The new partnership between Sustain SC and The Darla Moore School of Business that began in August has only grown its influence in promoting sustainability by encouraging student engagement.
Over the years, businesses have been implementing sustainability efforts that will reduce costs through efficiency and waste reduction. Businesses that aim to find ways to reduce energy consumption and its impact on the environment has often led to the discovery of more efficient processes, this translates into a competitive edge according to an article by Vanderbilt Business.
The Darla Moore School of Business has observed this and has focused on creating academic programs and research on sustainable economic development, leading to the decision to start this partnership, Rohit Verma, dean of the Darla Moore School of Business, said.
“I think in general, our students have a demand for sustainability,” said Kealy Carter, the director of the Sustainability Initiative at the business school. “They see that being a priority for business, so they're like, 'It needs to be a priority for me.'”
The business school has already established programs for students, such as a Sustainability in Business undergraduate concentration and a Sustainability in Business graduate certificate. However, the school also decided that a partnership with Sustain SC was imperative for helping them achieve its next steps, said Verma.
Sustain SC was created to combat South Carolina's low ranking from a U.S. Sustainable Development Report released in 2021. Now, the organization is promoting sustainability through peer-to-peer, multi-sector work. According to its website, it aims to spark conversations between businesses and local stakeholders so that sustainability investments can be made locally.
“They can provide educational content, they can help create case studies, they can provide projects for students. They can even help faculty work on projects” said Verma. “They are focused on South Carolina, and so they have connections with other agencies in South Carolina, both the government and private companies.”
The initiative to promote student involvement
The first step of this initiative was decided and began with the “Voices of Sustainability” podcast, featuring interviews created by students from the Sustainability in Business undergraduate concentration with members of Sustain SC. The project became an opportunity to provide students with a better understanding and knowledge of the balance between economic growth and environmental and social responsibility.
The podcast itself explores the benefits and challenges businesses face when making decisions that compromise economic growth and economic sustainability. Students interviewed members of Sustain SC with questions regarding how it has implemented sustainable practices, how initiatives are measured in its organization and how these businesses have used these initiatives to yield a positive impact.
Fourth-year finance student Taylor Gilliam was one of the students involved in interviewing a member of Sustain SC. Gilliam said that the podcast provided her with knowledge on the opportunities available in her field of study.
“Now I’ve noticed that there’s more to finance, that you can do more sectors in finance.” said Gilliam. “So there also is sustainability initiatives within companies that I would maybe not have looked over before, but now I'm actually looking into it."
Carter, who assisted in overseeing the podcast, explained how these projects are necessary for connecting students and faculty with the research involved with the partnership.
“We've got the right people as part of the conversation to bring together our collective expertise to really drive, really, sustainable growth,” Carter said.
The future steps in this initiative will continue to build upon projects like the podcast with the business school's plan to launch a new center based on sustainable economic development said Verma. He has already proposed his intentions for this center.
“In that center, there will be many projects supported by industry and events, and what we hope is that most of those events and projects will be done by students under supervision by the faculty,” Verma said. “So essentially, students who are interested in sustainable economic development can do both. Either they can take classes, get academic credentials, they can work on projects, etc.”
Carter explained that the partnership between the Darla Moore School of Business and Sustain SC has morphed into an exploration as to how everyone can get involved and learn more about how sustainability practices are essential towards all fields.
“We're talking about engaging our students in a meaningful way as well as our partners,” Carter said. “It's not just a marketing issue, it's not just management or accounting. We've got to figure out how we can all work together to achieve these goals that we're looking towards.”
