The Sustainability Club is a student-led initiative that includes extracurricular activities with a deeper focus on responsible management, social impact and sustainable business. The Club serves as a hub for multidisciplinary debate and initiatives related to sustainability and is open to all full-time programme participants, faculty and institutional stakeholders. Some of the activities that the Sustainability Club leads include: beach cleaning, conferences and webinars about sustainability, challenges, inculcating sustainability habits to EADA Community (students, professors, etc).
Sustainability should be embedded into our lifestyles and the way we relate to society and the environment. This means taking our knowledge out of our bubble and using it for good in our day-to-day life and trying to inspire others to do the same. "
- Daragh Cogley (Ireland), Sustainability Club Leader 2022
Some of the events they have done so far are:
Regular Beach Cleanups, together with Clean Beach Initiative Barcelona
Online Event on Upcycling Fashion with Alterist (an upcycled fashion marketplace)
Sustainable Habit Challenge in March
- Organizing social events such as hikes to Montserrat
This year’s Club champions are: Anna Bodi (Spain), Daragh Cogley (Ireland), Erik Moltzen (Denmark), Fabienne Winter (Germany) and Grace Romero (Peru), all students of the International Master in Sustainable Business & Innovation class of 2022.
We interviewed the champions to hear about their motivation for joining the Sustainability Club and plans for the year.
1. What motivated you to join the Sustainability Club?
ANNA BODI: I felt that joining the Club would be a great opportunity to further engage in sustainability and actually be able to spread the word through the whole EADA ecosystem. In my opinion, sustainability should be on everyone’s agenda, so I thought that trying to engage the school community was a good starting point.
DARAGH COGLEY: I wanted to be a part of the Sustainability Club to try and bring sustainability out of the classroom and into our daily lives. Sustainability should be embedded into our lifestyles and the way we relate to society and the environment. This means taking our knowledge out of our bubble and using it for good in our day-to-day life and trying to inspire others to do the same.
ERIK MOLTZEN: I have always been interested in sustainability and had the ambition to be part of a board or a club that allows its members to come up with related ideas and initiatives. I saw the Sustainability Club as the perfect opportunity to pursue my ambitions and to learn.
FABIENNE WINTER: As a master student from the MSBI program my biggest personal motivator to be part of the Sustainability Club is building a larger community within EADA that becomes more aware about the importance of sustainability. Therefore, I would like to promote the importance of this topic in a way that it loses its “tree hugger” image but rather makes it easy, fun and accessible for all students at EADA across all master programs, where students recognize that everyone can be part of a transition to a more sustainable world – small steps at a time.
GRACE ROMERO: I saw the Club as an opportunity to raise awareness of important issues in the EADA community. There are so many issues that we must understand, not just because we can apply them to their professional career, but to our personal development as well.
2. What qualities do you think are necessary to lead the Sustainability Club?
"POSSITIVE ATTITUDE"
"PASSION"
"RESPONSIBILITY"
"MOTIVATION"
ANNA BODI: I would say the main one is motivation. It’s not easy to mobilise people towards sustainability and it requires a lot of effort to actually come up with ideas and events that appeal to everyone.
DARAGH COGLEY: I think what’s been most valuable so far has been keeping a positive attitude. Our schedules don’t allow for much extracurricular activity, so it can be hard to find the motivation to organise activities. However, we’ve kept each other going and managed to organise some really engaging events so far with great turnouts!
ERIK MOLTZEN: I think it is important to be passionate about the goals we are trying to reach together and to be able to communicate this passion to fellow club members and potential members.
FABIENNE WINTER: The most important quality to lead the Sustainability Club is being intrinsically motivated to promote and share the own passion about a sustainable future with other class and school mates. Our motivation and commitment towards it have led to all the events we have planned so far – each and every one of us bringing in different passions and perspectives towards the topic.
GRACE ROMERO: You should have a motivation that can influence others to join the Club or attend the events. You also need to be responsible and have good time management skills to keep the momentum going while maintaining a high level of performance in the master’s.
3. How do you think this experience will impact your career?
ANNA BODI: I hope it brings me closer to my goal of working in sustainability. As a student of the Master in Sustainable Business & Innovation, I would like to continue my career in a related position, and I feel that being a part of the Sustainability Club gives me a good background that can be attractive to companies.
DARAGH COGLEY: I don’t think of this as something that will have a huge impact on my career, although I’ve found that most of the things that have shaped me –and therefore my career– have been in things that I haven’t considered as related to my career.
ERIK MOLTZEN: I believe that this experience will help me further understand the amount of work and dedication that it takes to set up events and create a continuous momentum and awareness around sustainability for future generations.
FABIENNE WINTER: Being part of the Sustainability Club champions shows me the joy of building a community with a common purpose – and at the same time also the challenges that come with it. I am learning how to motivate other students to be more sustainable in every day life and that increasing awareness and persuasion are more effective than convincing others – and this I will for sure be able to transfer to my future career, despite the position I will be having.
GRACE ROMERO: I think being one of the leaders of the Sustainability Club is helping me improve organisation skills, as well as pushing me to create a bigger community inside and outside of EADA. For example, I recently helped the Club join the new Impact Network, made up of Clubs from different business schools around Europe focused on sustainability and responsible business.
4. What advice would you give to future students that are interested in joining the Sustainability Club?
ANNA BODI: Come join us! It’s a safe space where everyone can share their ideas and we all work together towards the same goal. Be open minded and ready to listen to other people’s opinions. You’ll have the opportunity to make a change.
DARAGH COGLEY: Reuse, reduce, recycle. Or something like that. Nah, but in all seriousness, get involved!! It feels good to contribute positively to something, no matter how small the contribution.
ERIK MOLTZEN: My advice would be to make a list of the skills you have and the skills you want to develop outside of your programme, and to think about if you are truly passionate about sustainability. Most skills are valuable within every club, but it is more fun (and less tiring) to develop them in areas that you are truly passionate about.
FABIENNE WINTER: It starts with you! If you are interested in anything related to a more sustainable life – I encourage you to share this interest and your experiences with the other students. It’s not about teaching others but rather increasing awareness and building a community. Most importantly: Have fun while sharing your passion with others!
GRACE ROMERO: I would tell them to participate as much as they can and as much as they want – every contribution will help our community. It’s important to understand that the Club is not just about environmental issues; sustainability goes beyond this, and includes the social responsibilities of companies and how businesses are guiding their processes.