Demonstrating its commitment to a sustainable future, the Haas School became a signatory of the United Nations’ Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) in June.
The aim of PRME is to inspire and champion responsible management education, research, and thought leadership globally. “PRME provides a framework to guide schools’ efforts to continuously improve curricula and research related to corporate citizenship and sustainability,” says Jo Mackness, executive director of the Haas School’s Center for Responsible Business (CRB). The center will serve as the primary hub to coordinate and report the Haas School’s activities to the U.N.
Dean Rich Lyons added, “PRME’s principles are very much aligned with our school’s culture and vision to develop pathbending leaders.”
Haas was one of the first high-ranking business schools to sign onto PRIME.
PRME signatories commit to principles that include :
- the development of students as future generators of sustainable value for business and society;
- engagement in research on the role of corporations in the creation of sustainable social, environmental, and economic value;
- interaction with corporate leadership to explore jointly effective approaches to meeting social and environmental responsibilities.
Being a PRME signatory also involves conducting an annual project in support of PRME, such as heightened efforts around improving energy efficiency or launching new courses, and sharing progress against PRME aims publicly through an annual report to stakeholders.
“We have been doing many of these things for years,” says Mackness. “We hope to be in a position five years from now to see our graduates continuing to apply these principles in practice and to serve as a model for other business schools.”