Sustainability at the MSC Department
CBS President Per Holten-Andersen and Mayor of Frederiksberg Jørgen Glenthøj plant a tree on campus for the 73rd UN birthday.
Sustainable Events at CBS
The Sustainable Consumption Conference 2018 held at Copenhagen Business School facilitated the debate across topics of sustainable behaviors and practices. At the conference, sustainable initiatives were implemented with the aim of inspiring others to reflect on how we can take sustainability to another level. Some of the initiatives implemented were:
Vegetarian menu
Overall, a vegetarian menu performed better than a meat based on impact factors such as global warming, water consumption, etc. Read more about the first vegetarian policy implemented at CBS below. Vegetarian orders for events at CBS can be made on Spisestuerne's website.
Paperless
Save paper by making your event paperless. Designing posters of the event/conference programme and placing them in A signs is a good alternative to printing programmes for all participants. You can also consider having a conference app where participants can access all necessary information. At the Sustainable Consumption Conference 2018 the app Sched was implemented.
Retap bottles
For every time the bottle is reused the impacts are divided out on the total number of uses. This means that the second time a bottle is used the impacts are divided in half. The third time it is used it will only be credited for 33% of the total impact. When the reusable glass bottles is used for the 7th time, it will be a more sustainable solution. Visit Retap's website for more information about their bottles.
Sustainable events at CBS
It is the ambition the sustainability initiatives implemented at the Sustainable Consumption Conference are to set a new standard for hosting events and conference at CBS. This ambition has resulted in a Sustainable Event Guide which offers suggestions for initiatives to make CBS events more sustainable. In March 2019, the next version of the 
Sustainable Event Guide was released by CBS Sustainability, which includes new initiatives. The new guide can be used internally at CBS and shared externally as well.
Video from the conference
Prevention of Food Waste
By the end of 2017, Spisestuerne launched their new initiative against food waste: food-waste boxes. Every day from 14.00-14.15 and later from 19.00, anyone can fill a box with leftovers for a set price of DKK 15. Spisestuerne throws out 3-5 percent of the food from the five buffets around CBS’ campus.
By implementing this initiative, Spisestuerne has managed to reduce food waste. Furthermore, they have gained valuable experience and can improve their food production strategy in the long run. It is through initiatives like this that turn CBS' campus into a greener and more sustainable place.
Read more about Spisestuerne's effort to reduce waste here.
Vegetarian Default Policy
In October 2017, The Department for Management, Society and Communication implemented the first vegetarian policy at CBS. The vegetarian policy entails that whenever a colleague wishes to order food for an event, only vegetarian food will be served unless otherwise requested.
With support from the department and in close collaboration with Spisestuerne, the policy was rolled out as a pilot project over the following 6 months. After the trial period, the effect of the policy received positive evaluations from the institute's faculty, and the policy has been permanently implemented. Since its implementation in October, the department has received information on 508 ordered meals, whereof 375 meals (74%) have been vegetarian.
If you want to know more about the vegetarian default policy, you can contact sustainability@cbs.dk or read more about it in this blog post.
SDG Task Force
In 2015, the United Nations launched the UN Sustainable Development Goals, also referred to as the SDGs. The SDGs comprise of 17 development goals creating a common language for reacting to the global challenges and setting the targets for global development until 2030.
The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has played a significant role in getting the UN SDGs into teaching and curriculum in Danish highschools. Besides implementing the 17 SDGs as a highlighted learning outcome, together with UNDP, Globale Gymnasier and others, the Ministry of Education has developed a teaching platform with teaching materials on the SDGS for highschool teachers which you can find at www.verdensmaalene.dk.
The Danish universities are not subject to implementing the SDGs as prescribed by the Danish Ministry of Education, and it is therefore up to the individual university whether to implement the SDGs in teaching, research and more. However, the interest in universities' position on sustainability is high among students, staff, external partners and Danish universities such as CBS, DTU and Copenhagen University are increasing their focus and engagement in the SDGs.
The initiators of the CBS SDG Task Force felt the need to coordinate and scale up existing and new initiatives aiming to implement the SDGs and sustainability on a broader scale at CBS. The Task Force aims to address sustainability related issues and implement concrete solutions to make CBS a more sustainable campus and educational institution. For the time being, the Task Force represents 7 different departments: Department of Accounting; Department of Strategy and Innovation; Department of Management, Society and Communication; Department of Organization, Department of Management Politics and Philosophy, Campus Estate, CBS Business as well as Student & Innovation House and oikos.
Among the first effords of the SDG Task Force is a document of recommendation on CBS Flight Sustainability. Click the link below to view or download.
SDG Engagement in a university context
Throughout the past years a range of SDG-related initiatives took place on CBS campus and behind each of these initiatives great learnings were acquired. The guide “SDG engagement in a university context – initiatives taken at Copenhagen Business School” aims to portray the mindset underlying the development of each initiative and serves as an inspiration for other universities on how you can strengthen SDG engagement on campus. We hope this guide can be used as an inspirational tool to move the 2030-agenda forward and that it also motivate others to share their success stories.
If you want to know more about the guide you can contact sustainability@cbs.dk