Posted on

Education 4 Sustainability

The CSR School Kick-Off Event and the Nikos Analytis Student Contest

What does education have to offer with regard to sustainability? Can we bridge the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with academia and business in pursuit of a common future? Are new skills required in the emerging sustainability landscape?

The much-anticipated Education 4 Sustainability event took place on September 19, 2022, celebrating the upcoming CSR School & Nikos Analytis Student Contest, at the ACG Events Hall. The CSR- School’s ceremony got off to a very auspicious start to answer the aforementioned topics as well as some of the most important environmental problems of our time. Moreover, the event was supported by the ACG Office of Public Affairs and organized by CSR Hellas, The University of Crete, and Alba Graduate Business School was open to distinguished academics from both public and private universities, members of the corporate world, and members of the ACG community, giving attendees the chance to witness the exchange of high-level ideas based on the guests’ shared belief in the importance of “Education for Sustainability.”

The event was held under the auspices of The Ministry of Development & Investments, Hellenic Republic, The Ministry of Finance, Hellenic Republic, and the European Parliament, Office in Greece.

In this most fruitful discussion, distinguished guests from the academic and corporate world emphasized fundamental environmental issues which our rapidly changing world is facing. The audience explored what education has to offer regarding sustainability, and of course, envision the ways that Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) bridge academia and business in pursuit of a common future. Both educational and business communities join forces for a common objective, which will aid to shape our new sustainable landscape. The participants placed particular emphasis on the role of leadership and stakeholders on which Alba’s Dean Dr. Axarloglou noted “However, this requires not only specific human skills for the implementation of actions that support the CSR of the company but above all the development of a specific mentality and value code of the executives for decision-making based on the benefit of the stakeholders. In this development, education and the academic community play an important role with similar learning actions and programs.”

This event was also an opportunity to highlight two important educational initiatives of CSR HELLAS:

  • The CSR-School, the Executive Education Program for Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility, offers advanced theoretical and practical training in the most critical subject areas related to CSR. Education 4 Sustainability marked the official kick-off of the CSR-School 2022, which started for the 4th time on September 30th. Additionally, Claudia Carydis Vice President, Public Affairs, The American College of Greece as well as Alexandros Kostopoulos, Associate Director, of CSR HELLAS referred to the joint ten-year journey of the two organizations through the institution of the CSR School.
  • The Student Competition on CSR “Nikos Analytis”, in which groups of students were invited to study, analyze, argue and formulate proposals regarding one or more of the SDGs. This year, the theme was “the Social Impact of Climate Change” and the event established the completion of this cycle with the award ceremony of the 3 highest scoring teams, rated by the judging committee, in which Ms. Rania Assariotaki, Senior Sustainability Manager | Office of Public Affairs, was also a member.

Learn more about the CSR-School schedule and the speakers here.