GIM bags top UN ranking for sustainability concepts

PANAJI: Goa Institute of Management, Sakhali, got a huge shot in the arm as a United Nations wing recently rated it among the four ‘best in the world’ for imbibing sustainability concepts in students.
At the UN principles for responsible management education (UN-PRME) global forum held this week virtually from New York, GIM was recognised for its “social impact and sustainability achievements”. Only four of the 46 business schools from 21 countries that participated in the positive impact ranking (PIR) report achieved the top ranking.
Incidentally, three of these are based in India, the other two being SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, and XLRI - Xavier School of Management. These three, and the University of Business and Technology, Kosovo, all got the highest ‘pioneering schools’ rank. The report saw GIM receive a level-5 rating.
“We at GIM are honoured and delighted to be named among the top four B-schools globally in leading pioneering change in the prestigious PIR report, 2021, which is looked up to by management institutes globally. Ethics, values and corporate governance has been at the core of our pedagogy,” said GIM director Ajit Parulekar.
Innovative community-based actions, environmental and socially-responsible culture and governance, and a strong teaching focus on responsible leadership were listed among the strengths of GIM, along with the three other schools, as the announcement was made by Prof Thomas Dyllick of the positive impact rating association and Sophie Charrois, president of Oikos International.
The PIR is a rating conducted by students and for students. This is the second edition of the PIR report, where students worldwide assessed their business schools on how they perceive their positive impact in the world. “PIR is the voice of students around the globe, and what is most satisfying for us is that our main stakeholders — our students — have acknowledged institute commitment towards sustainability, responsibility and impact,” said Parulekar.
Students assessed how GIM addresses societal and sustainable challenges and prepares its students to be responsible business leaders. The data collection in GIM was organised and led by students, who distributed the PIR survey across campus to their fellow students. This is the first time GIM participated and, this year, 151students from GIM responded to the survey. A student team composed of Ashima Mathur, Ameya Ambike, Jessica Roy, Shivani Bhatia at GIM coordinated with PIR.