Independent University Newspaper
Copenhagen Business School

Popular searches:

Independent University Newspaper

Copenhagen Business School

CBS is getting a strategy for sustainability

The future of CBS is about to look greener. The Green Network, consisting of professionals, experts, and students from CBS, has received a green light from the senior management to draft a sustainability strategy for CBS. The first initiatives will be ready in 2019, and you can participate by sharing ideas that would make CBS more sustainable.

News |   04. Apr 2018

Anne Thora Lykkegaard

Journalist

Have you ever had an idea for how CBS could become more sustainable but did not know who to turn to? Wait no longer.

The Green Network, which was established last autumn with members from OIKOS, the Department of Management, Society and Communication, and Campus Services, has just received the go-ahead from the senior management to develop a sustainability strategy, and they need your ideas to make CBS much greener.

“The support from the senior management means that we don’t have to work in the shadows anymore and that we might be able to gain some funding in the future for the initiatives that have a good business case,” says Tore Klitgaard, project manager of Green Network and architect at Estate Management, who is encouraging everyone to contact him with ideas the masterplan should support.

Read more: Sustainability: Is CBS talking the talk but not walking the walk?

Patricia Valdman, CBS student and member of the education team from the student organization, Oikos, is also a part of the Green Network, and is happy to see that the people working on this project are excited to do so.

“I have attended the strategy meetings, and it is super motivating to see how excited the people working on this are. I am really curious about the outcome, and I see it as an important milestone that the senior management is actively taking part in the project,” she says.

Right now, a lot of change agents are working towards a shared goal, but separately

Patricia Valdman, Oikos

The Green Network’s task is to coordinate and assemble the people “with the right knowledge and level of engagement” from the inside and outside of CBS  in order to create a sustainable profile for CBS. The strategy is expected to be approved in June, and  if the masterplan of initiatives are to be carried out in 2019, they have to be approved in December.

A living laboratory

The University of Copenhagen has had a strategy for sustainability since 2008. The strategy has set goals to reduce CO2 emission by 65 percent compared to 2006 by 2020, and to reduce the overall energy consumption by 50 percent compared to 2006 by 2020.

Tore Klitgaard cannot guarantee that CBS’ strategy will contain goals such as these, but there will be other ones instead.

“The goals we set have to be realistic, so that that the people in charge of implementation can commit to them. Furthermore, it is more important to have a follow-up plan based on the performance in order to avoid performance gaps and to be able to change means if needed. In the end, it is also a matter of bringing data to the students and researchers who will be able to explore the campus as a living laboratory,” he says.

Sustainability has to work as a movement in the sense that we have to change our daily habits

Tore Klitgaard

Louise Kofod Thomsen, project manager at PRME and member of the Green Network, has a clear idea about what she wants to have in the strategy. She finds it important to have clear targets.

“In order for the whole of CBS to share the same understanding of what sustainability means, the sustainability strategy should first provide a definition of sustainability,” she says and continues:

“Next, there should be clear targets, measurements, and outcomes with strong buy-ins from management, staff, and students. The strategy should cover areas from research, curriculum, and operations including food, mobility, energy, waste, and etc. It should also cover, social aspects such as equality, inclusion, health, and wellbeing.”

Read more: Sorting bins at CBS didn’t get sorted at all during the past six years

Louise Kofod Thomsen’s final wish is to see a strong commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. (See factbox)

“The goals would provide a global framework for how to implement sustainability and engage with local and international stakeholders on sustainability issues,” she says.

When Patricia Valdman is asked, what she, as a student, would like from the strategy, she points out that it is difficult for students to engage in the sustainable development of CBS as it is right now.

“Something I would really like from the strategy is, among others, a ‘green office’ where members of Oikos and other student organizations could just drop by, share their knowledge and thereby create synergies,” she says and adds:

“Right now, a lot of change agents are working towards a shared goal, but separately. I wish that, in the future, we will be able to combine our efforts.”

CBS as a green frontrunner

CBS has had several sustainability initiatives before, and it is a part of Campus Services’ strategy to work with sustainability. But why does CBS need an overall strategy for it?

“Sustainability has to work as a movement in the sense that we have to change our daily habits. In order to do that, we simply need some guidelines,” says Tore Klitgaard.

Louise Kofod Thomsen points out that the strategy is about much more than just giving guidelines on how to reduce CO2 emissions or use less resources.

“Sustainability is more than minimizing the negative impact, and therefore, CBS should be a frontrunner when it comes to facilitating innovative solutions in sustainability through teaching and by engaging the students,” she says.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

CBS is getting a strategy for sustainabilityby

  • News

    Layoffs break the crucial trust between organisation and employee

    CBS is laying off a number of employees soon, which will affect our university in different ways. When employees are fired without having done anything wrong, it shatters the trust between the organisation and employees, while also taking a toll on productivity, according to a CBS expert. Layoffs also affect the ‘survivors’, who are forced to adapt to a changed workload and the loss of cherished colleagues.

  • News

    Here to help – at the touch of a button and at Campus Desk

    Exam anxiety? Lost student card? I’ve wedged my car between a Fiat 500 and a lamp post, can you help? You never know what you’ll be asked next. But that’s just how the Campus Desk team like it. And if they can’t fix your problem, they’ll know someone who can. CBS WIRE asked the team about the whole range of topics they advice on every day.

  • News

    Why so sudden? The CBS financial crisis explained

    Employees and union representatives have posed many questions in the wake of the 17 August announcement of a firing round. In this interview, University Director Arnold Boon explains how Senior Management has been working with the budget and a change of financial strategy since the fall of 2022, and why layoffs are now necessary.

  • Illustration: Ida Eriksen

    News

    Here’s what you need to know about the master’s reform

    The political parties behind the master’s reform have adjusted their original proposal to shorten or reorganize up to 50 percent of master’s programmes after pressure from CBS and the other Danish universities. Fewer shortened master’s and longer to implement changes are some important revisions to the reform. CBS’ president is pleased that the government and other parties behind the reform have listened to some of the critique given by the universities but raises concern about cutting more study places in bachelor’s programmes.

  • News

    CBS Quiz Time: Unraveling the success story

    A successful university environment such as CBS is often associated with academic pursuits, but campus life extends far beyond the classroom. At CBS Quiz Time, a student society motivated by creative thinking and social engagement, students join in a refreshing range of creativity, excitement, and social interaction. CBS WIRE talked to Celine Møller-Andersen to find out about the society’s vision, strategies and the factors that are driving its rapid expansion.

  • Gif of the week
  • Blog

    Uncertain times: Essential for business schools to understand their market

    The alliance of European business schools met at CBS in June to enhance recruitment strategies, stay informed on industry trends, and analyse where the global economy is heading. The CBS MBA Programmes shares some key take-aways from Associate Dean and Professor Jesper Rangvid’s presentation.

  • News

    Working hard all summer: Bachelor Admissions

    The employees in charge of bachelor admissions at CBS are a small exclusive team. They ensure the validity of diplomas and the fulfilment of entry requirements for bachelor’s degrees at CBS – and, not least, that the applicants get the necessary help to upload the right documentation and find their way around the application procedures.

Follow CBS students studying abroad

CBS WIRE collaborates with Videnskab.dk

Stay connected

Close