IBCP: Business&Sustainability

Why Choose This Course?

Do you want to specialise in business? Or are you passionate about sustainability or a career, such as fashion design or tourism, where issues of sustainability will be central to your career?  Then this course provides a unique opportunity to set yourself apart from other candidates. 

About the Course

The Business and Sustainability course with the Sustainability Management School (SUMAS) will support students who wish to develop responsible management skills that apply across different jobs and industries.  SUMAS is a well-recognised and accredited business school in Switzerland and the students receive university credit for the courses they complete along with a transcript from SUMAS and the IBCP diploma.

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Curriculum

Sustainability Leadership Camp
Students will take part in a Sustainability Leadership Camp at the beginning of the course. The camp is designed to introduce the concepts, styles and practices of leadership. Students will be encouraged to improve a range of leadership skills as well as to gain knowledge about personal sustainability. Leadership theories will be analysed and applied in real world situations. Students will develop competencies that are essential to becoming responsible managers.

Fundamentals of Sustainability
This unit will provide students with a solid basic understanding of the main aspects of sustainability and prepare them for the advanced courses. The individual, company and societal perspectives are explored and issues concerning energy, climate and water are covered in more detail, to help students reach a deeper qualitative and quantitative understanding. Key knowledge areas including ethics, cultural history, population, environmental economics and policy lay the foundations for a broader understanding. Students would also explore applications of sustainability such as environmental ethics, applied statistics for sustainability and corporate responsibility.

Technology and Sustainable Innovation
This course will be an introduction to “new thinking” on innovation and sustainable industry (SI). It will be looking at innovations with deep concern about the resources, the water, the energy, the human conditions and the challenges in terms of economy. The course will be based on real cases

in material/product innovation and will include the Cradle to Cradle ® principles and eco design. Students will explore this unit through topics such as the circular economy, performance economy and life-cycle analysis.

Leadership
This course is designed to raise awareness of the importance of new leadership styles to fit the challenges facing leaders today in times of fast changes and crises. Leaders have to be skilled communicators and change promoters in the global arena. Conceptual analysis, roleplaying activities, business simulations and case studies will be practiced offering students both theoretical knowledge and best practices.  Students will expolore this unti through topics such as group dynamics and high-performance teams, contingency theories, cross-cultural competencies and change management.

Integrative Project
In addition, students will learn through an integrative project where they will have opportunities to apply their theoretical learning in a real world setting. Students can choose to focus on a Business externship, Sustainable Fashion, Sustainable Hospitality or Nature Conservation.

Diploma Programme Courses

Students following the Business and Sustainability would take 3 or 4 Diploma Courses with 1 or 2 at the higher level.  As the Career-related Study (CrS) is an online course, this gives greater flexibility in terms of timetable choices.  It is expected that students would take a humanities course such as ESS, geography or Digital Societies or a science course such as biology at the higher level or , as well as a standard level mathematics course and one other standard level course to complement their studies.

Possible Career Pathways

• Corporate Social Responsibility Consultant
• Sustainability Program Coordinator
• Ecotourism,
• Environmental Lawyer
• Green Entrepreneur
• Financial advisor for Responsible Investments
• Chief Sustainability Officer
• Fashion Design
• Interior Design
• Sustainable Hospitality
• Operations and Production Manager