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SKEMA’s Suzhou campus hosts forum on sustainability
SKEMA Business School’s Suzhou campus in China hosted an online forum focusing on corporate sustainability policy in June. The forum brought together entrepreneurs and academics to discuss this topic in the post-Covid-19 era.
This summer, the Suzhou campus hosted an online forum with representatives of the Danone group, the world's leading food company, to discuss the crucial issue of sustainability in the business world. Juncai Wu, vice president of sustainability and general manager of Danone's Social Enterprise (Greater China) represented the international group. "For decades, the group has been exploring sustainable approaches in all aspects of manufacturing, production and packaging to achieve carbon neutrality," said Juncai Wu.
Sustainability at the heart of academic research
After an introduction to SKEMA's SKY25 strategic plan and specifically its sustainability themes, Professor Wenyu Dou, Director of the Suzhou campus and of the Global DBA in Sustainability programme, referred to a research report on the subject of sustainability published by two SKEMA professors: Albert Jolink, professor of strategic management, and Eva Niesten, professor of strategy and sustainability.
A global doctoral programme in sustainability
This forum was also an opportunity for Wenyu Dou to talk about the launch of the Global DBA in Sustainability programme a few months ago. An executive education programme focused on sustainability, which aims to develop the research capabilities of senior managers to enable them to solve complex societal and organisational problems through innovative and sustainable solutions. "Our Global DBA programme focuses on developing and strengthening candidates' abilities to make a significant impact on business and society by tackling today's most pressing sustainability challenges," explained Professor Dou.
An absolute necessity for companies
In some companies, implementing a sustainability policy can be difficult, which is why programmes such as the Global DBA in Sustainability are so important, as Xin Chen, editor-in-chief of the Board of Directors magazine explains: "Although some Chinese companies have started to integrate ESG (environmental, social and governance criteria) into their practices since 2007, most of them face the dilemma of the lack of transparent ESG standards and professionals in the relevant sector."
