Towards 2022

‘To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream. Not only plan but also believe’ Anatole France

At the entry of 2022, I am truly delighted to see how PRME is in for another important year of action. From the PRME Secretariat, the coming year will be one of solidifying our revised governance model, appointing new PRME Board members, the first round of PRME Chapter Reviews in January/February, completing the comprehensive SAC process, finalizing the important SIP Impact review by the end of the year, supporting the participant model changes at the UN Global Compact to better serve academia, and seeing the PRME (i5) Leadership Education Program take off, generously sponsored by the LEGO Foundation. 2022 will also be the year where PRME Global Students (PGS) builds on the extensive preparations in 2021 and get into action mode, making their 7 initiatives come life, including a PGS Newsletter. The PRME World Tour for Research Paper Development will have its first workshop organized for and with PRME Chapter Brazil on 7 April and other PRME Chapters will be developing their World Tour workshops throughout 2022 and 2023. The PRME Global Forum 2022 is planned to occur on 2 – 3 June, overlapping the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit and we are still hopeful that this may be, at least partially, an in-person event. And we will also have our third PRME Global Chapter Forum on 5 October.

In 2021, the PRME Secretariat supported a significant development of Chapters, including the establishment of 3 new PRME Chapters (Africa, Eurasia, Poland), and the re-establishment of 3 ‘dormant’ PRME Chapters (ASEAN+, MENA, Iberia). Following the new PRME Chapter Guidelines, developed by the PRME Global Chapter Council and the Chapter Chairs, many PRME Chapters have started revising their governance structures. It is especially promising to see how some Chapters, inspired by the Guidelines, are today evolving from being led by one person, the Chapter Chair, to being led by a ‘collective of colleagues’ in many cases a Chair and a Vice-Chair supported by other leadership roles such as Heads of Engagement, Communication, Research, etc.). This will significantly support the Chapters’ capacity to engage in a variety of knowledge exchange activities as well as to promote grow in terms of engaging more schools in the regions. The SAC process has already proven to be of immense value for those Chapters that have so far participated - this process will continue until all Chapters have completed the workshops, generously supported pro bono by VIVA Idea. In 2022 we will at the PRME Secretariat support the PRME Chapters on their individual journeys to accomplish their goals.

Importantly for the PRME Secretariat to support the more than 850 Signatory schools and universities around the world is that we will be employing three new full-time staff in the New York office. This will help us execute some of the ambitions and aspirations that we have developed in the past to fully serve and grow the PRME community and to develop relevant offerings and valuable partnerships with other significant associations and organizations in the field.

As stated in my Happy Holidays greetings: PRME is on an important journey. We have an enormous responsibility to contribute to transforming management education and to educate the kind of business leaders that the world needs. On 24 January, which is the UN’s International Day of Education, we will publish a number of ’PRME BEST 10’ lists which we have asked some of our experts in the global PRME community to develop. These are lists on ‘PRME BEST 10 Responsible Management Education Research’, ‘PRME DEANS’s BEST 10 BOOKs’, ‘PRME STUDENTS BEST 10 READS’ and PRME BEST 10 CLIMATE CHANGE ARTICLES’, etc. So, stay tuned for these on 24 January on the PRME website and social media!

Finally, I want to take the opportunity to alert you all to the thought-provoking and highly relevant blogposts on the PRME Blog. The new and highly committed PRME Blog Editorial Board has managed to engage some inspiring blogposts and I encourage you to submit your ideas for your own article to primetime@unprme.org. The spirit of the PRME Blog is written for and by the PRME community.

I wish you all a most happy, prosperous, and peaceful 2022.

Warm regards,

Mette Morsing