Teaching Environmental Sustainability to Businesses at the Case Weatherhead School of Management

It’s no secret that one of the biggest emerging trends for business in the 21^st century is environmental sustainability. Social consciousness will be a new asset that many businesses will pursue. And none of this seems lost on environmental sustainability university programs like the one at Case Western Reserve’s Weatherhead School of Management.

The Weatherhead School is taking environmental sustainability seriously, with programs and courses of study that will focus on how companies can create an environmental sustainability business model that benefits both the Earth and the company’s bottom line.

But what does environmental sustainability mean in the world of business? It means that companies must see the challenges of our time as opportunities for innovation. By committing itself to the use of things like renewable resources and fostering a corporate culture that holds itself responsible for the environmental and human rights effects of its policies, businesses can thrive in this new climate of social responsibility.

Specifically, The Weatherhead School focuses on research strategies like appreciative inquiry, a process developed at Case Western Reserve University that’s centered on asking incisive questions with the goal of finding ways to heighten the positive potential of things like business plans and corporate policies. This means doing more than just constructing a PR campaign that shows an environmentally-friendly face. It means making sustainability a factor in every action a company takes.

Some businesses that The Weatherhead School has already worked with concerning environmental sustainability are Fairmount Minerals, Wal-Mart and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.

Sustainable Living Education Session at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

The latest in a series of green bag lunches that double as sustainable living education programs will take place on October 16 at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in Cleveland, Ohio. Presented by Cleveland’s Employee Conservation Opportunities team, or ECO team and the Cleveland Program Director Andrew Watterson, the sustainable living education program will help attendees understand the benefits and goals of sustainability.

The one hour long sustainable living education session allows visitors bring their own lunches and hear from some of Cleveland’s top green consultants about a variety of topics that will further the Park District’s conservation mission. It’s a chance to visit the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, one of the city’s cultural jewels, and learn about important sustainable living education topics.

The ECO Team aims to investigate, fund and execute sustainable practices throughout the Cleveland Metroparks Park District. Through sustainable living education, the ECO Team hopes to implement economically viable green initiatives for Cleveland.