Hello from your CEMS Student Board!
Global Responsibility Week is here! From 22. October to 02. November, CEMS Clubs around the world will be working toward creating a more environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable world. We will highlight events happening at CEMS schools globally and encourage you all to engage in the CEMS challenge - split into six long-term challenges as well as three daily challenges, all of which you call follow along with via Facebook. One of the week-long challenges, going veggie for a week, is being promoted by University of St. Gallen during the DACH Forum – so if you’re attending, you’re already making progress toward one of the challenges!
But how does this fit into the broader perspective of sustainability – and what does the CEMS Student Board have to do with it?
Within the CEMS global Student Board, we have one team of 6 students from all over the world exclusively dedicated to integrating the value of responsible leadership better into CEMS. This is also the wish of the CEMS alliance and they express it with their CEMS 2025 vision:
“CEMS is recognised as a unique global community, comprising the world’s finest students, schools, alumni, corporate and social partners, delivering the leading international Master’s in Management (MiM) that prepares responsible leaders contributing to a more open, sustainable and inclusive world.”
As the responsible leadership team we must ensure that all our projects have a strong impact, while being feasible, with tangible results and a high return on investment.
For us students, this can make a big impact.
We are the biggest community within CEMS and therefore we have the power to make a change with our day-to-day behaviour.
One project initiated by the Student Board in 2018 is the so called “Call for Action” - a declaration that was signed last May in Barcelona by more than 500 stakeholders (boards, deans, companies & students), promising to take further action in addressing the challenges of global climate change in the future. Currently, the Responsible Leadership team is following up on the Call for Action and works on a way to engage all stakeholders, not only the student body but also academic institutions, to deliver on their promise and take action against climate change.
To raise awareness about the importance of responsibility and sustainability among the student body, we recently introduced the “Responsible Leadership Ambassador Programme”, and put the CSR /Sustainability Committees of CEMS Clubs directly in touch with the Student Board with the aim to engage students to live more consciously and include environmentally friendly habits in their day-to-day life. Not always radical actions are needed - you can already make your contribution against climate change by bringing your own cup to your favourite coffee shop, buying less plastic in supermarkets and considering vegetarian options more often. Your planet will be thankful!
A great time to start is this week! Let's use the Global Responsibility Week as a chance to kick-off our commitment to a more sustainable and responsible future.
If you want to learn more about sustainability or the tasks of your RL team, you can get in touch with your Head of CSR and RL Ambassador Kelsey at social_responsibility@cemsclub.ch, or send us a message via studentboard@cemsmail.org .
Kind regards,
Your Student Board RL team