RESEARCH CENTRESCentre for Sustainability Studies

The SKEMA Centre for Sustainability Studies has developed multiple high-immersive virtual reality (VR) applications on managerial decision-making, cognitive frames for sustainability, and environmental responsiveness. These VR applications were developed in collaboration with Coventry University, Totem Learning, and Coventry University Enterprises. Experiments are being conducted with these VR applications to test how environmental changes will alter decision-making and managers’ frames for sustainability. 

The SKEMA Centre for Sustainability Studies conducts a research project on business model adaptation by incumbent utilities towards more sustainable energy systems, business ecosystem strategies of solar project developers, and the role of green knowledge and private equity funding for green start-ups in the energy sector. This project is conducted in collaboration with the Alliance Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester, and the Lord Alliance Strategic Research Investment Fund. 

The SKEMA Centre for Sustainability Studies develops methods to identify how public values are expressed in AI patents and to assess developments and implications. AI patent applications and awards have burgeoned in recent years as inventors and assignees seek public acknowledgement of proprietary intellectual property rights for AI applications. Public concerns about the consequences of AI have also risen. The project is conducted in collaboration with the University of Manchester and Georgia Institute of Technology.

The SKEMA Centre for Sustainability Studies conducts research projects on the responsibility of business for the human rights of migrant workers and refugees in the Middle East, the Gulf States and Europe. The projects are part of international interdisciplinary collaborations with the NOVA School of Law (Lisbon), Nottingham University RightsLab, and Civil Society Organizations in Spain. We investigate the scope and practice of Corporate Human Rights Due Diligence of agrifood and construction corporations that rely on the labour of migrants in contexts that them vulnerable to exploitation. In collaboration with Durham University SGIA, we explore the implications of the shift from humanitarian approaches to forced migration to development approaches, wherein businesses operating in major refugee host countries, such as Turkey, have to contribute to their economic integration while ensuring that their human rights are protected in value chains.