Understanding Human Sustainability Challenges
Understand global climate, social, and public governance challenges and examine sustainability responsibilities from the perspectives of business, government, and society.
SUSTAINABILITY LEADERSHIP
MBA / Ph.D. Program in Sustainability Leadership Graduate College of Sustainability and Green Energy
The program integrates law and politics, economics and management, environmental technology, and public ethics to cultivate advanced leaders who can respond to global sustainability challenges, connect knowledge with practice, and work across disciplinary boundaries.
Program Purpose
Developing Interdisciplinary Sustainability Leaders
The program brings together social sciences, management, environmental knowledge, technology, and ethics to prepare students for complex sustainability challenges.
The Sustainability Leadership Program is designed to cultivate interdisciplinary leaders by integrating law and politics, economics and management, environmental technology, and public ethics. The program examines issues in global sustainable development and responds to major challenges facing humanity in global public affairs.
As the United Nations and other international organizations continue to advance sustainability initiatives, business leaders increasingly engage with evolving international standards and actions. The program therefore emphasizes three areas of development: concern for human sustainability, knowledge of the humanities and the environment, and the ability to continuously update knowledge through lifelong learning.
Students may also take relevant courses across partner institutions, while credit and degree administration remain the responsibility of SAGE. Through interdisciplinary education, the program develops doctoral-level researchers with knowledge spanning sustainability management, economics, policy, and technological development, as well as advanced leaders who can translate sustainability principles into management practice.
Leadership Capabilities
Three Core Leadership Capabilities
The program develops the awareness, knowledge, and adaptive learning capacity needed to lead organizations through changing sustainability priorities.
Integrating Humanistic and Environmental Knowledge
Combine policy, economics, management, technology, and public ethics to build a broad and interdisciplinary foundation for sustainability decision-making.
Lifelong Learning and Adaptive Leadership
Continuously update knowledge and adapt decision-making in response to changing international initiatives, public policy, and industry conditions.
Curriculum
Curriculum Structure
The curriculum combines foundational leadership training, sustainability-related core knowledge, and interdisciplinary electives in governance, economics, environment, and business.
Leadership Foundations
Required courses emphasize the foundational knowledge and core competencies needed for sustainability leadership, including leadership development and the impacts of sustainability issues on economic and organizational development.
Sustainability and Environmental Governance
Core courses build a solid foundation in environmental governance and strengthen students' understanding of sustainability technologies, governance approaches, and relevant research tools.
Interdisciplinary Applications
Elective courses use political economy, environmental studies, public governance, and corporate governance as frameworks for examining the success factors and potential risks involved in sustainable management by businesses and governments.
ESG Learning
Three ESG Learning Dimensions
Environmental, social, and governance perspectives are integrated into the program to help students understand sustainability from multiple organizational and societal dimensions.
Environmental
Drawing on faculty expertise from Earth sciences and partner institutions, this dimension examines environmental protection and energy transition through renewable energy, sustainable development, and the Earth environment.
- Renewable energy and sustainable development
- Sustainable Earth environment
- Environmental protection and climate issues
Social
Courses in corporate social responsibility, social enterprise practice, and impact and ESG investing develop students' capacity to assess and manage social impact.
- Corporate social responsibility
- Social enterprise practice
- Social Return on Investment (SROI)
- Social value measurement and management
Governance
This dimension examines how sustainability concepts can be integrated into organizational strategy through corporate governance, supply-chain management, and carbon management, while evaluating their broader implications.
- Corporate governance theory and practice
- Sustainable supply chains
- Carbon-footprint calculation
- Carbon taxation and carbon management
Learning Beyond SAGE
Cross-Institutional Learning and Global Perspectives
Students broaden their academic and professional perspectives through cross-institutional coursework and engagement with experts and scholars in sustainability leadership.
Cross-Institutional Course Integration
SAGE students may take relevant courses across partner institutions, while SAGE retains responsibility for credit and degree administration. This expands access to diverse academic disciplines and professional resources.
Expert Lectures and Global Perspectives
Courses invite sustainability leadership experts, domestic and international scholars, and recognized sustainability researchers to share current knowledge, policy developments, and global sustainability issues.
Learning Outcomes
Preparing Leaders for Sustainability Practice
Graduates develop interdisciplinary knowledge and leadership capacity across management, economics, policy, technology, and professional practice.
- Sustainability Management Understand organizational sustainability strategies and management practice.
- Economics and Policy Understand policy institutions and changes in the economic environment.
- Technology Development Build foundational knowledge of sustainability and environmental technologies.
- Interdisciplinary Leadership Integrate knowledge, decision-making, and practical management capabilities.
Through an integrated curriculum and interdisciplinary learning environment, the program cultivates researchers and advanced leaders with knowledge in sustainability management, economics, policy, and technological development, together with the ability to translate sustainability principles into professional practice.