman, who accepted the special Ecorys NEI Chair in Sustainability and Climate Chance. The event was hosted by Professor George Yip, Dean of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM), and Marten van den Bossche, Chairman of Ecorys Netherlands.

The paradigm needed is that on the one hand, sustainability is no longer a fringe topic and corporations routinely invest in eco-efficiency measures. On the other hand, data from ecology indicates a worsening, and in some cases, alarming state of affairs. Why this disconnect? Part of the problem is that business education remains focused on the profit-seeking firm and not on the Earth system, despite a desire to “green” the business curriculum. As Professor Whiteman stated: “Most companies are now actively engaged in greening their operations and reducing their carbon footprints. But this is not enough. We need to train future business managers to think outside the box, and to develop more holistic values about nature, society and economics.”

The participants of the  Engaged Business Leaders’ Forum.

Professor Whiteman leads the RSM Centre for Corporate Eco-Transformation, which aims to help companies to make the transformation to a more sustainable system of low-carbon production and consumption. Professor Whiteman, RSM and the Ecorys Academy are developing training courses in the field of sustainability, based on the research and expertise of the Centre for Corporate Eco-Transformation, Ecorys and RSM.

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