"The Postgraduate Program in Sustainable Development will accelerate the desire to build a better world"

We spoke with Professor Ricardo Zózimo, to understand how this programme can help businesses transform the world, society, and economy.

What are the major challenges that the Postgraduate program in Sustainable Development aims to address?

I think everyone knows that the world is changing, becoming more sustainable, developing a whole competence in sustainability that did not exist before. Especially in companies, there is a great transformation towards a more responsible and sustainable policy, and this postgraduate program comes to respond to this great change, in which companies need to align what they do, what they are, how they do, and connect with the world with this more sustainable perspective. This post-graduation also comes to respond to the challenges of companies and communities that have to make this transition to a more sustainable world.

What are the risks if companies do not act to mitigate these problems?

The biggest risk is inaction. Companies not knowing what to do and doing nothing about it. And that is one of the great questions of our postgraduate program, with which we will explore not only what needs to be done but where the opportunities lie. This is the central part of our approach to the issue of sustainability: to look at it as a great opportunity for the development of organisations, and not as something that is cost or risk.

We see sustainability as a sea of opportunities that will present itself to companies, which many organisations are already taking advantage of, and on which it is possible to capitalise. To this end, it is important that each participant who comes to the postgraduate program brings with them their companies, their examples, their experiences, developing, from their context, solutions to real problems of their companies. Therefore, the risk of inaction is mitigated by looking at sustainability as a vector of opportunities and not as a vector of cost. It is a vector that allows us to go further.

Is it possible to achieve sustainable development - socially, environmentally and economically - without jeopardising a company's profits?

Of course it is. It is necessary to have an opportunistic perspective, to understand that sustainability, and the way of doing sustainability, will change the way we operate in the market. But that does not mean that the company will have more costs, it means that the company will be transformed and that this change will probably require investment in the beginning, but the recognition, the profits, and what comes after will be greater than the investment. Of course organisations are used to doing business in a certain way and that change will require organisations to modify not only their mindset, the way they do business, but also the perspective from which people see their own business.

Let me give you an example: banks will have to radically change their business model. With the European Union taxonomy, banks will be obliged to have a more sustainable loan portfolio, to lend to companies that have better environmental, social and economic policies, better companies for the planet. By changing the way they finance the economy, the companies themselves will have to adapt - this will not be a cost, it will be an opportunity. There are going to be banks that will finance sustainable projects at costs that would never be possible for non-sustainable projects. Clearly, this is an opportunity to evolve the way companies work and their own practices.

Can you describe this post-graduation's program?

Initially, we activate the knowledge that each participant brings, understanding the context that led them to join this post-graduation course. Then, we will develop core contents in the area of management, sustainability, in the way of seeing the world. We also want to develop cross-participation, bringing together various ways of looking at the world's problems, the participation of companies and the experience and knowledge that each one brings, so that together we can all solve sustainability problems.

From these core modules, each participant can embark on a more individualised learning journey. We then offer three pathways: one that focuses on more social and community issues; another on more economic issues; and a third that focuses on more environmental issues. These three tracks, although separate, actually touch each other, because the world can only solve these problems by looking at these three dimensions of sustainability. But each of the participants will have a very contextualised experience, linked to the problem that they brought, to the challenges that the organisation itself is facing.

Why is it essential to do this postgraduate program given the current context?

This postgraduate program is an accelerator. It will accelerate the desire to build a better world. Therefore, it is essential to do this postgraduate program if you believe you need tools to accelerate your companies and build a better world.

A postgraduate program is also a moment to get out of your comfort zone. This post-graduation has several active pedagogies: there won't just be a teacher teaching, but a teacher who facilitates, who meets the participant, takes concrete cases, and helps to understand how these concrete cases have to do with their organisations. Throughout the post-graduate program, we will use many active pedagogies to bring what everyone knows to the centre and build from there. It will not only be an experience of listening, it will above all be an experience of participating, sharing and discovering new solutions based on what everyone brings.