Business and Sustainability

Business and sustainability is a discipline that asks how commercial organisations can pursue their purposes while also meeting their responsibilities to the environment, to workers, to communities and to future generations. As climate change, resource scarcity and social inequality move from the margins to the centre of business strategy, the ability to integrate sustainability thinking into management decisions has become one of the most valued and increasingly expected competences in contemporary business practice.

At the University of the West of Scotland, this three-year full-time programme brings together core business management disciplines and sustainability frameworks to prepare you for organisations that take their environmental and social responsibilities seriously, which is to say most forward-thinking organisations today. You will study strategic management, marketing, finance and operations alongside sustainability concepts including environmental management, corporate social responsibility, the circular economy, ethical supply chains and the governance frameworks through which sustainability commitments are made and monitored.

You will develop analytical and problem-solving skills, the ability to evaluate business decisions through multiple lenses and the communication skills to articulate sustainability challenges and opportunities to different audiences, from board members to consumers. Case-based and applied learning is used throughout to ground sustainability principles in real organisational contexts.

Graduates go on to careers in sustainability management, environmental consultancy, corporate social responsibility, supply chain management, policy, public sector management and business roles more broadly. The ability to think about business in its social and environmental context is increasingly valued by employers across sectors, including finance, energy, retail, manufacturing and public services. Further study in sustainable business, environmental management or related fields is available for those who want to develop deeper specialist expertise.