2026 PRME Students Sustainability Awards: Call for Applications

Background

The Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) is excited to announce the call for submissions for the 2026 PRME Students Sustainability Awards, recognizing excellence of impactful sustainability-oriented student organizations from PRME Signatory Members that align their work with the Principles of PRME and advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The PRME Students Sustainability Awards aim to recognize student organizations from the global PRME community that have demonstrated a solid commitment and taken meaningful action to promote sustainable development in their localities, focused on social, economic, and environmental progress, as well as fostering good governance and responsible management throughout the 2025 calendar year (January to December 2025).

The PRME Students Sustainability Awards are divided into two parts: Regional Awards and Global Awards.

Regional Awards

The Regional Awards will welcome submissions from worldwide student organizations divided into nine different regions (Latin America, North America, Africa, Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East, South and Central Asia, East and Southeast Asia, and Oceania). Submissions from each region will be quantitatively evaluated and qualitatively analyzed by specific regional Judging Committees composed of PRME Students Regional Leaders (students) and PRME Chapter members (faculty) from PRME Signatory Members in the region. Each of the nine (9) Judging Committees will select one (1) regional finalist. All the regional finalists will receive virtual recognition and proceed to the global round of awards.

Global Awards

All nine regional finalists will proceed to a global judging committee composed of members of the PRME Secretariat, Regional Chapters, and Advisory Board (if necessary).

From the nine finalists, a winner and runner up will be sponsored (of up to 3 students and 1 faculty advisor each) to participate in the 2026 PRME Global Forum and Student Summit and receive their recognition in person in Cairo, Egypt.

During the 2026 PRME Global Forum in late June, PRME will host an award ceremony during the main programming of the event to recognize student leadership and present the winner of the 2026 PRME Students Sustainability Awards. Students from the awarded team will have the opportunity to present their submitted accomplishments live during this session.

We believe that by acknowledging and rewarding outstanding student organization practices, we can drive meaningful change in business education. All regional finalists and the global winner will be showcased and promoted in an online repository on the PRME website as a resource and best practice example for student organizations across the PRME ecosystem.

Eligibility:

To submit your application, please fill out the Submission Form (deadline: 29 March, 2026 11:59 pm EST/NYC).

Submissions are open exclusively to student organizations affiliated with PRME Signatory Members worldwide. If a student organization includes members from various university departments, at least one member must be enrolled in a PRME Signatory school/department to qualify for the PRME Students Sustainability Awards. A representative of the organization, enrolled in a PRME Signatory Member school during 2025, must complete the submission, providing proof of enrollment.

Submissions are encouraged from student organizations dedicated to advancing sustainability within responsible management. Examples of these topical areas could include but are not limited to: climate change, gender equality, sustainable finance, human rights, poverty alleviation, curriculum change, environmental protection, consulting for sustainability practices, business for peace, inclusive economy, as well as contributions that are interdisciplinary in nature.

Submission Requirements:

The submission will include the following components:

• General information: Name of the student organization, membership composition, contact details from the student representative submitting the form, and proof of academic affiliation with a PRME Signatory Member.

• Mission statement: Description of the student organization's mission and how it relates to advancing sustainable development and the SDGs, as well as responsible management and business practices, in line with the Principles of responsible management education.

• Key Activities: Up to three examples of activities that highlight the student organization’s innovative approach to student agency, if and how it has incorporated the SDGs and responsible management concepts into its goals and actions while driving change in the university ecosystem, serving local and regional communities, and impacting other stakeholders. Supporting materials that showcase the activities' implementation are highly recommended.

• Meaningful Impact: Explanation of how student-led actions have positively impacted the university ecosystem, local and regional communities, and other key stakeholders (e.g., companies, non-profit organizations, social movements, public agencies, etc.). Evidence through qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method metrics will be considered.

• Student development: Demonstration of how engagement with the student organization has contributed to developing students by learning through practice, thus developing essential skills to foster thought leadership.

Judging Criteria:

Submissions should center around student organization contributions that demonstrate creativity, thoughtfulness, excellence, impact, and a strong emphasis on advancing sustainable development and responsible management. To ensure a fair and transparent evaluation process, submissions will be judged based on a rubric with key, identifiable content. The criteria for judging will include the following:

1. Advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Seven Principles of PRME: Show a clear connection between undertaken approaches that link to the SDGs, emphasizing how the student organization contributes to a more sustainable and responsible world by taking action within and beyond the university campus. Demonstrating connections with the Seven Principles of PRME is a plus.

2. Build on creative approaches: The submissions should showcase innovative approaches to advance the organization's mission, emphasizing creativity and novel student agency methods. We seek impactful activities led by students that build on the ideals of meaning, joy, active engagement, social interaction, and collaborative spirit.

3. Broad impact on the university ecosystem and local/regional communities: Submissions should describe how the student organization has positively impacted the university ecosystem and/or surrounding communities. Students should demonstrate how their actions have strengthened local and regional ecosystems while promoting social, economic, and environmental progress, as well as fostering good governance and responsible management among various stakeholders. Demonstrated evidence of success through qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method metrics will be considered.

4. Promote student development: Showcase how engaging in student-led initiatives serves as a learning opportunity for their members, thus fostering the development of essential skills and competencies among students engaged. Share insights from students to illustrate how their engagement positively impacts their academic, professional, and personal journeys as organizational practices have imprinted on them beyond the classroom experience.

5. Global cooperation: We value diversity and culturally specific activities, yet the submission should be relevant or insightful to student organizations in other contexts (ie. inclusive of different values systems) in order to promote shared, global learning. Therefore, demonstrating feasibility and relevance to other contexts of the undertaken approaches is highly desirable.

Important dates

• Call for Submissions - Close: 29 March, 2026 (11:59 pm EST)

• Regional Judging Committee evaluation: 29 March to 15 April, 2026

• Notification to the Regional Finalists: 15 April, 2026

• Global Award evaluation: 15 April - 29, April 2026

• Student Presentation & Global Award Ceremony: End of June, 2026 PRME Global Forum

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