
Report on the 1st International Summer School of the UM EPF
"Sustainability in International Business"
The 1st International Summer School "Sustainability in International Business", which took place at the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Maribor from 26 September to 1 October 2022, brought together students from different disciplines and levels of study from Germany, France, Finland, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Slovenia. During the application phase, more than 180 students expressed interest in the summer school. The selected students, whose home higher education institutions have enabled them to benefit from ERASMUS+ BIP mobility scholarships, spent the summer school gaining knowledge about the importance of sustainability and corporate social responsibility and learning about best practices in implementing sustainability in the business models of international companies from different sectors. The students heard from a total of 19 speakers at the Summer School, including 4 academics, 9 representatives of international companies, and 6 representatives of national institutions supporting sustainability, sustainable development and sustainable business.
Friday, 23. 9. 2022
At the preliminary virtual meeting on 23 September 2022, Romana Korez Vide, PhD, Head of the International Summer School, presented the students with key information about Slovenia, the University of Maribor, the Faculty of Economics and Business, as well as the content and implementation aspects of the International Summer School. After the presentation of the concepts of sustainability and social responsibility and their possible areas of implementation in international business, the students took part in an online learning workshop.
Monday, 26. 9. 2022
In the first lecture, Ms. Nuša Pavlinjek Slavinec, Director of the family-owned company ROTO Group (https://roto-group.eu), presented the implementation of the sustainability concept in the company's international supply chain. ROTO Group is a leading Slovenian multinational company for the production of plastic products and a leading European company in the field of rotational moulding and sustainable water management solutions. The company is active in more than 60 countries with more than 4,000 products in four different product segments - agriculture, sports, garden, ecology - for a wide range of industries - automotive, marine, construction and agricultural machinery, aquaculture and logistics. Ms Pavlinjek Slavinec and the ROTO Group have received national awards for innovation, quality, sustainable solutions and outstanding economic achievements. They ensure sustainability in production through the use of composites and biodegradable and recycled polymers, as well as artificial intelligence.
Following Monday's programme of the International Summer School, Mag. Barbara Kobale, Head of the Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility Team at MARLES hiša Maribor (https://www.marles.com/hise/certifikati), presented the implementation of the sustainability concept in the production of their prefabricated buildings using the example of the so-called smart and sustainable Doma24h. MARLES houses pursues the goal of creating low-energy houses with selected natural materials, produced with a minimum amount of primary energy and CO2, allowing healthy living and recycling at the end of their life. The company pursues a zero carbon business standard and their contribution to a sustainable, just and green future is reinforced through responsible business practices and developing partnerships with customers, suppliers and employees.
In Monday's academic programme, Associate Prof. Dr. Matevž Obrecht from the Faculty of Logistics, University of Maribor, presented students with current trends in global logistics and supply chains, including sustainability requirements, and practices in identifying the maturity level of global supply chain management. He also identified potential risks of disruptions in the global supply chain and how to manage them.
Monday's programme of lectures and presentations of good practices ended with a presentation of support programmes and initiatives for the development of sustainability in Slovenian tourism. Ms Martina Drakulić, representative of the Maribor Hoteliers' Cooperative (https://maribor-hotel.si/) and certified strategist for social responsibility and sustainable development, presented the Green Scheme for Slovenian Tourism and the concept and story of the Slovenia Green brand as the main tools for achieving and promoting sustainability in Slovenian tourism. She presented the economic and social importance of tourism in the world and the concept of sustainable tourism. The students were introduced to carbon footprint calculator applications, global sustainability initiatives in the context of World Tourism Day, the role of the Global Council for Sustainable Tourism, tourism in the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, examples of eco-labels and certificates for sustainable tourism, sustainable orientations in the Slovenian Tourism Strategy 2028, key practical examples demonstrating the sustainable orientation of Slovenian tourism, the process of including tourism providers in the Green Tourism Scheme, the support institutions in Slovenia for the development of sustainable tourism, the key guiding documents for the development of sustainable tourism in Slovenia, Slovenia's awards and prizes in the field of sustainable tourism, government financial support for the development of sustainable tourism, including the creation of green jobs in tourism, the concept and criteria for obtaining the international Green Key eco-label for tourism accommodation providers, and t. The so-called green accommodation in Maribor tourism and how to promote them online.
At the end of the official programme on Monday, the students got to know Maribor with a tourist guide from the Tourist Information Centre Maribor.
Tuesday, 27. 9. 2022
Tuesday's programme of the summer school started with a presentation of a good practice example of institutional support for the development of social responsibility and sustainability in Slovenia. The lecture was given by mag. Anita Hrast, co-founder and Director of IRDO - Institute for Social Responsibility Development (https://www.irdo.si/). She presented the history of the Institute's development, the Institute's networking with national and international institutions with the aim of extensive dissemination of their activities and raising awareness among the widest possible target audiences, IRDO's activities, events, publications and awards, the M Slovenia project, membership in the IRDO network, membership in the CSR network, educational programmes of the CSR network, the HORUS Award for Social Responsibility and the IRDO certificate for the Social Responsibility and Sustainability Strategist. Mag. Hrast presented in more detail the concept of social responsibility, the advantages of its implementation in companies and other organisations, the European Commission's strategy in the field of social responsibility, the EU initiatives for the green transition and digitalisation, the financial promotion of sustainable transformation in the framework of the NextgenerationEU 2021-2027 initiative, and the basis for the preparation of the draft Slovenian National Strategy for Social Responsibility.
This was followed by a presentation of the INTERREG programmes as instruments of the European Regional Development Fund for the development of cross-border cooperation. The presentation was given by Mr Tadej Novak from the Department for Cross-Border Programme Management of the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy (http://www.si-at.eu/en2/). Mr Novak presented the purpose of the INTERREG programmes, with an emphasis on the elements of strengthening sustainable development, as well as their implementation and the foreseen future orientations in Slovenia, Germany, France, Finland and Portugal.
Tuesday's programme of the International Summer School further included a presentation of good practice in the implementation of sustainability in the ICT sector, more specifically in the computer software development company Pro-bit (https://pro-bit.si/). Zvezdana Mlakar, presented the company's sustainable development strategy, the areas of sustainability implementation in the company, the process of its implementation in individual areas, the company's sustainable business model, the recast of the company's mission, vision and values with the aim of achieving higher sustainability, and the perceived benefits of implementing sustainability in the company.
In the continuation of the International Summer School, the students listened to Ms Dijana Madžarac from the Directorate for Internationalisation, Entrepreneurship and Technology of the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology of the Republic of Slovenia. Ms Madžarac presented the programme of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for the promotion of foreign direct investment and internationalisation, which support the development of a green, creative and smart Slovenian economy. The students learnt about the international dimension of the Slovenian economy and the mechanisms for promoting foreign direct investment and international trade activities that follow the principles of sustainable development.
This was followed by a lecture by Ms Julia Lojen Baltić, Communications Specialist at the Beauty Care Unit of HENKEL Slovenia (https://www.henkel.si/trajnostni-razvoj). With its leading brands, innovations and technologies, HENKEL occupies leading positions in the industry and retail with three business units. The company boasts more than 140 years of successful operations and employs more than 52,000 people worldwide. Henkel Beauty Care develops, manufactures and sells high-quality hair, body, skin and oral care products, as well as products for professional use in hairdressing salons. The products are available in 150 different countries and occupy leading positions in various markets. Ms Lojen Baltić presented the areas of sustainability implementation throughout the company's supply chain and in relation to employees, as well as the company's achievements and plans in this area. At the end of the lecture, the students took part in an online quiz, which gave prizes of Henkel Beauty Care products to the first three runners-up.
Tuesday's programme of lectures was concluded by Ms. Tina Cipot, Head of Corporate Communications at LIDL Slovenia (https://www.lidl.si/). She presented the internationalisation dimensions of LIDL as one of the leading discount retailers in the world, LIDL's key values that support sustainable business, the development and content of LIDL's corporate social responsibility strategy, the corporate social responsibility model of LIDL's supply chain, LIDL's activities that raise awareness and strengthen social responsibility and sustainability in society, LIDL's corporate social responsibility reporting, and LIDL's online promotion of its corporate social responsibility activities, Lidl's sustainability campaigns, the involvement of employees in Lidl's CSR and sustainability concept, Lidl's plastic reduction project with examples of good practices, Lidl's food waste management and awareness-raising project, support for disadvantaged groups of athletes, Lidl's socially responsible projects (awareness-raising campaigns, donations, sponsorships) for children, animals and Lidl's projects raising awareness of the importance of health care.
Wednesday, 28. 9. 2022
Wednesday's programme of the International Summer School started with a presentation of the e-mobility project at PETROL (https://www.petrol.si/mobilnost). An example of a sustainable project was presented by Mr Luka Strnad Peterca, Head of e-Vehicle Charging Infrastructure and Mr Matic Markovič, Head of Sustainable Mobility. The company representatives presented the situation on the Slovenian market of e-charging providers, the types of e-charging, the basis for decision-making on the e-charging network, applications for the use of e-charging, services for e-charging owners and global trends in the field of e-charging infrastructure.
The lecture on the implementation of sustainability in HOFER Slovenia (https://www.hofer.si/sl/domov.html) was given by Mr Bor Trček, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility and Quality Assurance at HOFER Slovenia. Mr Trček started his lecture with Robert Swann's thought that "the greatest danger to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it". He then encouraged the students to think about the possibilities of achieving greater sustainability of a food product - students used the brainstorming method to identify ingredients in a food product that demonstrate the implementation of sustainability. He presented HOFER Slovenia's responsibility towards customers, partners, employees, the natural environment and society at large, the company's steps on the way to implementing social responsibility, activities and practical examples of social responsibility for consumers (healthy lifestyle - recreation, nutrition), employees (fair pay, well-being, personal growth and development, volunteering activities), the local community (sponsorships for humanitarian organisations, UNICEF, etc.), and other stakeholders. ) and the natural environment (eco-packaging, optimised packaging, bio-products, promotion of product reuse, product recovery, food waste minimisation project, project to promote bee-friendly products and honey products, CO2-neutral retailer project, "Today for tomorrow" project).The students also learned about HOFER's procurement standards and the company's achievements in this area. HOFER Slovenia also raised awareness about its commitment to sustainability in a direct way - by donating products to the students of the International Summer School, which demonstrated the company's real commitment to sustainability and social responsibility.
Wednesday's programme of lectures at the summer school was concluded by Mr Simon Kovačič, Project Manager at the Novo mesto Development Centre (www.rc-nm.si, www.visitdolenjska.eu), who presented the institutional support for the development of sustainable international tourism, using the example of the tourist destination Dolenjska. Mr Kovačič first presented the activities of the Development Centre Novo mesto in supporting sustainable tourism in the destination, key statistics on tourism in the destination, key tourism products of the destination and the "Runner-up" label for Dolenjska in the European Destination of Excellence (EDEN) 2019. The students then learnt about the culinary offer of the Dolenjska region and the project of tourism in brickhouses, which has brought the destination Dolenjska the ECTN Award for Sustainable Cultural Tourism in 2020. The students were given a presentation on tourism in the Slovenian region, where they went on a professional excursion as part of Thursday's International Summer School programme.
Wednesday's social programme included a visit to the Museum of the Oldest Vine in Maribor.
Thursday, 29. 9. 2022
The Thursday programme of the summer school started with a lecture by mag. Vanessa Čanji, Director of Fitmedia Slovenia, who leads the project "Green Slovenia" (https://www.zelenaslovenija.si/), which aims to promote and connect sustainable ideas, opportunities, challenges, projects and achievements. Ms Čanji began by stressing the importance of turning sustainability problems into opportunities. She also stressed the importance of linking different areas of sustainability efforts. She then elaborated on the Green Slovenia project: an online platform, educational and advisory services (Green Slovenia Academy), a publishing house of sustainability publications (newspapers, manuals, textbooks and other monographs) and a network of companies and other organisations (more than 430). She then focused on the importance of building personality traits to promote sustainability, focusing on the values and mindsets of individuals. She introduced students to a taxonomy of the "seven languages of life" or communication styles of individuals. To achieve sustainability, she stressed the importance of identifying and learning all seven communication styles and the importance of individuals working together with different communication styles.
The academic part of the Thursday programme of the summer school included a lecture by Associate Prof. Dr. Tjaša Štrukelj from the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Maribor, licensed strategist for social responsibility and sustainability, who presented the stakeholder theory to the students using the example of a global industry, a lecture by Nomi Hrast, Univ. Dipl. Eng. in Economics, Licensed Strategist for Social Responsibility and Sustainability, who presented the concept, motives and effects of implementing social responsibility and sustainability in companies and organisations, and a lecture by Prof. Dr. Vito Bobek, internationally renowned lecturer, expert and entrepreneur, who introduced students to the role of culture in the implementation of corporate sustainability.
The Thursday evening social programme of the summer school was dedicated to watching a film at Maribox.
Friday, 30. 9. 2022
On a full-day excursion to the Dolenjska region, students learned about sustainable practices of two major international companies in the Slovenian economy - the Slovenian unit of the multinational Japanese industrial robots company Yaskawa and the Slovenian multinational pharmaceutical company Krka. The social programme of the excursion was aimed at experiencing sustainable tourism in the region: the students learnt about the tradition of wine production and the cultural heritage of the cottages, which have been transformed into an internationally recognised tourism product by providers and supporters of sustainable tourism.
Saturday, 1. 10. 2022
The International Summer School "Sustainability in international business" ended with a visit to the Regional Museum Maribor on Saturday and the awarding of a certificate of participation in the summer school, which awarded 3 ECTS to the students.
Maribor, 5. 10. 2022
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Romana Korez Vide
Head of the International Summer School
Več informacij na https://www.um.si/en/international-relations/summer-schools/sustainability-in-international-business-summer-school/.
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