Eva Niesten
Head of SKEMA Centre for Sustainability Studies
SKEMA Centre for Sustainability Studies is a dynamic research group whose purpose is to generate excellent research on how business activities can be sustainable and contribute to a better world.
Research themes
Adopting interdisciplinary perspectives, the centre studies sustainability at three interconnected levels:
Changemakers
Within the theme of changemakers, the SKEMA Centre for Sustainability Studies studies how individuals contribute to social and environmental sustainability. Our research on changemakers focuses on female leadership and entrepreneurship, diversity management and mindfulness. We investigate how female entrepreneurs perform in uncertain contexts and times of crisis by focusing on the types of financing available to them as well as the strategic choices that orient their investments. Our novel approach to diversity management analyses the behavior of diversity professionals within their ecosystems. We also investigate how mindfulness, or the quality of conscious awareness, is positively associated with ecological attitudes and sustainable consumption. Novel insights are offered into how our self-image impacts volunteering and other pro-social activities.
We use digital technologies, such as high-immersive virtual reality applications, to study how the environment impacts managerial decision-making and the cognitive frames of managers for sustainability.
Impactful Organisations
Within the theme of impactful organisations, we research corporate social responsibility as well as how the business models, partnerships, and business ecosystems of firms contribute to sustainable development and the adoption of sustainable technologies. We study the role of stakeholders and coproduction in the provision of climate services.
In our research on impactful organisations, our objective is also to gain a better understanding of the responsibilities of business for the human rights of refugees and migrant workers, in contexts where rights and freedoms are being undermined by the politics of immigration and labour laws and relations.
Sustainable Transitions
The SKEMA Centre for Sustainability Studies investigates transitions to a more sustainable society, such as the drivers of a more renewable energy system, the transitions in the automotive industry towards the greater integration of electric vehicles and autonomous technology, as well as the role of safety in decommissioning energy generation plants.
Within the theme of sustainable transitions, we also study the impact of digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, on the transformation to more responsible societies.
