PRME
Conference

PRME Conference 2022

The 8th Annual Conference of the UK and Ireland PRME Regional Chapter, hosted by Hull University Business School.

PRME Logo

The Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) is a United Nations-supported initiative founded in 2007. As a platform to raise the profile of sustainability in schools around the world, PRME equips today's business students with the understanding and ability to deliver change tomorrow. 

The conference will run over two full days in Hull on Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 June 2022. It will be preceded by a Doctoral Colloquium on Monday 27th June.

2022 Conference Theme

'The UN's Decade of Action: driving it, slowing it or playing catch up?'

When the UN announced the 2020-2030 Decade of Action, it framed its urgency in the motto “Ten years to transform our world”. Two years have now passed, and much of this time saw the world grappling with new global challenges like Covid-19. The global pandemic has also raised further the awareness of our interconnectedness, and of how the way to tackle global challenges needs to be through widespread collaboration and sharing of solutions.

We now have less than a decade to go to deliver the 2030 promise of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the UN is calling for the acceleration of action, with governments and institutions responding in different ways and different levels of urgency. Nationally, the last few years has seen the UK publishing a new Industrial Strategy with a focus on “Clean Growth”, the announcement of a “Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution”, and a commitment to become net-zero by 2050. Other countries, regions, cities, companies and organisations are announcing even earlier decarbonisation targets, many to be achieved within the current decade. Such commitments are just some of the examples of the kind of transformations being pursued in this ‘decade of action’. But while in same areas the flurry of public announcements of net zero targets and others is welcomed, in other corners, a post-Covid ‘build back better’ future appears to be quickly giving way to ‘build back the same’, as decision-makers retreat to the safety of the familiar. The ‘mixed’ results from last year’s COP26 show that positive progress to the scale required to meet global needs and ambitions is far from guaranteed. Plus, ‘Climate Action’, while of course an urgent and important matter, is also only one of the 17 SDGs, and the urgency is no less for the remaining 16.

Business Schools should,arguably,be ahead of the curve and preparing programmes and graduates that are equipped to drive, shape or at least navigate the times of transformation ahead of us. However, it can legitimately be asked if traditional Business School programmes and practices are still more focused on preparing graduates for the world “as it was”, rather than the future where their careers will develop and grow. Hence the questions implied in the title of this year’s Annual Conference of the PRME Regional Chapter UK and Ireland: what is the role of responsible management education in periods of profound and accelerated transformation like the one emerging? Are our choices and practices future-oriented, or legacy-driven? Should our role be about actively engaging with the shaping of an uncertain future, or is our main responsibility to maintain a safe and ‘critical distance’ from such matters? And are our programmes, staff and practices fully equipped to help drive sustainable change in the world around us or, as the metaphor goes, are we driving forward looking mainly in the rear-view mirror?

For this year’s conference we would like to invite our members and other contributors to explore answers to these and related questions, and join our platform to share their experiences and/or reflections on what the UN’s Decade of Action should mean to Business Schools. We welcome proposals in the form of conference papers, practical workshops or posters for any of the three strands below. 

Conference Themes

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theme 2.3
PRME_Theme 3

Programme & Speakers

Student Thesis Conference
Conference Speakers
Wilberforce-World-Freedom-phd

Online Sessions

online devices
online devices
online devices
online devices
online devices
Digital media lab computer suite

Conference Format

The conference will run over two full days in Hull on Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 June 2022. It will be preceded by an online Doctoral Colloquium (for which there is a separate Call for submissions) on Monday 27th June.

Unless Covid 19 conditions require a change of plan, our conference will return to being a principally on-campus, in-person event to provide all the benefits of formal and informal exchange with peers. Presenting papers and workshops will therefore generally require a presence in Hull. However, to maintain the benefits of inclusion offered by virtual events, one half day of the conference will be offered in fully hybrid format. Proposals can therefore be made for online only sessions, but scheduling constraints may make this category of entries more competitive.

Extended Proposals deadline: 19 April 2022

Confirmation of acceptance of proposal: 9 May 2022

Submission of full paper/workshop materials: date tbc in June 2022

  • Conference Dates

    Monday 27 June 2022 - Pre-conference Doctoral Colloquium

    Tuesday 28 June 2022 - Main Conference Day 1

    Wednesday 29 June 2022 - Main Conference Day 2

  • Registration

    Conference bookings now open

    The conference is now open to registrations, which can be completed by clicking here.

    This year our Annual Conference offers a fully “on campus” experience and conference format as in pre-Covid days. But we will also have a small number of keynote speakers livestreamed and one half-day session in fully hybrid format for participants who cannot attend the full conference.

     

    One free delegate place per Member institution

    To encourage maximum participation and to thank Chapter members who have so loyally supported all our activities over two challenging, pandemic years, this year we are offering one free conference place to each Chapter member organisation (with remaining delegates from Chapter members paying a reduced fee of only £50).

    Each member organisation is being provided with one “free ticket code”, that you can use at registration to claim your free place. (If you cannot find within your institution who is your PRME representative, then please contact PRME’s Secretariat at PRME_UKI@gcu.ac.uk).

  • Visiting Hull

    Welcome to Hull, a historic city rich in history, culture and art. Be sure to explore the Old Town, where you can take in Georgian and Edwardian architecture. See the life-size woolly mammoth at the East Riding Museum of Archaeology

    At the conserved Hepworth Arcade you can still shop at long-established local independents such as Dinsdale's joke shop, Fanthorpe's television store and Beasley's fashion emporium.

    An icon in Hull’s marina is The Deep, where the story of the world’s oceans are told. Roam round the extensive exhibits of marine life, and see the sharks swim as you take a journey through the scenic elevator. Meet the Submarium’s VIPs – very important penguins – as well as the mesmerising ocean-drifting jellyfish.

    Trace the acclaimed poet Phillip Larkin’s footsteps across Hull, where he lived and which greatly inspired his works. Stretching across the city, the Larkin Trail takes you on a tour of sites which link different aspects of his life and work.

    Or get familiar with Hull’s nautical roots at the Maritime Museum. The history of the sea-faring city comes alive in the museum, which is housed in the beautiful Victorian Dock Offices in Queen Victoria Square; make sure to admire the architecture before you go inside!

    Find out more about the sights and attractions in Hull. Click here to find out more

contact us

Contact us

For any enquiries related to the conference, or questions for the conference organisers, please contact fblp-business@hull.ac.uk

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