What is it about?
Sustainability Screening is based on a case study allowing student groups to investigate and evaluate the sustainability performance of a medium to large-sized company. Companies from different sectors are recruited (e.g. energy, transportation, housing, manufacturing, consulting) allowing students to maximize their aggregated learning experience.
Students are prepared for the task through a number of workshops where they are familiarized with different frameworks and tools that could be useful for the assessment and analysis of sustainability performance.
They study the sustainability challenges of the company’s industry more broadly and, in a first step, collect company data with the help of publicly available information.
Based on the challenges identified and the company information gathered, students then prepare an interview guide for their pre-arranged meeting with the company’s CEO, Corporate Sustainability Officer or Environmental Manager.
Before conducting the interview, the interview guide is presented in class, enabling students to sharpen their questions.
Following the interview, students analyze the sustainability performance of their company and prepare suggestions for improvement.
The results of the investigation are summarized in a report that is presented both in class and to the company representative on site.
Sustainable Management
Sustainable Management is an elective course at the Master’s Programs, enabling students to sharpen their analysis skills in sustainable business. An important part of the course is the Sustainability Screening Case, giving students the opportunity to perform an in-depth study of the sustainability practices and performance of a medium to large-sized local company by analyzing important attributes of existing and plausible sustainable strategies. The analysis is conducted in groups of five students, based on desktop studies and at least one interview with the CEO or CSO of the company. The aim is to foster a holistic understanding in the field of sustainable business and improve students’ analytical skills by connecting theoretical knowledge with corporate sustainability practices.
Benefits
- Students learn how to source relevant information
- Learning how to deal with dilemmas in sustainability
- Acquiring skills in corporate sustainability evaluation
- Reflective and eye-opening process for companies
- Confirmation of results of companies’ internal investigations
Success factors
- Thorough preparation for the screening
- Pre-selection of companies
- Pre-arrangement of the interview
- Timeframe at company for questions
- Mobility solution for distant companies
Challenges
- Gaining a critical perspective on sustainability challenges of companies’ industry
- Overcoming language barriers (foreign students)
Supporting material
General overview
Tools
Contacts and experts
- Gabriela Schaad, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
