UNITAR, Franklin University Switzerland (FUS), and Industrial Policy Studies (IPS) Switzerland sign a Memorandum of Understanding to launch the first SDG Management School (SDGMS) in Geneva.
The SDGMS is the first Business School in the world to put the UN mission for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into practice at the forefront of education. The SDGMS will foster global leadership, by providing innovative and creative education to students, based on the cooperative partnership between the Parties, operating in Europe and Asia.
The SDGMS will launch its first education programmes in September 2023, at MBA and Doctorate levels, primarily with students from Korea and China, and expanding in Europe and beyond. Undergraduate and graduate programmes, as well as non-degree programmes, will be gradually added to the School's educational offer. The recruitment procedure for the September 2023 enrolment will start in December 2022.
UNITAR will provide its unique expertise of capacity-building around the SDGs, to offer the SDGMS students rich experiential learning during their studies, as well as opportunities for connection to the UN Geneva and organizations' ecosystem.
This partnership builds on long-standing successful collaboration between the Parties, as UNITAR and FUS offer a joint Master's in International Management with a focus on Climate Action since 2019. FUS and IPS Switzerland have also signed an Agreement for the establishment of SDGMS in 2019, and UNITAR hosts the IPS-FUS National Competitiveness Conference every year at the UNITAR premises since 2021.
The SDGMS was launched through a hybrid opening ceremony at the UNITAR premises, with 100 online participants attending globally. The ceremony was hosted by the Chief at the Office of the Executive Director, Jonas Haertle. The MoU signing ceremony was followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony, while an official establishment ceremony will take place later this year in South Korea.
Source: Uniter.org