Robert Frost once wrote, “some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice.” The stakes of the future of our Earth have never been higher. As we witness wildfires, floods, heat waves and cold waves affecting people’s lives all over the world, the imperative of sustainable development is more crucial than ever. While the blame for climate change is mostly directed at conventional industries, which are dependent on fossil fuels, some corporations now seek new ways to mitigate this crisis through a business practice known as sustainable management.
The SNUCSR, a student organization of the College of Business Administration, is a unique community of SNU students interested in studying and implementing sustainable management strategies for corporations. Lee Da-Yeon (Department of Business Administration), vice president of the club, explained that its scope is neither one-dimensional nor fixed. “Beneath the evolution of business strategies that we witness today, there are numerous underlying factors each leading to a complex array of corporate responses and administrative regulations,” Lee said. Sure enough, the term sustainable management incorporates business practices commonly known as CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), but that is only part of the story. Buzzwords such as ESG (Environment, Society, Governance) have proliferated over the past years, along with various standards and regulations regarding sustainable management practices.
In accordance with the complexity of terminology, SNUCSR primarily strives to achieve an in-depth understanding for new and previously participating members alike. After new members are recruited at the start of each semester, the club activity commences by devoting two to three weeks to educational sessions where members are introduced to the context, definition, and standards of sustainable management. Lee Sung-Hee (Department of Linguistics), the education session manager, emphasized the importance of these sessions. “We never think of these sessions as following a fixed curriculum. Material is revised to include updated trends and meetings are held to decide which concept of sustainable management to emphasize. This way, members who have participated in previous semesters are also able to join and update their understanding,” Lee said.
After the educational sessions, it is all about implementation. The students form case study groups based on their own interests addressing the subtopics of sustainable management. These include but are not limited to the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 26000 standards and each ESG component. After the studies, students move on to formulate specific sustainable management strategies for prominent firms. At the end of each semester, these inquiries are supplemented and eventually incorporated in the club magazine ‘Sustainability Review’ and then sent to related departments of various corporations and institutions.
While SNUCSR reflects students’ passion regarding sustainability, it has been a burden for the club to organize and support all of its activities on its own. This is why the ISD (Institute for Sustainable Development), a SNU institution, is drafting a support plan for environmentally concerned student organizations. In addition to the Green-Leadership Program and the Green-Campus Program hosted and supported by the institute, this plan proposes to address increasing needs of continuous institutional support for student activities concerning sustainability. Although currently in progress, the plan, if implemented, will enable students to receive support including consulting services regarding their activities, conference space, and administrative assistance. Research Professor Jung Hye-Jin of ISD elaborated on the motivation of drafting the plan. “Following the increase of environmentally concerned student activities, we felt a need for a consistent support plan that could elevate these student groups as an important player in sustainable governance,” Jung said. The plan is currently being developed after a joint conference on August 24th involving the institute and student groups, including SNUCSR.
The world might one day still end in fire or ice, but SNU student movements and institutional support give hope for a sustainable future. While these efforts and support may still not be enough, increasing interest would serve as nourishment for the sustainability movement to flourish. “Group activities are valuable in the sense that the core virtue persists while the individual membership may fluctuate. I advise student groups to archive the lessons and limitations of their projects and deliver them to the next generation,” Professor Jung added.
Written by Jaeyong lee, SNU English Editor, moonn6pence@snu.ac.kr
Reviewed by Professor Travis Smith, Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations, tlsmith@snu.ac.kr