Sustainable and Responsible Business

The Sustainable and Responsible Business SIG aims to act as a wide forum where issues of sustainable and responsible management may be debated, and challenges of addressing climate concerns are highlighted through academic and practitioner contributions.

The SIG provides networking opportunities for those interested in pathways for sustainable development, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Corporate Social Responsibility, Triple Bottom Line, Biodiversity Net Gain and other sustainability-based methodologies. The SIG acts as a resource base for members who wish to develop their interests and develop links with research centres, NGO’s and policymakers to make research activity relevant to all members. 

About the SIG

The last 10-15 years have seen a dramatic rise in interest in the sustainability aspects of business activity. Concerns about climate change, for example, have escalated over the last five years to a point where few now dispute the scientific evidence that commercial activity is the greatest contributory factor in global warming.

Throughout Europe especially, but also in other parts of the world, governments have set up initiatives to promote notions of sustainable development and social responsibility. Indeed, it could be argued that the biggest initiatives are ‘supra-national’ involving UN led prerogatives in financial reporting (the Global Reporting Initiative), and in wider societal issues (e.g. the Global Compact and Millennium Goals, etc.).

In the UK, the government continues to urge companies to adopt responsible strategies and has funded a number of initiatives through the DTI and DEFRA (e.g. the CSR Academy). There are an increasing amount of research outputs appearing in articles, monographs and books. This whole area has provided a rich area of research over recent years, and the subject is now on the curriculum (at least to some degree) in most UK academic institutions, at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.  The areas SRB SIG aim to advance are linked with economic, environmental and social aspects of management towards sustainable development.

These include, but are not limited to:

  • Collaboration and partnership for sustainable development
  • Further and better achieving the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals)
  • Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainability reporting
  • Circular economy
  • Green Growth
  • Green Skills
  • Net Zero transition and decarbonisation
  • Promoting responsible management education, e.g. through PRME (the Principles for Responsible Management Education)
  • Addressing paradoxical challenges, e.g. the trichotomy of profit vs people vs planet
  • Highlighting the agenda of areas underrepresented, e.g. biodiversity net gain, overtourism, modern slavery

SIG Events 2024-2025

SIG Committee Members

SIG Co-Chair -  Dr Polina Baranova

SIG Co-Chair - Dr Simon M. Smith

Treasurer - Dr Simon M. Smith

Doctoral Representatives

  • Fiona Warigon, Northumbria University, UK
  • Robin Struber, University of Birmingham, UK

Track Co-Chairs 

  • Dr Dongemi Cao, Nottingham Trent University, UK
  • Dr Naheed Roni, Teesside University, UK
  • Professor Konstantinos Vergos, University of Portsmouth, UK
  • Dr Sharad Gupta, Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK
  • Dr Julian Riano, University of Brighton, UK