Mobilizing for Impact

Reflections on the PRME Chapter France-Benelux Annual Meeting 2024

On March 14 and 15 the PRME Chapter France-Benelux held its Annual Meeting in the city of Leuven. (What's PRME?) It marked a significant milestone in advancing sustainable practices in higher management education. Hosted by FEB KU Leuven, the conference brought together 100 participants, i.e., academics, students and professionals from Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy dedicated to integrating ERS (Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability) into business education.

The program featured engaging sessions on innovative teaching methods, impactful research presentations, and collaborative discussions, all aimed at mobilizing for sustainable impact across the educational landscape. In this article, we delve into the activities that took place during the congress and highlight the key learning moments experienced by our FEB colleagues. The event took place in the magnificent auditorium of STUK and was organized by FEB colleagues Prof. dr. Annick Van Rossem, Prof. dr. Ingrid Molderez and Pascale Maas in close collaboration with the steering committee of the PRME Chapter.

In his opening address the dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Prof. dr. Wilfried Lemahieu, emphasized the importance of sustainability and social responsibility as a major theme in research, education, and operations. He highlighted that the bottom-up enthusiasm of many colleagues from diverse research groups in FEB also needs to be complemented with a more strategic vision in the form of a global framework and governance structure. This strategic alignment is set to be a major topic in FEB's policy plan for the coming years. Prof. dr. Krista Finstad-Milion, Chair of the PRME France & Benelux Chapter, underlined how important the support of a dean is to make PRME a reality.

The theme of the first plenary session was ‘Using Arts for Mobilizing Impact in Higher Management Education’. The conversations with the keynote speakers were introduced by Prof. dr. Ingrid Molderez (FEB KU Leuven). Prof. dr. Sylvain Bureau (ESCP Paris), Prof. dr. Philippe Mairesse (ICN Nancy) and Prof. dr. Sabine Bacouel-Jentjens (ISC Paris), shared their specific ways of integrating art in management education and how this can lead to more sustainable transformations. The session highlighted case studies that blend artistic methods with the business curricula to foster creativity, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of social and environmental responsibilities.

Ingrid Molderez (left, standing). Copyright: Sam Vanoverschelde, Visual Kitchen

“Apart from realizing that we are contributing to societal problems, like global warming, poverty, exclusion, we must care enough to act. Art is one way to stimulate this: it helps us to feel, and as we feel, to care. Hence, the importance of arts-based practices in this year’s annual meeting: to move from feeling to questioning our values, to acting and mobilizing for social impact!” – Prof. dr. Ingrid Molderez.

“It was inspiring to witness the innovative methods already in practice for driving sustainable change in higher management education. Despite widespread acknowledgment that humans are not purely rational beings, I seldom see practical applications that address the complexity and irrationality of human behavior. This seminar demonstrated the feasibility of such approaches, though it highlighted the need for continued experimentation.” - Pascale Maas, PhD Candidate

The PRME Impactful Five (i5) Framework for Developing Responsible Leaders, a three-year program that brings novelty to SDG leadership education, was explained by Prof. dr. Dirk Moosmayer (Kedge Business School), Prof. dr. Wim Lambrechts (Open University Maastricht), and Prof. dr. Carine Sonntag (ICN Business School). It is a student-centered holistic pedagogy, serving as both an educational approach and a call-to-action for business educators who believe in the power of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The i5 framework stresses five essential characteristics for creating dynamic learning environments: making learning meaningful, fostering joy and well-being, developing supportive social interactions, facilitating active engagement, and designing for iteration. The associated playbook, filled with practical strategies, aims to elevate teaching practices by inspiring responsible management and leadership education.

“As a teacher of management and strategy, today one cannot neglect the importance of sustainability, ethics and managing diversity. It is a conditio sine qua non in today’s business reality. And it can help to get a sustainable competitive advantage, only when used in an honest way. It is not about window dressing.” - Prof. dr. Annick Van Rossem

Sam Vanoverschelde, Visual Kitchen

Sam Vanoverschelde, Visual Kitchen

Sam Vanoverschelde, Visual Kitchen

“I attended these sessions to get inspiration on a concrete approach to implement ERS in business education. Several interesting examples were explained, which could also be replicated in our courses. I also found it important that everyone admitted that implementing ERS in curricula is not easy, and that the obstacles were also discussed. Besides motivated staff, you also need a management (deans, heads of departments) that is enthusiastic and allocates time and resources for this.” - Prof. dr. Valérie Cappuyns

“I was happy to present our project-case of the collaboration of my students with the Oxfam solidarity secondhand pop-up store in a disadvantaged neighborhood in Antwerp. This project is part of my elective Service Learning course on CSR. With great interest, I listened to and learned a lot from the other presentations in my session. Thanks to these inspiring examples, I will renew and improve my service-learning course on CSR next year to be even more responsive to the contemporary needs of society and students.” - Prof. dr. Ysabel Nauwelaerts

PRME is also an invitation to businesses to share their visions and actions on ERS. We had the pleasure of getting insights from GITEC, the Global Innovation and Technology Center of AB InBev, by Eduardo Soares, Global Director Innovation, Strategy & Performance. The participants were impressed by how a big multinational is proactively anticipating future needs by tailoring its strategies to different regions around the world. They witnessed how AB InBev is harnessing innovation to develop more sustainable processes, to ensure that their operations are both environmentally responsible and adaptable to local conditions.

For two years, our chapter facilitates the PRME World Tour Research Paper Development Program (PRME PWD) made possible through the partnership with two of the world’s leading international journals in the field of responsible management and business-in-society: Business & Society and Journal of Business Ethics. This program offers scholars a unique opportunity to receive feedback on their papers from journal editors before submission. This guidance helps them refine their research, increase its impact, and increase the likelihood of acceptance of the paper.

“Participating in the PRME PWD was an incredible opportunity to get first-hand feedback and insights from top editors in the field of sustainability. I was honored to have been accepted because joining the PRME community provides a unique opportunity to connect with scholars in our field, and to share and build knowledge together on how we can enhance sustainability in business and management. Through the editor’s detailed comments, I was able to rethink the narrative and improve the positioning of the paper, strengthen the theoretical framework, and more specifically, to clearly define the contributions we aim to advance for both academia, practitioners, and society at large.” - Gabriella Padilla: Ph.D. Candidate

A significant role was played by the students who inspired the audience with their ideas. The PRME Global Students initiative, a global platform aimed at empowering students and fostering creative collaboration, was a key feature of the event. The youth panel brought together students from Switzerland, The Netherlands, France and Belgium. Their proposals highlighted the critical role students play in fostering impactful solutions towards a sustainable future.

“We shared our vision of what sustainable education should entail. Our proposal advocates for a strategic approach to sustainable education. The first step should be the implementation of an introductory course on sustainability, as many people are unfamiliar with the concept. However, sustainability is not just an add-on – it is a mindset that should permeate every facet of education, from finance and economics to management and entrepreneurship.” - Laura De Brauwere, Master Student FEB

“During a brainstorming session on how sustainability should be implemented in the economic curriculum in the future, I was particularly intrigued with the future-proof mindset and determination for a better education by the students themselves. I left truly inspired and hopeful for the future!” - Farah Saerens: teaching assistant

The two days full of inspiration ended with a djembe drumming session, thus fully fitting into PRME’s i5. The successful event highlighted the importance of innovative teaching methods, strategic vision and supportive leadership through dynamic sessions and discussions. Thanks to this exchange, we took an important step forward towards a business education and practice in which Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability (ERS) will play an increasingly important role.

Pascale Maas and Ingrid Molderez

Thank you to all the participants, the organisation and steering members of the PRME Chapter France-Benelux and to Annick Van Rossem, Valérie Cappuyns, Ysabel Nauwelaerts, Gabriella Padilla, Laura De Brauwere and Farah Saerens for their contributions to this article.

Sam Vanoverschelde, Visual Kitchen

Sam Vanoverschelde, Visual Kitchen