JSBE takes the lead in climate issues

JSBE leads the way in climate issues among schools of economics and business. JSBE’s long-standing expertise and academic advocacy in climate issues again received international recognition in 2020.

JSBE was the only school of economics in the world to be invited to serve as an expert for a climate investigation conducted by two major quality system organisations.

Dean of the Jyväskylä School of Business and Economics Hanna-Leena Pesonen is justifiably proud of JSBE’s leading role in climate matters in this field. Jyväskylä has a long tradition in environmental management education and research, and this status has been built on in recent years by prestigious quality certificates.

“The audit organisations AMBA and BGA investigated now for the first time the climate-related views of schools of economics worldwide,” Pesonen says. “We had the honour to participate in the survey in an expert role. We accepted the invitation without hesitation.”

PROVIDING FUTURE LEADERS WITH KEYS TO SOLUTIONS

The AMBA and BGA survey investigated the views of leading schools of economics on how climate change is related to education, research and the corporate world now and in the future. The surveys were conducted in spring 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic had already started to affect the world order.

According to Pesonen, the overall picture of the almost six hundred answers is positive.

“Now people acknowledge that business and economic life has played a role in causing climate problems, and people are also willing to search for solutions to these problems. Schools of economics play an important role in this search, since we educate prospective leaders and managers to make decisions and implement solutions at their future workplaces in practical business life.”

The organisers of the survey published their report at the beginning of 2021, but the survey data have not yet been analysed exhaustively – quite the opposite. “We now have a uniquely large set of research data at our disposal, which would have been very difficult to collect on our own,” says Pesonen. Research work is just beginning, and we aim to produce internationally interesting academic content. We are highly enthusiastic about this opportunity.

SMALL CHOICES MAKE UP GREAT CLIMATE ACTIONS

Dean Hanna-Leena Pesonen reminds that climate actions are not just declarations in leaders’ festive rhetoric and decorative phrases in corporate strategies. Real climate actions are small everyday choices, which everyone can easily make both at work and at home.

“Our carbon footprint is influenced by three factors, in particular: energy consumption, travelling and food. This is not a new notion, but always a topical one. Simply speaking, this means switching off lights and electronic devices, consideration of alternatives for the use of private cars, and adopting sustainable eating habits to reduce undue waste. We take these same themes into account in our daily work at JSBE as well.”

When talking about 2020, COVID-19 can hardly be ignored, and it has influenced – directly and indirectly – climate thinking as well. For example, JSBE has always encouraged researchers in internationalisation, but last year brought travel abroad to a halt.

“Could a longer visit be an alternative for a quick conference visit? Or in the domestic scale, how necessary is it for a student living elsewhere to travel to Jyväskylä just for a single exam? Travelling related to work or studies is in transition because of the pandemic, and the new normal of travelling will also have a major impact on the climate.”

“Now people acknowledge that business and economic life has played a role in causing climate problems, and people are also willing to search for solutions to these problems.”

Hanna-Leena Pesonen | DEAN