HSE University – Perm Students Participate in an International Sustainable Development Project
Students of the Business Management programme have published their research stories on the AIM2Flourish international platform. These stories are about modern sustainable innovations in business.
International Platform Project
HSE University – Perm School of Management has been running a new type of student projects since last year. The idea behind it is that students create research stories in English about the sustainable development of some companies and then publish them on AIM2Flourish.
AIM2Flourish is a global platform aimed at supporting business leaders in meeting UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One of its key objectives is to promote the United Nations Global Compact setting out the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME).
Project Objectives
Our students had to look for innovative changes in a real business environment, choosing a sustainable innovation and benchmarking it against the Sustainable Development Goals. After that, they held a positive interview with the company’s representatives and presented the results of their research in the form of a story. The geography of the research was not limited to Perm: representatives of various Russian and international companies were interviewed.
The platform’s editors and representatives of the international business community were highly appreciative of the students’ stories, which were then uploaded on the platform without any further refinements.
Teacher at HSE University – Perm School of Management and coordinator of the project
Aim2Flourish is a great platform that lets students learn about innovations changing the world. This project provides students with the opportunity to see the relevance of responsible management methods and the benefits that companies can receive from applying the principles of sustainable development.
Solving a non-trivial problem such as the search for and study of sustainable innovations allows students to develop their soft and hard skills: they need to actively think and reflect about particularities of doing business in Russia, step outside their comfort zone, boost their research skills, and hold interviews with CEOs and founders of sustainable businesses. All of these activities bring students and teachers of HSE University – Perm into the international community interested in sustainable development.
HSE University Students’ Stories
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‘Organic Waste into Energy’ (Bioenergy LLC)
AUTHORS
Egor Mokeev, Alexey Speshilov, Roman Kapustin, Alex Glukhov, Artemiy Golovinov, Danil Nevler
PROJECT LEADERS
Ekaterina Zagorodnova, Associate Professor, School of Management; Maxim Kurganov, teacher, School of Management
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Bioenergy LLC developed WiseSoil technology, which can significantly increase the economic efficiency of organic waste processing. This technology is implemented in a compact modular solution – a biomass preparation device.
second-year student, Business Management
The Aim2Flourish project gave us the opportunity to immerse ourselves into the world of innovation developments creating the future.
The project helped our team see the potential of sustainable development from the point of view of its profitability for business. Sustainable development does not necessarily mean solely altruistic objectives, as many companies are able to make profit from sustainable projects, while making the world a better place. The key to success is involving all the stakeholders in the process.
We realized that entrepreneurs are interested in our work and are keen to cooperate. The published articles enable viewers from all over the world to find out about the company’s willingness to contribute to achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals. For a project of such global scale, the input of every participant—governments, businesses, scientists and even regular students—is highly valued.
second-year student, Business Management
For the Aim2Flourish project, we chose a sustainable innovation suggested by Bioenergy LLC, a company operating on the international market. Not only has our team managed to analyze an insightful case, but we were immersed in the atmosphere of striving for sustainability and reasonable use of natural resources. Our article was eventually published on Aim2Flourish.
This project allowed our team to contribute to Russian cutting-edge technology and prove ourselves to be eco-friendly researchers.
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‘Making Something Useful Out of Something Useless’ (Polyarus)
AUTHORS
Anna Guliaeva, Yana Kolupaeva, Emil Gilmiyarov, Elizaveta Fedorova
PROJECT LEADERS
Ekaterina Zagorodnova, Associate Professor, School of Management; Maxim Kurganov, teacher, School of Management
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Polyarus operates in the field of fashion, one of the most polluting industries in the world. However, the impact of this company is exactly the opposite. Creating bags and other accessories out of worn-out tires and advertising banners as well as promoting recycling, Polyarus contributes to reducing the negative environmental effects caused by landfills and waste incineration. ‘To make something useful out of something useless’ is the mission of the company, according to its founder.
second-year student, Business Management
Participation in the Aim2Flourish project has been a new and exciting experience for the entire team. We flung ourselves whole-heartedly into the joy of journalism: we were studying the problems of sustainable development and conscious consumption, looking for information, selecting a suitable company, and finally writing an article (it was a great opportunity to improve our English too).
The best part of the project for me was the interview we had with a co-founder of Polyarus. Here was somebody who has founded an innovative business and made it successful but didn’t hesitate to give up their time to tell us about the ‘inner workings’ of the company and the main idea behind it. It was really exciting and it gave us the euphoria that people usually feel when they step out of their comfort zone and realize that anything is possible, you just need to take the first step. We felt equally victorious when our story was eventually published on the platform.
Overall, I think that for us, as students of the Business Management programme, participation in such a project and the ability to look closely into a company’s activity has been a useful experience, as sustainable development is the future of the businesses we are going to run.
Below are some of the other stories created by students of HSE University - Perm:
I’d like to point out that only few of us were familiar with the Sustainable Development concept, although this is a current global trend. Now that the project is over, each of us can tell you what sustainable innovations are and why it is important to know the seventeen goals of sustainable development. As a graduate of HSE University - Perm, I’m certain that this project has definitely enhanced my CV.
Currently, only five Russian universities are operating on the platform: HSE University, RUDN University, University of Tyumen, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), and Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences (MSSES).
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