Insight Economy needs Civilisation.
Einsicht Ökonomie braucht politisch-moralische Einbettung.
Risk Analysis We identify the opportunities and limits of corporate responsibility in global supply chains.
Risikoanalyse Wir zeigen die Möglichkeiten und Grenzen unternehmerischer Verantwortung in globalen Lieferketten auf.
Best Practice Fewer normative appeals. More work on standards.
Best Practice Weniger normative Appelle. Mehr Arbeit an Standards.
Dialogue We identify the possibilities and limits of corporate responsibility in the area of conflict between business and ethics.
Dialog Wir identifizieren die Möglichkeiten und Grenzen unternehmerischer Verantwortung im Spannungsfeld zwischen Wirtschaft und Ethik.
Responsibility Creating values. Protecting human rights.
Verantwortung Werte schaffen. Menschenrechte schützen.
Economy The aim of our work is to minimise human rights violations in global supply chains.
Wirtschaft Ziel unserer Arbeit ist es, Menschenrechtsverletzungen in globalen Lieferketten zu minimieren.
Education No economic education without moral judgement, no ethical education without economic understanding.
Bildung Keine ökonomische Bildung ohne moralisches Urteilsvermögen.
Advocacy We act as advocates for business ethics issues with the aim of making ethical risks economically relevant for companies. 

Themenanwaltschaft Wir setzen uns für Fragen der Unternehmensethik ein, mit dem Ziel, ethische Risiken für Unternehmen wirtschaftlich relevant zu machen.
Research We promote the ability to discuss economic issues, make moral judgements and act responsibly.
Forschung Wir fördern die Fähigkeit, wirtschaftliche Themen zu diskutieren, moralische Urteile zu fällen und verantwortungsvoll zu handeln.
Mission Solutions for responsible business. Guidance for companies, politics and civil society.
Mission Lösungen für verantwortungsbewusstes Wirtschaften. Orientierung für Unternehmen, Politik und Zivilgesellschaft.
Education We are committed to firmly embedding business ethics competencies in education in the fields of economics and the social sciences.
Bildung Wir setzen uns dafür ein, wirtschaftsethische Kompetenzen fest in der wirtschafts- und sozialwissenschaftlichen Ausbildung zu verankern.

Business Ethics and Sustainability in Schools and Vocational Colleges

Business Ethics and Sustainability in Schools and Vocational Colleges

A broad economic education is essential for understanding concepts in areas such as business ethics and sustainability, and for acting accordingly. This applies just as much to working life as it does to politics or to consumers. In their curricula for social science subjects, the federal states are therefore placing greater emphasis on areas such as economics and business ethics, the Sustainable Development Goals, global learning, climate change and many other current issues than they did a few years ago.

The extent to which the pressing social, environmental and economic issues of our time are actually addressed in the classroom, and how the relevant content is conveyed in general and vocational schools, has become the subject of numerous debates. Whilst studies on economic education have so far mostly focused on pupils, the joint project between the Hamburger Stiftung für Wirtschaftsethik and the Dr. Jürgen Meyer Stiftung now turns its attention to teachers.

Teachers of politics, society and economics face ever-increasing demands to address new topics relating to sustainability and business ethics in their lessons in a way that is both up-to-date and academically sound. How do they prioritise the content in the relevant subjects? What problems do they face when preparing and delivering lessons? What prior (economic) knowledge can they draw upon? And what kind of support would they like to see? These questions lie at the heart of the study, the aim of which is to develop proposals for adapting the provision of initial and continuing teacher training.

A small-scale preliminary study in Club of Rome schools, preparatory interviews with experts from academia and schools, and a content analysis of the curricula in the social science subjects will be followed, from autumn 2021, by a long-term series of studies in which teachers will be surveyed via an onlinequestionnaires and focus group discussions. The plan is to conduct new surveys annually, in which regional and thematic priorities can also be set.

The study series ‘Business Ethics and Sustainability in Schools and Vocational Colleges’ is a joint project of the Hamburger Stiftung für Wirtschaftsethik and the Dr. Jürgen Meyer Stiftung, Cologne. The University of Hamburg (Faculty of Education, Department of Didactics of Social Science Subjects) is a collaborating partner.

‘Business Ethics and Sustainability in Schools and Vocational Colleges’ is a joint project with the Dr Jürgen Meyer Stiftung.