NEWS UPDATE: 1 DECEMBER 2022:
Deadlines, dates for your diaries and details of initiatives that may interest you: a news roundup from the PRME Chapter UK and Ireland
Reasons to be cheerful – Chapter Get-Together – Monday 19 December 1-2pm, online
Today is World Aids Day with its important reminder of how serious a public health issue HIV/Aids remain. We know also that 2022 has had its many troubles, that COP27 didn’t meet many of our hopes, that wars seen and unseen continue, and that nearer to home the HE industrial relations environment in the UK is challenging. But, in the words of Ian Dury’s well-known song, we still think there are reasons to be cheerful! So we’re inviting you, for an hour anyway, to put away your troubles and join in an end of year celebration of all the wins you have had (small or large) in pursuit of the PRME agenda in your own institutions or beyond. This is an open invitation to all friends of PRME…. bring along an example of one of your wins and be ready to share it, wear a silly jumper if you wish to, and be ready to catch up with old friends and possibly make some new ones within the PRME community. Depending on how many people take part, we’ll set up breakout rooms to make sure small group conversations are possible for at least part of the time. We’ll also devote a few minutes to our plans for the Chapter’s 10th Anniversary in 2023.
To attend register HERE and you’ll receive a Zoom link by return to enter in your calendar.
The Steering Committee look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on Monday 19th December.
Advance Notice: Appointment of a Chapter Intern in partnership with the UN Global Compact UK Network
In a further expression of Chapter plans to work more closely with our UN host agency (UNGC), we are pleased to announce the imminent recruitment of a 50-50 shared intern with UNGC. The role will support the implementation of the PRME Global i5 (holistic leadership competencies) project in Ireland and the UK as well provide additional person-power behind a wide range of other Chapter initiatives. Funded at the PRME end by a combination of Chapter funds and PRME Global i5 grant funding, the Steering Committee has decided to make this investment in order to support a step-up in resourcing levels (and thus impact) throughout the 10th anniversary year. The employer will be the UNGC, the pay will be the London Living Wage and, while based in London, flexible home/office working arrangements will, we hope, enable applicants to apply from a fairly wide geographical area. Recruitment will be via PRME networks – so watch out for a separate announcement very soon.
Excellence in SIP Reporting webinar on 25 November: Recording available
A huge thank you to Giselle Weybrecht and Laura Olkkonen (their LinkedIn profiles are hyperlinked, if you would like to connect with them) for their contributions to our Sharing Information on Progress (SIP) reporting webinar last week. Giselle's blog is also available here.
If you were unable to attend but would like to watch and listen to the recording, you can access it here: Webinar on Demonstrating Excellence in PRME SIP Reporting 2.mp4
Laura Steele (Steering Committee co-lead on Organisational learning) is in the process of planning further SIP related events for 2023 and we will update you in due course.
Update from the Green Stories project
We are pleased to bring you the news below, provided by Denise Baden (Green Stories, and University of Southampton)
“The Green Stories project have now published an anthology of climate solutions wrapped in short stories called No More Fairy Tales: Stories to Save Our Planet. Each story links to a webpage where readers can find out more how to make the solutions a reality. We compiled it originally to inspire COP27 delegates. The anthology made the ‘Top of the COP’ newsletter, and we contributed to several sessions about the role of storytelling in raising understanding of the climate crisis. However, the stories are great reads in their own right, and so we have made it available more widely. It’s available on Amazon or you can bypass Amazon and buy direct here or order through local bookshops. A great book for Christmas. The anthology and associated website might be a useful resource for those teaching sustainability. “
The Green Stories project also runs a series of free writing competitions with £1500 of prizes.
Take part in a survey: Organisational Practices for Social Impact in Business Schools
As a result of our links to the worldwide PRME community, we are happy to encourage you to take part in a global survey being conducted by Ana Godonoga , a PhD student at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. The survey is targeted at the entire network of PRME member signatories.
The study aims to provide a global analysis on the integration of social impact into business schools’ strategies, education, research, and performance management practices.
The survey should take at most 15-20 minutes to complete and can be accessed until the 9th of December, 2022, at this link. The survey is fully anonymous and the data generated will be used only for this doctoral research. The results will be shared with interested respondents. For more information prior to participating you can contact Ana on ana.godonoga@wu.ac.at
A reminder of dates for our 2023 Doctoral Colloquium and Annual Conference
Our 10th Anniversary Annual Conference will be held at Aston University (Birmingham) on Tuesday 27th and Wednesday 28th June 2023. As in the last two years, it will be preceded by a Doctoral Colloquium on Monday 26th June. A call for proposals will be issued in February 2023.
A reminder of the two competitions we recently launched and their deadlines
Our latest Innovative Pedagogy Award Scheme was launched in October. To help celebrate our 10th Anniversary in 2023 it carries an enhanced £8,000 award fund and the closing date is 16 December 2022. More details and how to apply can be found here.
October also saw the launch of our 7th Responsible Business and Management Student Writing Competition. Featuring prizes in UG, PG and Alternative Media categories, the closing date for submissions is 28 February 2023. Full details are here.
Would you like to be a judge for one of our three annual competitions?
We are keen to recruit a few more judges to the assessing panels for the next rounds of all three of our competitions: Research Seed Funding Awards, Innovative Pedagogy Awards, and our Student Writing Competition. For more information about all three see the Competitions tab on our Chapter website. Judges should be employed by a paid-up PRME Chapter UK and Ireland Member institution, offer relevant expertise, and be willing to offer 15-20 hours of volunteer time in January 2023 (Innovative Pedagogy Competition) and March-April 2023 (in the case of the other two). In all cases we have procedures in place to avoid potential conflicts of interest.
If interested in being considered for one of our panels, please forward your name and a weblink to your professional profile to PRME_UKI@gcu.ac.uk by Friday 16 December 2022.
Items for future news updates
Local Network Co-ordinators, when you run a PRME event do send us a short report afterwards (with links to any relevant resources) for wider publicity through these newsletters.
If anyone would like us to include items in future news updates, please send them to our Secretariat - PRME_UKI@gcu.ac.uk
That’s it for now – best wishes from the UK and Ireland Chapter Steering Committee.