University of Dubai - the first signatory of UN’s Principles for Responsible Management Education

University of Dubai, a prestigious academic institution established by Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is endorsing UN’s Principles for the Responsible Management Education (PRME) committee – placing it as the first signatory in the Middle East and the UAE, to the global forum.
Delegates from the university attended the global forum at the UN headquarters and vowed to incorporate into academic activities and curricula the values of global social responsibility as portrayed in international initiatives such as the United Nations Global Compact. PRME is an initiative by UN, along with the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) to modify business education in light of changing ideas about corporate social responsibility, corporate citizenship, and sustainability.
Talking to delegates from University of Dubai, at his New York headquarters, Dr Manuel Escudero, Head of PRME steering Committee Secretariat, maintained: “Quality in terms of education is going to remain important as before, but if you don’t mix quality with an approach in which sustainability is at the core, you are not going to be an innovator. A manager has to be aware that his future decisions are going to impact both society and the environment. But we have not taught the students about the future social and environmental impact of their decisions as professionals. Thus it is absolutely required to rectify what we haven’t taught and PRME should act as a catalyst and facilitator for a new definition of business education in the future.”
Dr Omar Hefni, President of University of Dubai, said: “University of Dubai is proud to be part of this global initiative and we are committed to develop the capabilities of students to be future generators of sustainable value for business and society at large and to work for an inclusive and sustainable global economy. The initiative will also help us create educational frameworks, materials, processes, and environments that enable effective learning experiences for responsible leadership and to facilitate and support dialog and debate among educators, business, government, consumers, media, civil society organizations and other interested groups and stakeholders on critical issues related to global social responsibility and sustainability.”
Dr Hefni stressed upon the point that it is of utmost importance for an educational institution to engage in conceptual and empirical research that advances understanding about the role, dynamics, and impact of corporations in the creation of sustainable social, environmental, and economic value. These informed scholars should interact with managers of business corporations to extend knowledge of their challenges in meeting social and environmental responsibilities and to explore jointly effective approaches to meeting these challenges, he concluded.
University of Dubai, along with the current PRME members which constitute 283 business schools worldwide - strive to transform curricula, research, and teaching methodologies, with the objective of generating future managers who are responsible citizens to the society.  In this direction, curricula at the undergraduate and graduate level programs at the UD have been restructured to encompass all the principals chalked out by PRME and the university’s academic faculty closely monitors the progress on the extent of achieving the committee’s principles by the university’s students.