This is the first time the meeting will be held in Africa and it will bring together 38 business schools from across five continents, as well as corporate members of the Global Compact Network South Africa, and participants of the PRME Working Groups. The main objective of the meeting is to interactively discuss the opportunities and challenges of embedding the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into the curricula, teaching and practices of business schools and sharing knowledge and best practices among the Champion’s schools.
The theme of the meeting is Business research in the complex context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with the aim of developing and sharing best practices and thought leadership in embedding the SDGs into the research agenda at business schools.
Delegates will consider the needs of multiple stakeholders, including faculty, students and business, in devising research that is relevant to business and society. They will also explore the connection between experiential learning and rigorous research outcomes in order to determine research methods that suit the SDG agenda and context; and research that evaluates the effectiveness of embedding the SDGs into teaching curricula and practices at business schools.
The session will also include debates on the relevance of management research to society and how to better leverage opportunities for academic research on the SDGs from student research or other student activities.
Dean of GIBS, Professor Nicola Kleyn said, “Our mandate as a leading business school in Africa is to ensure that we are contributing to future leadership development through responsible management education with the broader African context in mind. It was an honour to be selected as a UN PRME Champion for the 2018/2019 cycle and we would like to ensure that we live up to expectation and continue developing the next generation of leaders who will have a positive impact on the future of the continent.”
Dr Jill Bogie, GIBS PRME project leader and lecturer at GIBS, “On behalf of the GIBS PRME team, I look forward to welcoming colleagues and friends from the Champion’s schools around the world to our Illovo campus. It is a privilege to host the 3rd PRME Champion’s meeting and we have an exciting agenda that is designed to share knowledge and experience, and engage in robust discussion on how to integrate the SDGs into the business school research agenda. Delegates will also participate in case study research activities focused on specific SDGs, as they are experienced in the context of the city of Johannesburg.”
