Businesses can no longer ignore sustainability and for many, it is becoming an integral part of their approach to their day-to-day existence and even their competitive positioning.

Speaking with Business Green, Paolo Taticchi discussed the importance of incorporating sustainability into education, particularly MBA programmes, to equip future business leaders to effectively promote sustainability with the same passion as their pursuit of increasing company profits, and why he believes this should be a key concern for all business schools.

As an academic whose research centres around corporate sustainability and competitive advantage, Paolo suggests the key to successfully changing the attitudes surrounding sustainability is business school changing their pedagogies to incorporate sustainability into the curriculum.

Far too often it is taught as a separate entity which is not conducive to building an organic and native sustainable approach within business. University programme modules should be designed so that they offer a space for students to consider the impact on the environment and society and the relationship of the content covered with sustainability. This would allow students to explore technologies and policies that could revolutionise business models and have a real impact on the organisation and wider stakeholders.

Paolo says that although it will take more than just buy-in from business schools, it is a start as “they can catalyse the ingenuity of academics and the ambition of MBA students to create a lasting impact on our world.”

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