Receive a free download on Management Education and the SDGs

Subscribe to our newsletter and receive access to a free download of Management Education and the SDGs: Transforming Education to Act Responsibly and Find Opportunities, a resource that outlines how PRME and the UN Global Compact can support management education's engagement with the SDGs.

Subscribe
curtainNewsletter.heading
No more ‘business-school-as-usual'
30 December, 2020 New York, United States

No more ‘business-school-as-usual'

Dear PRME community,

As 2020 is coming to a close, we can all think back on a year that has been filled with unprecedented challenges and uncertainty. This has not been a year of ‘business-school-as-usual.’ We are facing deep and urgent environmental, social and economic crises globally, all exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, itself a symptom of unsustainable environmental practices. We have witnessed a massive transition to an online reality and lockdown periods with huge implications on our professional and personal lives. We have been forced to learn, teach and improvise with new technologies in ways and with a speed that we had never imagined.

2020 has opened novel ways of thinking about the role of higher education and the importance of responsible management education. Today, approximately 3 million students are enrolled at PRME’s more than 860 + Signatory schools around the world. Of course, this does not mean that all the 3 million students are actively engaged in responsible management education, but it provides an idea of PRME’s potential collective reach to engage future leaders in understanding the importance and the frameworks needed to create a more just and sustainable world. The pandemic’s necessary social and physical distancing has opened our eyes for the ease of engaging students and colleagues from ‘the other side of the world’ in knowledge exchange and debates. In 2021, with the working title ‘PRME Global Students,’ we will start to explore how students at PRME Signatory schools may engage in virtual network activities via PRME, to further stimulate sustainable development.

Throughout 2020, it has been wonderful to see the continued engagement and support from everyone in the PRME Chapters, PRME Working Groups, PRME Champions, and in all the work in committees, sub-committees, conferences, webinars, and meetings. Whether this has been happening in your schools, across schools, in your regions or across the globe, it is all this work in and around the classroom that makes up PRME.

As we enter 2021, PRME is firmly grounded in its ‘re-set’ with a new PRME Board, a revised MoU for PRME Chapters, a new PRME Global Chapter Council, new regional Chapters in emergence, a new business model, a new global website, and in process towards a renewed and emboldened engagement with UN Global Compact. And all the exciting events and activities that are occurring at local, regional and global levels. 2021 will be a year to support the implementation of and follow-up on the decisions from 2020 as well as a year where we will launch new initiatives and offer new opportunities to engage for PRME Signatories around the world.

It is a privilege to work as Head of PRME, the United Nation’s largest initiative on responsible management education. As we are all working to recover from the pandemic at a professional and a personal level, it is truly inspiring to see how PRME Signatory schools continue to develop national and international educational practices with the purpose of creating a more sustainable, more just and more resilient world for the future.

I look forward to advancing PRME with you on an exciting journey in 2021!

I wish you a Happy New Year!

Mette Morsing

Recent Articles

30 June, 2025 New York, United States

PRME Students’ Ambassadors Present Bold Solutions to Africa’s Sustainability Challenges

News PRME Students’ Ambassadors Present Bold Solutions to Africa’s Sustainability Challenges
In May, the PRME Chapter Africa Student Ambassador Programme wrapped up its 10-week training designed to equip emerging leaders with the tools, networks, and knowledge to take tangible action toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through expert-led workshops, collaborative learning, and hands-on project development, students from across Africa explored real-world sustainability challenges — and co-created bold, locally grounded solutions. Below are the final projects presented by the cohort and reflections from group members: OASIS:

Continue Reading
30 June, 2025 New York, United States

Signatory Spotlight: University of Vaasa, Finland

Signatory Spotlights Signatory Spotlight: University of Vaasa, Finland
An Event Exploring Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Among its many Sustainable Development Goal-focused initiatives, the University of Vaasa recently addressed ongoing debates on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), showcasing the critical role of addressing them in business. The first Diversity, Equity, Inclusion for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (DEI4SME) Hackathon, held in Vaasa, Finland, in February 2025, was a collaborative event organized by the University of Vaasa and international partners

Continue Reading
10 June, 2025 New York, United States

Global Education Leaders Recognized by PRME for Innovation and Impact in Responsible Management Education

Press Releases Global Education Leaders Recognized by PRME for Innovation and Impact in Responsible Management Education
Today, the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), an initiative of the UN Global Compact, awarded business and management school faculty in Australia, Finland, France, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam with the 2025 PRME Education Award for their excellence in embedding sustainability and responsible management practices into business education. The awards celebrate exceptional contributions across six thematic areas: Teaching & Pedagogy, Research, Outreach & Partnership, Student Engagement, Leadership,

Continue Reading