Con­sult­ing for Sustain­ability – Har­ness­ing Busi­ness Mod­els and In­nov­a­tion

Course content

The Consulting for Sustainability – Harnessing Business Models and Innovation course is designed to prepare students to become effective contributors in consulting firms, organizations that require consulting assistance, and organizations implementing important changes. From time-to-time every organization experiences the need to renew its ability to be successful and often uses external consultants to assist in the process. The broad topic of sustainability provides the oppportunity to analyze an organization’s competitive position, capabilities, organizational processes, culture, etc. Once a new sustainability direction is developed the process of implementing the changes must be managed.  Even if you do not plan to make consulting your career goal, you will have many opportunities in both your professional and personal life to use consulting skills.  

This seminar provides an opportunity for CBS Master’s students to undertake a consulting assignment that looks for private sector partnerships and government opportunities to address specific sustainability problems of the Cities of Frederiksberg and Copenhagen and for companies and organizations who include CLEAN, Henning Larsen, Velux, Green Building Council. These are not simulated problems, nor organizations. Students will apply the skills they have acquired throughout their degree to a specific sustainability problem defined by their client. In order to successfully complete the course, students must clearly define the client's problem, assemble evidence,select criteria for evaluation, define project outcomes, confront intervention trade-offs, and decide and recommend a course of action that addresses the clients sustainability needs.  The goals of the class are to develop your innovative and professional thinking, policy analysis, project management, teamwork, written and oral presentation skills.Students from all backgrounds and interests are encouraged to take this class.

Client Example: City of Frederiksberg & City of Copenhagen are looking for Student Consultants

Each group of students will be assigned to a sustainability problem being worked on by the City of Frederiksberg or Copenhagen. Students will engage in commissioned initiatives by various city departments within the fields of energy supply, buildings, transportation, etc. For each project, the students will explore the potential for various forms of private sector partnerships to contribute to addressing the problem. This will entail some discussion with and direction from City staff to ensure that the work being done is relevant and connects usefully to the City’s priorities and program development activities. The work delivered by the students will inform and assist the City to make a final decision linked to thier sustainability problem.

Background Information

The cities of Frederiksberg and Copenhagen municipalities are both leaders in the field of urban sustainability. Since 2008, Frederiksberg municipality has been part of the ‘climate municipality’ initiative spearheaded by The Danish Society for Nature Conservation with a commitment to reduce CO2 emission by 3 percent annually until 2020. In order to meet this goal, Frederiksberg has launched a number of initiatives, including energy renovation of public property, introduction of ‘environmental ambassadors’ across all municipal departments, and a pool of funds for green transformation where both individuals and organizations can apply. One specific example can be found in the period between 2005-2014 where Frederiksberg’s CO2-emission decreased by almost 200,000 tons, corresponding to a 41 percent reduction.

Similarly, the Copenhagen municipality has set the ambitious goal of becoming the first CO2-neutral capital in 2025. While not part of the ‘climate municipality’ initiative, Copenhagen has made extensive efforts to improve the climate since 2009, with the formulation of a specific climate strategy towards 2015 of decreasing emission by 20 percent. Having already reached this goal in 2011, a number of new initiatives have been introduced. A recent example is the Agenda 21-strategy, which describes four principles for how citizens, public management, and other relevant actors can cooperate in contributing to a sustainable city in the 21st century. The central principles are:

1. A holistic and interdisciplinary perspective
2. Partnerships
3. Participating and co-creational citizens
4. Communities

Like Frederiksberg, Copenhagen municipality is also focusing on climate adaptation, in particular to curb the effects of flooding. Copenhagen annually publishes its environmental accounts on nine different topics, which is also available in a summarized pamphlet version.