Key Facts

Start - Fall 2024

Mandatory base camp before semester start September 9th – 13th 2024 (parallel to HSG Kick-Off Days; off-site location).

Application period

March-June 2024

Language

English

Admission requirements

The SuM-HSG certificate programme is open for students of all Bachelor Programmes after successful completion of the assessment year.

24 ECTS

• 16 ECTS are “unique” to the certificate programme (base camp, fundamentals, final project)
• 8 ECTS may be double-counted with their major, as long as those courses are “approved” by us (i.e. “on the list” of electives)

With the SuM-HSG, you can equip yourself to build partnerships, make decisions, devise solutions, and implement initiatives that will contribute to a sustainable future within planetary boundaries. Align your studies and your career with purpose – and with the future of business.

The Certificate Programme consists of

• two mandatory fundamentals courses – the Base Camp, which takes place parallel to HSG Kick-Off Days prior to the semester start, and a Sustainability Management course delivered over the semester
• a set of elective courses in social, environmental and systemic sustainability from across disciplines at the University of St.Gallen
• a mandatory collaborative final project, in which you will work directly with local businesses and other organisations to make a systemic impact on sustainability, either with a stronger social and/or environmental focus.

Electives can contribute towards your main degree, but the final project may not be combined with the bachelor’s capstone project.

Background

Leaders and managers across sectors are facing growing demands to drive social and environmental sustainability forward in their organisations and respond decisively to a growing global crisis – but how can we do this? We live in an increasingly complex world. The sustainability challenges we face exist at a nexus of interconnected stakeholders, systems, and perspectives. How can we develop and drive solutions for the biggest challenges of today and tomorrow in a context of rapid change and uncertainty? The SuM-HSG enables students to accompany their bachelor studies at the University of St.Gallen with a certificate that provides the tools and skills to understand and effectively tackle complex sustainability challenges. Through coursework and applied projects, students will gain hands-on experience making decisions, collaborating across sectors and generations, and building practical interventions to drive progress on sustainability from a systemic perspective.