Dialogue | University of Strathclyde

Principle 6 - Dialogue

The University of Strathclyde will facilitate and support dialogue and debate among educators, students, business, government, consumers, media, civil society organisations and other interested groups and stakeholders on critical issues related to global responsibility and sustainability.

A programme of seminars, guest speaker events and debates which facilitate dialogue between the business school and its stakeholders is active throughout the Business School. Our academics are called on to impart their knowledge to private, public and not-for-profit organisations, contributing to the debating of issues related to global social responsibility and sustainability.

A Business School that provokes and facilitates discussion on global social responsibility issues:

In 2017, in progressing the PRME agenda, SBS engaged at global, national and local levels on forward-looking socially responsible agenda issues. The School was the first in the University to take part in the UK’s Green Impact Programme with support from a team of undergraduate Accounting students as part of their MDP pathway. Green Impact Universities is an environmental accreditation scheme with an awards element designed for teams, and encourages departments to improve their environmental impact and become engaged with the University’s Sustainability Strategy.
Dr Andrea Coulson (Accounting and Finance) became a member of the Scottish SDG Reporting Working Group and Strategic Sub- Group, hosted by Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland (ICAS).
Dr Andrea Coulson (Accounting and Finance) represented the university at a “Living Wage Places: Development Workshop”, Scottish Living Wage Accreditation Initiative, Poverty Alliance Glasgow, in her capacity as a member of the SLWAI Places working Group.
MSc GEM (Economics) hosted an exchange event with Dauphine University, Paris. The series of events, sharing knowledge and experience, included a three day trip to Paris with visits to the OECD and Schneider Electrical Headquarters plus a field trip to RTE (Réseau de transport d’électricité), the French transmission system operator. The return trip in Glasgow focussed on Scotland’s Tidal & Wave Energy and included a Civic Reception held in the City Chambers, a one day conference in SBS with guest speakers Dr Matt Hannon, Dr Kate Johannesen and Mr Richard Bellingham ending with a visit to Flowave Ocean Energy Facility in Edinburgh.
David Eiser (Fraser of Allander Institute) was named as one of a number of independent commissioners appointed to help the Scottish Government tackle poverty and inequality.
The 28th Fraser of Allander- Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce Oil and Gas survey – supported by KPMG was published. The survey results continue to show a recovery in optimism and activity in the UK Continental Shelf. 41% of businesses are now working at or above optimum levels and levels of optimism are at their highest since 2013.
Scott McGrane, Grant Allan and Graeme Roy (Department of Economics and Fraser of Allander Institute) visited Stanford University during the Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS) to discuss research activities on their joint project with Tom Baer (Stanford Photonics Research Centre). During their trip they discussed possible opportunities for collaboration with academics in the Woods Institute for the Environment (Stanford), and presented on their recent research at a GCAS affiliate event, titled, “Better metrics for more effective decision-making” inSeptember 2018. The same event featured a keynote speech by Paul Wheelhouse MSP, the Scottish Government minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands, as well as academics and policy practitioners from California and Scotland on issues related to policy, modelling and technology development related to environmental measurement and monitoring.
Robert Rogerson, Deputy Director of the Institute for Future Cities (IFC), has been invited to join a leading panel of experts as they set out the future standards to be used in the areas of smart cities and sustainable communities. The UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has commissioned the British Standards Institute (BSI) to develop a standards strategy for smart cities in the UK.
Scott McGrane, Grant Allan and Graeme Roy attended the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, California in September 2018 and co-hosted an event at Stanford University with Tom Baer that brought together discussants from academic, regional governments and private industry. A follow-up meeting is being arranged at the University of Strathclyde for September 2019.
Andrew Ross worked on a UK Energy Research Centre project assessing ‘The impacts of non-energy policies on the energy system’. This work touched on a number of SDG goals including access to affordable and clean energy sources, Innovation and infrastructure in industry (Goal 9), how energy contributes to decent work and economic growth (goal 8) and how the energy system can contribute to positive climate action.
A Vertically Integrated Project (VIP) Dragon’s Den competition was held in front of an audience of educators, students, business, government and other stakeholders, raising awareness of what students can do when they have the freedom to design and implement long term multi-year research projects that aim to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems in health, energy and education.
Dr Samuel Mwaura and Dr Paul Lassalle (Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship) presented evidence-based policy proposals on steps to combat barriers to ethnic- minority enterprise in Scotland at a policy-building round-table hosted by the Scottish Government’s Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Support Policy group and attended by representatives from the Scottish Government Equality Unit, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Business Gateway, Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, Glasgow City Council, Edinburgh City Council and other Can Do Scotland partners.
Dr Marisa Smith (Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship) hosted a workshop with support from Dilshod Makhmadshoev (HCE) for the Tajikistan government for a rights based approach to change management in the transformation of baby homes, fostering and adoption, and care for disabled children from NGO to government provision. Delegates included deputy minsters, representatives from NGOs including Unicef and social work and care facilities.
Dr Katerina Nicolopoulou (HCE) organised a 2018 kick-off meeting for the Global Engagement Fund-sponsored project ‘Re-enterprising the City’ with strategic partners TU Delft, Netherlands as well as UNDP-supported ENID, Egypt. The project aims to contribute towards reducing poverty and inequality in Egypt in the context of sustainable inclusive societies, communities and cities through socially progressive forms of entrepreneurship, and the subsequent creation of a Global Centre of excellence with regional focus.
DRIVE-AB, a group of 16 public-private partners supported by the European Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) and seven major pharmaceutical companies including the Department of Management Science, released its final report at the World Economic Forum in Davos, recommending a package of measures including $36 billion in incentives to drive innovation in antibiotics over 30 years.
The Department of Marketing launched a special interest group in the Academy of Marketing on Consumer Research with Social Impact. The purpose of the group is to foster a dialogue and expand knowledge on consumer research with social impact issues among academics as well as other stakeholders (e.g. consumers, social impact organisations, commercial businesses).
Dr Aliakbar Jafari (Marketing) delivered an invited talk at the World Halal Summit in Istanbul in November 2018. Dr Jafari presented some of his longitudinal research findings on emerging markets to an audience of key actors in policy, industry, and academia. Highlighting the political and ideological dynamics of contemporary society and the rapid rise of populism and kakistocracy, Dr Jafari warned against naive categorisations of the world population into value-laden segments. Different institutional actors that shape the halal market, Dr Jafari stressed, should focus on creating market offerings and mechanisms that would benefit society at large.
Dr Aliakbar Jafari (Marketing) has contributed to an important policy document published by the UK Parliament. His longitudinal research on the market mediation of sociocultural conflict has been consulted by the All Party Parliamentary Group’s project on defining Islamophobia in the UK. Attending the official launch of the APPG Report in the UK Parliament in Westminster in November 2018, Dr Jafari called the MPs to further collaborations among policy institutions, academics, and the community.
Dr Juliette Wilson (Marketing) has been appointed as an expert adviser to the Scottish Government’s Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee to help its scrutiny of the Scottish Government budget, with a specific focus on providing support to the food and drink sector. The Food and Drink sector is one of the Scottish Government’s seven growth sectors where Scotland is considered to have a comparative advantage or the potential to maximise future growth opportunities. Scottish Enterprise and HIE have both identified the sector as a priority in their business plans.
Brian Garvey (Work, Employment and Organisation) visited the Amazon region of Brazil at the invitation of the Federal Institute of Amapa and Federal University of Goias, and Co-operative of the Extractive Sustainable Development Reserve of Iratapuru.
Professors Patricia Findlay (SCER), Sara Carter and Harry Burns delivered an invited plenary at Scottish Government’s International Inclusive Growth Conference on “Building capacity, inclusion, entrepreneurship and fair work for inclusive growth”. Harry Burns spoke on health objectives and outcomes that create the capability and capacity for people to play a full role in society and in the economy. Sara Carter spoke about the importance of entrepreneurship to the economy/society and the way in which entrepreneurship can play an important role in inclusion. Patricia Findlay spoke about the potential of Inclusive Growth to challenge assumptions about how value is created and shared and about the crucial role of Fair Work in driving inclusive growth.
In November 2017, Professor Patricia Findlay (SCER/HRM) gave evidence at the UK Parliament’s Scottish Affairs Committee Inquiry into Sustainable Employment in Scotland.