UNE Business School are excited to hear an update from Ms Valerie Dalton, who has recently taken on the role of PRME liaison for UNE Business School:

“I’m really pleased to take on this role for UNE Business School. In my previous role as Program Director for the Graduate School of Business and with Head of School, Professor Alison Sheridan we signed up for the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education in 2009. We then embarked on a process of fleshing out what those principles would mean for the Business School, engaging a consultant to assist us. We established our own sustainability principles and adopted them as a school. We then ensured that sustainability was addressed in each of our units. We also ensured that business ethics and sustainability were key aspects of the core of our MBA and Bachelor of Business.

The PRME  liaison role keeps us in touch with other universities in Australia and internationally who are also PRME signatories so that we can learn from each others experiences.

Further to that, UNE is on the steering committee of the Northern Inland Sustainable Business Network which provides us with linkages to local organisations who are taking their own steps towards more sustainable practices, usually through the NSW Government’s Sustainability Advantage Program.

On a personal note, I try to live as sustainably as possible. We have opted for a single vehicle and we have moved to a half acre property in the last eighteen months. We now have room for 4 chickens, composting, water tanks, and an aerated septic system that recycles all of our water on site. Solar panels are next on the list!”

UNE Business School will be looking to feature stories on progress in the area of sustainability, as well as stories from the local community, as we move forward in our work with PRME.