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About BI

Sustainability strategy

BI’s strategy towards 2025 determines that we shall prepare people and companies for an international, digital and sustainable future. This page shows how we approach sustainability in our research, teaching and within our own organisation.

SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY

BI Norwegian Business School’s goal is to shape the labour market of the future through our research and teaching, both in our capacity as the main supplier of economic and administrative education in Norway, and as one of Europe’s leading business schools.

The key factor has always been to offer educational programmes that are up to date and relevant for the actual needs in business. This implies a responsibility to push agendas and spearhead important changes in society.

Research plays a pivotal role in providing us with the knowledge needed to change practices and bring both the private and public sectors forward. In terms of sustainability, our research should contribute to everything from greater value creation and reduced waste, better healthcare management, reduction of white-collar crime and corruption, to macroeconomic modelling and forecasting to predict and prevent crises.

One of BIs core values is to act with responsibility. In relation to sustainability, this means that:

  • We contribute to sustainable development and corporate responsibility by working in alignment with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and UN Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), and integrating them into our research, teaching, operations and collaboration with stakeholders.
  • UN Sustainability Goals (SDG) and the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) will be the framework for our research, teaching as well as in-house operations.

For an overview over BI’s work on sustainability in practice and our progress status as of December 2020, please have a look at: BI Sustainability and Responsible Management Report 2020 – Sharing information on progress (SIP) 2018-2020. This was BIs third report to PRME. In June 2021, BI won award from United Nations Principle of Responsible Management Education for our reporting.

Illustration of Sustainable Development Goals

BI is committed to realising UN sustainability goals (SDGs) through offering quality education to our students. This entails focus on all the 17 UN SDGs into research and programmes, where relevant.

In our operations, including employment, running facilities, supply chain management and consumption, special focus will be on Goal 5: Gender equality and Goal 13: Climate Action, where we can make significant impact. In addition, BI supports many more of the 17 SDGs in our operations.

"At BI we aim to educate responsible managers and develop knowledge for a sustainable society. Combined with our own contribution to reducing CO2 footprints, we aim to be part of the solution instead of the problem."

Karen Spens

President at BI Norwegian Business School

Some of our target areas towards 2025 are:

Teaching

Research

  • Contribute to the sustainability agenda with relevant research-based knowledge.
  • Continue with research that improves our understanding of the vital role corporations, business dynamics and economics play in reaching the sustainability goals.
  • Create arenas for better interaction and knowledge-sharing between academics and professionals on sustainable business practices.

Within our own organization

  • Achieve a material recycling degree of 65% and remove all unnecessary and disposable plastics by 2022.
  • Have environmentally friendly and sustainable campuses, where all conferences and events are organized in accordance with the Eco-Lighthouse certification scheme.
  • Promote academic freedom and defend lecturers’ and researchers’ human rights globally through our membership in the «Scholars at Risk (SAR)» network.

 

  • Read more about BI's strategy of sustainability here.