Business for Sustainability, Social Change and Impact
Overview
This unit aims to equip students with essential knowledge and skills to appreciate the critical role Australian and global businesses play in sustainability, social change and making social impact. The unit enables students to make a logical connection between business activities and their impact on the environment and society. The unit prepares students to think, plan and implement business initiatives as they relate to sustainability to ensure meaningful, positive social impact. The overarching aim is to develop future graduates with a commitment to achieving social and planetary wellbeing guided by Indigenous knowledge and knowledge systems which are foundational to Australia’s intellectual, social and cultural capital.
Requisites
26-May-2024
27-October-2024
09-February-2025
Learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- Analyse the direct and indirect connections between business, social change and social impact
- Propose innovative business solutions to address social problems related to sustainability including global and local Indigenous peoples as partners and their concepts as a basis for business solutions
- Work collaboratively in teams to share, innovate and co-create sustainable business solutions with positive social impact
- Reflect on the role of individuals and groups as participants, collaborators and enablers in business sustainability, social change and social impact
Teaching methods
Hawthorn
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-campus Class |
2.00 | 12 weeks | 24 |
| Online Lecture (asynchronous) |
1.00 | 12 weeks | 12 |
| Unspecified Activities Independent Learning |
9.50 | 12 weeks | 114 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Assessment
| Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assignment 1 | Individual | 40- 60% | 1,2 |
| Assignment 2 | Individual | 10 - 20% | 1,2,3 |
| Report | Individual | 30 - 40% | 2,4 |
Content
- The histories of sustainability and social impact: the rise of the Australian and global wicked problems
- The ethics of sustainability and social impact, historical issues with the Australian global wicked problems
- Social change and impact – the contemporary social economy and doing social ecological good
- Social impact across sectors
- Using local and global frameworks and tools for evaluating and measuring social impact
- The historical and contemporary values of leadership for social change reflecting the goals of a just and reconciled nation
- Sustainability and social impact: the role of public sector and a civil and just society to mitigate the local and global effects of climate change
- Predicting the future of business, social change and impact
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.