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38 results: "Sustainability"
Raised beds with berries and vegetables, wildflowers and professors with wheelbarrows and rakes – it might not be the typical image of a business school – but that could all change in the future.
CBS faculty members Isabel Fróes and Maribel Blasco’s idea of creating a permaculture garden at CBS has finally set down roots. On a piece of land next to Kilen, they want to build a community around permaculture principles and rethink how the green spaces of the campus can be used.
“It gives us a lot of energy and meaning,” says Maribel Blasco.
Sustainability is “a bit like teenage sex. We all like to say we’re doing it, but few people actually are and those who are do it poorly”.
At least according to Morten Westergaard, head of climate and energy from Middelfart Municipality and panellist at the Green Business Forum at CBS.
But talking can also be the start of something.
For the first Green Business Forum held at CBS, students, faculty and business professionals teamed up to share ideas and address pressing questions that can push the green transition.
Sustainability is everywhere. It applies to everybody, to our clothes, energy, water – and much more. This topic was also the focus of CBS Tech Day, a technology-focused conference organised by CBS students, who agreed that sustainability should be discussed more at their business school.
This summer, 500 students took an exam on Power-to-X cases fuelled by real data from Vestas. These hot, contemporary topics and real business cases fired up the students’ enthusiasm.
More students and employees at CBS should make an effort to help the green agenda, but not necessarily everyone at our university has to join in, according to Hanne Harmsen, CBS’ Vice Dean of Green Transition. “I don’t believe in universities with a single agenda,” she says, adding that we also need our politicians to acknowledge the importance of social sciences when solving our climate crisis.
We need to end the burning of perfectly good clothes and inspire people to be fashionable in more sustainable ways. This is the joint mission of CBS Fashion Society and the activistic designer brand OUR SHIFT.
CBS still has a long way to go to meet its sustainability goals for 2025. Especially when it comes to reducing waste and sorting garbage, says Director of Campus Services René Steffensen. “The coronavirus pandemic made it difficult for us to remain focused on our sustainability goals and we are still not very good at sorting our waste,” he states. But there might be a solution.
At Buddha Bikes, they educate young people who are excluded from society and turn them into skilled mechanics who save old used bikes from sudden death. Because according to the Managing Director and CBS alumni Simon Søndergaard, a sustainable business is a business that is able to sustain.
The Danish government is open to including the climate and biodiversity crises in the object clause of The University Act. One and a half years ago, Associate Professor at CBS, Emil Husted, co-authored an open letter on the matter, which was signed by 558 researchers and teachers. He is following the re-ignited discussion with excitement and concern.
As part of Green Week in week 11, students can take a two-day workshop on carbon literacy. The workshop teaches carbon basics and how to calculate your CO2 footprint, while challenging participants to make efforts to reduce their CO2 emissions.
A new report aims to communicate CBS’ engagement in supporting the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The authors hope the report will lay the foundation for a new reporting system and external collaborations.
The effects of coronavirus may turn out to be environmentally and financially advantageous, as we will probably fly less and not need to expand our campus with new buildings to the same extent, claims CBS’ Green Program Leader. However, the social aspects of running a sustainable university post-COVID-19 are more ambiguous.
A total of 19% of the 7,680 research articles published by CBS since 1985 relate to SDG themes, a new report reveals. CBS researcher and author of the report Kristjan Jespersen argues that if the Danish government highlights the SDGs in its policies, it is only logical for CBS to follow suit. Moreover, too little of CBS’ SDG-related research reaches the classrooms, the report concludes.
The other Nordic countries are ahead of Denmark in the context of financial responsibility, including responsible and sustainable investments, according to CBS researcher Kristjan Jespersen. Investment funds do not know where to start or end, but a new minor at CBS aims to give candidates the necessary tools to change Denmark’s position in a fast-moving world facing climate changes and pandemics.
In May, CBS announced a sustainability action plan with concrete goals. Now, the Senior Management has approved a portfolio of projects, also known as the CBS Green Program, to meet the goals. The portfolio includes, for example, technologies to minimize water consumption, increased waste sorting across campus, and right now a soccer field is taking shape by the water tower.
Like a chameleon, capitalism has changed over the years. Now, we are standing on the verge of a new crisis, and either capitalism will change again, or be replaced by something else, argues CBS researcher, Lara Monticelli. She has established a world-wide network of researchers who are trying to explore and rethink capitalism – and we might want to look to India for living proof that “real utopias” are possible.
The university directors of the eight Danish universities are joining forces to share best practices and discuss potential joint initiatives, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions on campus. The University Director of CBS believes the collaboration will accelerate change.
In our third article about pension companies and sustainability, we talk to three trade unions about their choices of pension companies. According to them, members risk having their pension savings commercially utilized if they are free to pick their own pension companies. However, two trade unions are open to freedom of choice regarding pension companies if their members request it.
How can and should universities contribute to a more sustainable planet and society in the future? This question was up for discussion at the Festival for the Global Goals co-hosted by CBS. The panelists agreed that the universities should adopt a more radical approach to teaching students and disseminating research in order to fuel the green transition.
