Home Coming Days 2024: MBA in Sustainability Management Celebrates Record-Breaking Graduating Class
2024-09-27 There is not often an occasion to throw graduation caps into the air, and consequently, we are rather untrained in the discipline. A graduation cap, however, is easy to manage; its design allows it to soar effortlessly, reaching considerable heights with minimal effort, only to return – much like anything worth investing energy into. At this year’s Home Coming Days celebration for the MBA in Sustainability Management, 53 graduates were bid farewell – marking the largest class in the over 20-year history of the "Green MBA." Over 230 participants gathered on campus for the traditional networking event of this part-time MBA programme, engaging in discussions, forming new connections, and celebrating the graduates.
The conference on Friday was held under the motto: “What More Now? Sustainability Management Between Overload and Hope for the Future.” Esin Rager, founder of the organic tea brand Samova and honorary vice president of FC St. Pauli, encouraged attendees in her keynote speech not to be disheartened by resistance: "Keep starting over. Keep starting over. Keep starting over." A key topic was the increasing regulatory demands in sustainability management. “Regulation is good, but transformation is better,” Jonas Spitra of SCHOTT AG succinctly noted. He likened sustainability to a journey, urging that communication about sustainability should focus on the process. According to Anna Kaschke, Founder’s Associate at the start-up Nala, the biodiversity crisis still receives insufficient attention in corporate settings. She advocated for giving nature “a seat at the negotiation table.” MBA alumna Miriam Farsi, co-founder of the organisation Generation Restoration, passionately discussed her work transforming refugee camps into regenerative spaces and healing ecosystems.
In addition to environmental issues, the psychological strain in sustainability management was also addressed. Katharina van Bronswijk, psychologist and spokesperson for Psychologists for Future, spoke about the emotional challenges of "climate grief" and advised: “Feel more, talk more, act more, think less.” She explained that an emotion, if only felt and not overthought, naturally passes within seven to twelve minutes. “Emotions are like a burning fire. If we constantly add fuel in the form of thoughts, the fire won’t burn out.” She suggested focusing on physical sensations, such as a lump in the throat or a heavy feeling in the stomach, and then talking about it and finding ways to act.
Getting up once more than falling down
Prof. Dr. Stefan Schaltegger, director of the MBA Sustainability Management programme, congratulated the 53 graduates. He acknowledged that sustainability is increasingly perceived as overwhelming. How, then, can one make progress as a “Change Agent for Sustainability”? "Get up one more time than you fall," he advised the graduates. "Stay committed, don't lose heart, and don’t give up. The most successful people are rarely those for whom everything always runs smoothly, but rather those who rise one more time than they fall. They are the ones who overcome crises, maintain positive energy, and neither get crushed by massive global problems nor become entangled in the trivialities and minor setbacks."
The graduates' speech, delivered by Alexandra Hesse and Wolfgang Schötz, likened the MBA journey to a triathlon, where career, family, and studies must all be managed simultaneously, or to a special Olympic discipline. The challenges were significant: a considerable time investment – 3,000 hours or 333 working days, as Wolfgang Schötz calculated – the COVID-19 pandemic with homeschooling, academic work, the balance between work and personal life, and an intensive week-long final workshop at a local company. Despite these hurdles, they succeeded. "We’ve all made it to the finish line," Alexandra Hesse concluded. Notably, 58% of the graduates were women. She issued a call to action: "Ladies, step up, take on leadership roles, assume responsibility, and bring some fresh air into those old, crusty structures."
