Sustainable Business Programme

This is an advanced International Training Programme on Sustainable Business designed for Business Leaders and Sustainability Managers in the Private Sector.

Programme Description

Target group: Business Leaders and Sustainability Managers in the Private Sector.

This is a high-level international training programme for business leaders who aim to take an active role in the sustainability transformation by learning how to integrate sustainability into core business practices and across the value chain. The private sector has a central role to play in the acceleration of the green transition and sustainability is increasingly becoming recognised as fundamental to future-proofing a business. Companies are experiencing pressure to align their goals and actions with national and global sustainability directives and new regulatory frameworks are adding to the complexity, forcing businesses to comply in order to stay relevant in a rapidly changing world.

This exclusive training programme offers a highly collaborative learning environment where participants explore and learn from each other and from leading experts in the field of sustainable business. The programme leans on Sweden’s outstanding position in terms of innovation and sustainability leadership, with a long history of groundbreaking companies at the forefront of the green transition. What does the transition mean for businesses? How can economic, social, and environmental sustainability be integrated into business operations, not only into core operations but across all functions?

This training programme aims to create action-oriented, courageous, and competent business leaders who have been provided with the right tools, knowledge, motivation, and networks to confidently lead the sustainability transformation in their companies and industries. A central outcome of the programme is for every participant to create an action plan for how to integrate sustainability into their business.

The Programme in Short

• 3 months in total
• 3 online webinars in the introductory phase
• 1 week programme in Sweden
• 2 online webinars in the final phase
• Comprehensive online reading and video material for self-paced studies

General Programme Outline

In the introductory phase participants will get an overview of the state of the climate, the current sustainability regulatory landscape, and the most common sustainability frameworks. Methods and tools for how to measure the sustainability impact of one’s own business operations will be introduced.

The programme includes a week in Sweden where participants will dive deeper into the various aspects of
ecological, social, and economic sustainability from a business perspective. It will be an intense week of networking, exclusive company visits, presentations from leading sustainability experts, collaboration, discussions, and social activities. Participants will continue to work on integrating sustainability into their businesses with the help and guidance of sustainability experts.

The final phase will be a forward-looking phase where the participants work with strategic goal setting, creating a sustainability action plan and practicing sustainability communication to make sure that sustainability is fully implemented.

“This training programme aims to create action-oriented, courageous, and competent business leaders who have been provided with the right tools, knowledge, motivation, and networks to confidently lead the sustainability transformation in their industries.”

Programme Content and Structure

The programme is based on a high level of active participation and collaboration among the participants and employs a mixture of pedagogical methods such as lectures, group work, forum discussions, case studies, study visits, networking and sharing of knowledge.

During the introductory phase participants are introduced to basic sustainability concepts that are the basis of learning throughout the programme. This includes the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), Agenda 2030, Planetary Boundaries, Anthropocene, Net Zero, Carbon Law, Triple Bottom Line, Global Compact, new sustainability reporting frameworks like CSRD, the taxonomy and more within the EU’s recent regulations that can affect global companies. Participants are introduced to proven tools and methods for mapping their own company’s footprint by making a materiality analysis with guidance from sustainability experts. The results will be submitted at the end of the phase and used as a basis for the development of an action plan at the end of the programme. We discuss change management and what kind of leadership the sustainability transition requires.

The introductory phase is followed by an exclusive visit to Sweden for an in-depth experience of sustainable business in practice. The week will strengthen networking in the group, deepen learning and expand the opportunity for collaboration with Sweden and Swedish companies. This phase is based on Sweden’s leading position in innovation, sustainable business, and global connectivity.

Sweden is ranked #1 in the Global Sustainability Rating (2022), #2 in the Global Innovation Index (2023), and #4 in the Global Connectivity Index (2022).

Examples of what the week in Sweden is planned to consist of:

• Team building
• Getting the latest update on the state of the climate and what this means from a business perspective
• Developing sustainability goals and strategies for the participants own businesses based upon the mapping from the initial phase
• Sustainability leadership, regenerative systems thinking and learning in nature
• Study visits to leading Swedish sustainability companies
• Group coaching with sustainability experts
• Change management
• Setting sustainability Key Performance Indexes (KPI’s)
• Sustainability communication
• Social and cultural networking activities

In the final phase the focus is on gathering all the knowledge and insights from the introductory phase and the visit in Sweden and using it to create a strategic action plan for implementing sustainability in the participants’ companies. The plan should contribute to strategic business development within sustainability and the green transition.

The workshops and learning materials are a continuation of the last day in Sweden and focus on topics such as setting strategic goals, sustainability KPI’s, sustainability communication, change management and how to avoid greenwashing.

DIPLOMA

Participants who complete the programme will be awarded a diploma. In order to receive a diploma, the following criteria must be met:
a) participation in all phases of the programme,
b) accomplish assignments in due time to the deadlines.

Practical Information

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS

The Sustainable Business Programme will be organised and conducted in English. Fluency in English is therefore required.

HEALTH REQUIREMENTS

Owing to the fact that the Sustainable Business Programme consists of international travels and work away from home in a new environment, good health and full working capacity is conditioned.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

In order to participate fully you need internet access and a computer/smart phone. You will be invited to the online Learning Management System “LIFE Network” where you will be required to use certain software to access reading material or video lectures, such as a PDF Reader, Microsoft Power Point presentations, Word, Excel, and YouTube. We recommend that you use Google Chrome as your internet browser as we have found that this is the best browser for the platform. For our online webinars we will be using Zoom.

COSTS

The programme fee is 3 900 USD per person and covers full programme training, study visits and expert coaching activities as well as study programme literature, video lectures and documentation. During the week in Sweden the following is covered:

• Single room accommodation (7 nights).
• All meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, morning, and afternoon coffee/tea).
• Local transportation in Sweden.
• Sightseeing, networking events and social and cultural activities.

What is not included?

Travel to and from Stockholm, Sweden, visa fee and travel and medical insurance are not included in the programme fee and are expected to be arranged and covered by the participant or their employer at own expense.

We can tailor make a programme specially designed to suit the needs of your organisation and provide a quotation for this. You are welcome to contact us for further information on the programme design and pricing.

VISA

Participants are responsible for obtaining visa if needed for Sweden Week.

INSURANCE

Participants are responsible for arranging their own travel and medical insurance for Sweden Week.

CONTACT

If you want to learn more about the programme you are more than welcome to contact us by email on info@life.se.

Management and Experts in the Programme

The training programme is carried out under the management of LIFE Academy, Karlstad, Sweden. The team of organisers and experts include Swedish and international experts, all with extensive experience within their respective fields.

Quotes from LIFE Academy Alumni