Business drives modern society, offering benefits but also posing challenges like environmental harm, inequality, and ethical concerns. While businesses have the power to create sustainable solutions, many leaders misuse resources unethically. Ethical leadership is crucial, and this course equips employees and managers with tools to foster a more sustainable future.
The Earth Charter is a document with 16 ethical principles to foster sustainable development. The principles and pillars of the Earth Charter provide a practical and strong foundation upon which business can build on for socially and environmentally responsible profitability.
Short Description
This course will equip participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to take business ethics and sustainability practices to higher levels by using the Earth Charter (EC) as a framework. This course helps participants develop a broad approach to sustainability and make the EC Principles actionable within business contexts.
By introducing business stakeholders to ethics and sustainability theory and practices, the course intends to help participants be prepared to develop sustainable and inclusive business in an era of uncertainty and disruption. This course offers a space to learn about the nexus between the Sustainable Development Goals, the Earth Charter, business sustainability and its relationship with ESG (Environment, Social and Governance).
This experience seeks to build a pool of experts and consultants with a systemic and ethical approach to business ethics and sustainability, capable of providing quality support and guidance to businesses that seek to incorporate ethics and sustainability into their development and planning process. It will be an opportunity to enhance the participant’s ethical leadership skills.
Learning objectives
Upon completion of this course, learners will:
- Understand the history, purpose, and significance of the Earth Charter.
- Develop knowledge and deepen understanding of the business role and responsibility in sustainable development through the lenses of Earth Charter and related documents.
- See the relationship between the SDGs, ESG and the Earth Charter.
- Read and assess business scenario(s) based on various frameworks and worldviews and define decision-making criteria coherent to this vision.
- Use the Earth Charter as a tool to make ethical and sustainable decisions in the business development and planning processes.
- Reflect upon diverse scenarios of ethical and unethical leadership.
Participants profile
The Earth Charter Business Course is designed for business owners and managers at every level of business, as well as consultants, academics, and regulators within business and industry, who are interested in:
- Taking a bold step in bringing a broad vision of ethics and sustainability to their business or industry.
- Expanding their knowledge and skills to implement ethical and sustainable business practices with a comprehensive approach.
- Learning and applying the Earth Charter in their local contexts and daily work.
- Turning theories and best practices of ethical and sustainable business into actionable strategies.
Course format and planning
The Earth Charter Business Course is an online, facilitated course.rnrnParticipants are introduced to the content through sessions that include videos, articles, live webinars, and discussion forums. In each session, participants are expected to actively participate in dialogue forums to share perspectives and opinions on the session’s topic and to complete assignments.rnrnAt the end of the course, participants will submit a written report and a 5-minute video summary of their final project. This course will allow interaction between participants, encouraging them to build connections and collaborate with each other.
Themes
- The ethical challenges business leaders face in the 21st century
- The role and responsibility of business in social and environmental justice
- The vision of sustainability articulated in the Earth Charter and its relevance to Business
- Ethics, the Sustainable Development Goals and ESG (with a special focus on Goals 8: Decent work and economic growth, and 12: Responsible consumption and production)
- Assessing ethical sustainability performance of business and industry
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Facilitator
Dr. Chris Beehner
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Close description
Dr. Chris Beehner is a business professor at Seminole State College of Florida, and has developed and taught courses for several colleges and universities. Prior to joining academia, Dr. Beehner was employed in the supply chain management industry, and he has also held nonprofit leadership roles. He has published, presented, and served as a panelist on workplace spirituality, sustainable business, and leadership topics. He is a community fellow at the University of Central Florida Center for Global Economic and Environmental Opportunity, where he collaborates with representatives from academia, industry, government, and nonprofits to discover the sustainable solutions necessary to attain the Sustainable Development Goals.
