Rio+20: 300 Leading Business School and University Representatives Worldwide Agree on a Roadmap for Responsible Management Education

(Rio de Janeiro, 16 June 2012) – A series of measures to inject sustainability principles into management and business school curricula were announced today at the Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Outcomes of the Third Global Forum for Responsible Management Education include:

• Comprehensive Anti-Corruption Guidelines for Curriculum Change, a Report on Fighting Poverty through Management Education: Challenges, Opportunities, and Solutions, and a Gender Equality Global Resource Repository developed by issue area Working Groups of the Principles for Responsible Management Education, an initiative sponsored by the UN Global Compact.
• In addition, an Inspirational Guide for the Implementation of PRME: Placing sustainability at the heart of management education, details real world examples of how management schools and universities, globally, undertake change processes based on the framework provided by the Six Principles of PRME.
• Through the Rio Declaration on the Contribution of Higher Education Institutions and Management Schools to The Future We Want: A Roadmap for Management Education to 2020, 300 leading business school and university representatives worldwide agreed on a number of concrete commitments to action, including to:
  • Form a leadership group to incentivize the most engaged PRME signatory schools to go further in their implementation of sustainability principles.
  • Delist those signatories that fail to regularly share information on progress made in implementing PRME.
  • Launch of PRME Regional Chapters to better engage management education communities on a local level.

About the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME)
The Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) is a United Nations Global Compact sponsored initiative with the mission to inspire and champion responsible management education, research and thought leadership globally. The Six Principles of PRME are inspired by internationally accepted values, such as the Global Compact principles. They seek to establish a process of continuous improvement among institutions of management education in order to develop a new generation of business leaders capable of managing the complex challenges faced by business and society in the 21st century. Currently, over 450 signatories have joined PRME representing approximately 80 countries. PRME’s Steering Committee is comprised of global and specialized associations. www.unprme.org

Contact

Jonas Haertle
Head, PRME Secretariat
UN Global Compact Office
haetle@un.org
+1 917-515-9979