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Steen Val­lentin

Associate Professor

Subjects
Leadership Organisation Circular economy Communication Sustainability Social responsibility

Primary research areas

The Polit­ics of Cor­por­ate Respons­ibility
This re­search in­terest is centered on ideo­lo­gic­al un­der­pin­nings and polit­ic­al im­plic­a­tions of the heated pub­lic and schol­arly de­bates that are tak­ing place over the pros and cons of CSR and cor­por­ate sustain­ability. The aim of this re­search is to show how ‘the the­or­et­ic­al is polit­ic­al’ in this field and to ex­plore ideo­logy as a prac­tic­al con­cern.
Trust-Based Lead­er­ship
This re­search fo­cuses on the work­ings of trust and trust-based re­forms in the pub­lic sec­tor. Start­ing from a so­ci­olo­gic­al and re­la­tion­al un­der­stand­ing of trust, the aim is to show a) how trust is a var­ied and am­bigu­ous phe­nomen­on with so­cial (in­ter­ac­tion­al) as well as sys­tem­ic fea­tures, and b) how trust-build­ing can be sup­port­ive of lead­er­ship and or­gan­iz­a­tion­al per­form­ance.
The So­cial Side of Cir­cu­lar Eco­nomy and the Green Agenda
This re­search ap­plies a con­cep­tu­al and dis­curs­ive lens to de­vel­op­ments in the realm of en­vir­on­ment­al sustain­ability and the green trans­ition. The aim is to con­trib­ute to a bet­ter the­or­et­ic­al un­der­stand­ing of the so­cial (hu­man, be­ha­vi­or­al) drivers of and bar­ri­ers to sus­tain­able de­vel­op­ment in areas such as cir­cu­lar eco­nomy, in­dus­tri­al eco­logy, and biod­iversity and eco­sys­tem ser­vices.

Ex­plor­ing Cor­por­ate Respons­ibility and Pub­lic Trust

Steen Vallentin is Associate Professor in the Department of Management, Society and Communication and Academic Co-Director of the Centre for Sustainability at CBS. He is one of the co-founders of the centre which was launched in 2002.  

His research interests are centered on CSR and corporate sustainability as social and political phenomena in the broadest sense, including studies of the role of government and of the political-ideological side of the corporate responsibility debate. 

Other research and professional interests include ESG, sustainable development, circular economy, and biodiversity, along with trust and trust-based leadership as it relates to the public sector. He makes regular contributions to the public debate on corporate responsibility and sustainable development.  

He regularly contributes to international journals in his field of study and is a member of the Editorial Review Board of Business Ethics Quarterly.

Publications

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June 2025

The Social Side of Circular

Self-Organization, Planning and Trust in Industrial Symbiosis

Ste­en Val­len­tin, Associate Professor

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June 2025

Communication of Business-Nonprofit Collaborations and Corporate Legitimacy

Andrea Rizzuni

Maria Alejandra Torres-Cuello

Ste­en Val­len­tin, Associate Professor

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June 2025

Responsibilization of Business and the Informational Ethics of ESG

Ste­en Val­len­tin, Associate Professor

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Outside activities

Dan­watch, Board mem­ber , 2007 -

Spe­cial­ist mem­ber of the board of Dan­watch, a Dan­ish in­vest­ig­at­ive me­dia or­gan­iz­a­tion, since its launch in 2007.