News Education About and For Sustainability in Australian Business Schools

Concerned URL http://www.aries.mq.edu.au/news.htm
Release date 15/04/2005
Contributor nituacor

New Page 1

Q. How are Business Schools taking on the challenge of Educating for Sustainability? 

Q. How do Australian Business Schools rate against international best practice? 

Q. Does current practice meet the needs of business and industry in sustainability? 

Q. Where are the opportunities for improvement in this area within MBAs and associated short courses?

The sustainability agenda is gaining significant ground in the business and industry sector internationally, although in Australia this is happening at a slower pace. To address the role of Business Schools in progressing the sustainability agenda, a study was commissioned by the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage. With the guidance of the National Environmental Education Council Industry Working Group, research was undertaken by the Australian Research Institute in Education for Sustainability (ARIES) and Arup Sustainability.

The project set out to identify current best practice in Education for Sustainability in Business Schools overseas through a benchmarking process based on three levels of performance criteria. The same criteria were then applied to thirty-three Australian Business School MBA programs in order to understand how they address sustainability content and teaching skills for sustainability. An additional and more in-depth review was conducted of the opportunities for enhancing Education about and for Sustainability within these programs. The Macquarie Graduate School of Management (MGSM), the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM), the UTS Graduate School of Management and Melbourne Business School Ltd (MBS) contributed to this more in depth review.

Research from this first stage highlights a range of recommendations and key actions in regard to Business Schools and their contribution to sustainability. A project that will promote the mainstreaming of sustainability across Australian Business Schools commenced in February 2005 and is based on the benchmarking and review findings from this first stage.

Tilbury, D., Crawley, C. and Berry, F. (2004) ‘Education About and For Sustainability in Australian Business Schools’ Report prepared by the Australian Research Institute in Education for Sustainability (ARIES), Macquarie University and Arup Sustainability for the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage. ISBN 1 74138 0065

Electronic copies can be downloaded from the ARIES website at http://www.aries.mq.edu.au/news.htm  and will shortly be available from the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage website at http://www.deh.gov.au/education/  

To obtain a hardcopy, or for information on the new project that will promote the mainstreaming of sustainability across Australian Business Schools, please contact:

Bruce Boyes
ARIES Project Coordinator
MBA Project - Stage 2
ARIES CBD Office
Level 6, 51-57 Pitt Street
Sydney NSW 2000 Australia
Email: bboyes@gse.mq.edu.au 
Phone: +61 2 8274 8347

Please note that this information has expired.