ESD Enterprise: 'To a Better World', or Just 'to the Record'?

Hirst, J.

Abstract

The story of Durham University Business School’s MBA International Enterprise Project began as a humanitarian response to the Sri Lankan tsunami in 2004. Strong links between various university departments and Sri Lanka led to establishing Project Sri Lanka, providing opportunities for staff and student volunteers to make a contribution to post-tsunami restoration and reconstruction projects. MBA students were invited to provide consultancy expertise for some of the post-tsunami restoration and reconstruction projects, which then led to business projects being initiated by students themselves, and finally to the birth of an accredited MBA module relating to the United Nation of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The students are put in touch with the companies but are then responsible for working with them to develop viable projects of mutual interest which they can undertake on a 7-day field-trip, normally involving action-research and even more action-learning. The module design sought to avoid inhibiting students’ creativity or initiative-taking.

Citation

Hirst, J. (2015). ESD Enterprise: 'To a Better World', or Just 'to the Record'?. In A. Murray, D. Baden, P. Cashian, K. Haynes, & A. Wersun (Eds.), Inspirational Guide for the Implementation of PRME (147-154). Greenleaf / Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351286404

• Online Publication Date: Oct 1, 2017
• Publication Date: 2015
• Deposit Date: Aug 30, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 4, 2022
• Pages: 147-154
• Series Number: 21
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Book Title: Inspirational Guide for the Implementation of PRME
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351286404
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1667510
• Publisher URL: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781351286404-23/esd-enterprise-better-world-record-john-hirst