1200 participants took a free NHH course in sustainability
Professor Lars Jacob Tynes Pedersen and associate professor Sveinung Jørgensen have developed NHH’s first Massive open online courses, called MOOCs.
The course «Business models for sustainability» was published in August.
In the course of three months, 1,200 people have completed the course.
Massive open online courses
– The potential is enormous, says Jørgensen. We can compare it with one of the courses that the business school in Copenhagen has created; Sustainable fashion. Around 45,000 people have taken the course since it was launched three years ago.
– Two of these years are “corona years”, sure, but it would surprise me if our course on sustainable business models does not get similar numbers, says Pedersen.
the sustainability adventure podcast about the MOOC
MOOCs have become popular. Massive open online courses are various forms of digital teaching offerings. They are open online – and it’s free. If participants want a course certificate, they must pay a relatively small fee.
– The fact that participants get the opportunity to get a course certificate is a big advantage. It is clear that many will benefit greatly from documenting the skills they acquire through a MOOC course, says Pedersen.
This also provides increased motivation to complete the entire course, the researchers believe.
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«Business Models for Sustainability» has been developed together with researchers at some of Europe’s best business schools; Copenhagen Business School, ESCP Berlin and ESADE Business and Law School Barcelona.
– This is groundbreaking work for NHH, which has given us financial support for the production and editing of the videos, says Pedersen.
He and Jørgensen are both researchers at the Department of Science, Audit and Law and lead the research center Center for Sustainable Business, together with Professor Siv Skard.
– Why is it so important to get a MOOC course in sustainable business models?
– It’s on fire. Norway and the world need new sustainable solutions. We see that more and more people are interested in this and are getting a huge response, not just from professional circles, but just as much from the business world, says Jørgensen.
Sustainability reporting is an important part of sustainability work, and nothing would have pleased us more than if we could report out of the crisis. But more important is finding new ways of understanding and solving problems – so that you actually have something to write home about in the reports.
Sharing of new knowledge
The researchers are eager to convey new knowledge about sustainability. A MOOC is an effective way to share research, they believe. The fact that it is open to everyone has been a factor in why they wanted to use the time at work leading up to the course:
– New knowledge should not be exclusively available to those who have resources, time and money. For people who cannot afford to take such courses, MOOCs are absolutely fantastic. And it is very flexible, says Pedersen.
– In add, we are clearly inspired by the book we published in 2018, says Jørgensen.
Sustainability and sustainable business are far from over. Rather, it is now that the conversations should begin. Because it’s not like there’s too much talk about sustainability. It’s too little talk – and talk leads to results!
In 2020, they published the book «GENSTART Sustainable Business Model Innovation» for free (Open Access).
Book has 800,000 downloads
– The book sold 800,000 downloads in the summer. NHH is at the forefront of open publication of sustainability research and teaching, says Pedersen.
After the book was published, they received an email from an interested researcher in Chile who had become aware of the book on sustainable business models.
– Now it is, among other things, on the curriculum list at a school in Chile, says Pedersen.
Today, Jørgensen and Pedersen have a large network internationally and in Norway. Researchers, students and businesses. It hasn’t always been that way.
4-500 students each year
Hydro’s CEO Hilde M. Aasheim is one of the country’s most powerful business figures. The former NHH student will be on campus on October 10 to give the keynote address on the Rafto Challenge.
– This subject area has gone from being unpopular to popular. We have been concerned with this for 20 years, but it was really very few who wanted to hear talk about sustainable business models before six or seven years ago. Today, there is tremendous interest in sustainability, perhaps especially from industries such as finance, accounting and auditing, says Jørgensen.
The introduction of new laws and regulations – both from the EU and Norway – means that the companies must have a supply of new knowledge, the researchers elaborate.
The number of NHH students like Jørgensen and Pedersen’s course Sustainable Business Models (BUS 446) has undergone a formidable change.
– We started in 2014 with maybe 30-40 students. Today, we have between four and five hundred NHH students in the course of a year, Professor Pedersen concludes.
Lars Jacob Tynes Pedersen has been promoted to professor. – NHH has given me freedom to work with projects I believe in, resources to succeed with them, and support in large and small ways, says Pedersen.