On May 30 2018, the first Official PRME Chapter Italy gathered at LUISS Business School, an interactive workshop with representatives from the Global Compact Network Italy and the PRME signatories in Italy.

The PRME – Principles for Responsible Management Education is a United Nations-supported initiative founded in 2007 as a platform to raise the profile of sustainability in schools around the world, and to equip today’s business students with the understanding and ability to deliver change tomorrow. Working through Six Principles, PRME engages business and management schools to ensure they provide future leaders with the skills needed to balance economic and sustainability goals, while drawing attention to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and aligning academic institutions with the work of the UN Global Compact.

Opening remarks by Prof. Mathias Falkenstein, LUISS Business School International Advisory Board Chair, Managing Director Centre for Higher Education and PRME Chapter Italy Chair, were followed by presentations by Florencia Librizzi, PRME Senior Manager, UN Global Compact, and the Global Compact Network Italy representative Marco Frey, making the case for collaboration and partnership to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Following, PRME signatories shared good practices and discussed how to collaborate and engage through the Chapter. The meeting also counted with the presence of Prof. Wilfred Mijnhardt, member of the PRME Chapter France & Benelux and the Chairs of the PRME Working Group on Business and Human Rights Caroline Kaeb and David Scheffer, who shared their helpful experiences engaging in the PRME community through Chapters and Working Groups.

The PRME Chapter Italy will focus upon furthering sustainability and responsible management education within the Italian educational sector through collaborative initiatives and sharing best practices. Collaboration in the Chapter will allow the participating business schools and management-related higher education institutions to jointly respond to the country challenges regarding sustainable development. By engaging with broader stakeholders, such as associations, government and media, assessing their own sustainability and responsible management education efforts and by sharing and developing common resources for teaching, research and outreach, the schools will be better able to drive change and create social impact.

Ultimately, the Chapter seeks to grow its impact by developing the responsible management education in Italy and by enlarging the PRME network through new signatory schools. Therefore, the chapter plans to reach out to the Italian business and management schools to join the initiative. The Chapter was launched with the presence of the following participating schools and universities:

• ALTIS Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
• Ca’ Foscari University
• Politecnico di Milano, MIP
• Scuola Superiore S. Anna
• SDA Bocconi School of Management
• Università di Bologna

Marco Frey, Chairman of the Global Compact Network Italy said “as Italian focal point of the UN Global Compact we are glad to support the launch of the PRME Chapter Italy and to concretely collaborate to close the gap between academia and business”. He also added “this represents an important momentum to strengthen the central role of Italian universities and business schools in creating the economic leaders of tomorrow, with the proper skills, values and mindset to enact a sustainable economic model, able to integrate the UN Global Compact principles and the PRME in the strategic framework of the Agenda 2030”.

Florencia Librizzi, Senior Manager PRME, UN Global Compact said “it is encouraging to see the establishment of the PRME Chapter Italy which will foster further collaboration and collective action supporting responsible management education and helping advance the SDGs in the Italian context.” She also added “I’d like to thank the Global Compact Network Italy for their support, LUISS Business School for hosting this event and the PRME signatories for their commitment.”

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21/06/2018