In an immersive and transformative learning experience, students pursuing International Hospitality Business Master’s at Glion Institute of Higher Education were transported into the future during an engaging one-day workshop. The event, hosted by sustainability experts Johanna Wagner and Carina Hopper, aimed to ignite the students’ passion for sustainability while exploring hospitality’s role in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) by 2030.
Led by impact-driven entrepreneurs and lecturers Johanna Wagner and Carina Hopper, the workshop delved beyond traditional teaching methods. Recognizing the need for transformative learning, the duo designed an environment that encouraged participants to go beyond passive understanding and actually experience the potential for hospitality businesses to drive positive social and environmental change.
Under the banner of the “2030 SDG Hospitality Summit”, close to 70 students were tasked with creating and simulating a professional conference. In teams, each composed of 6 to 9 participants, students prepared a 15-minute panel discussion centered around a specific UN SDG. These discussions were then seamlessly woven into a comprehensive 2-hour hospitality summit, envisioning a multi-stakeholder perspective on the hospitality industry’s contributions to global SDG achievement by 2030.
Taking on roles such as hotel group CEOs, hotel GMs, and sustainability directors set in the year 2030, the students embraced creative freedom, generating ideas and propositions that transcend the conventional. This allowed them to challenge preconceived notions and propose innovative solutions that could reshape the future of hospitality.
A key element of the workshop was the formation of Speaker Crews and Communication Crews within each team. The Communication Crew was responsible for crafting content suitable for online sharing, mirroring real-world scenarios where conference content is disseminated through various channels like social media, newsletters, and websites.
Reflecting on the event’s success, participants reported transformative shifts in their perspectives. Many entered the day with doubts about hospitality’s relevance to solving global issues but left with a profound conviction that intentional actions within the industry could indeed drive meaningful change.
The visionary content and ideas generated by the students have piqued the interest of the hospitality sector. With a commitment to catalyze change in the industry, Wagner and Hopper intend to showcase their students’ works, inspiring current hospitality professionals and leaders to embrace contribution and regeneration as guiding principles.
About the SDGs
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the United Nations in 2015, are a set of 17 global goals aimed at addressing the world’s most pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges by 2030. These goals encompass a wide range of issues, from poverty and inequality to climate action and sustainable consumption.
These goals are used by governments as well as public and private organizations to set sustainability objectives and track their progress. 2023 is the year of the SDG mid-term review.
To learn more about the SDGs and the role of hospitality to achieve them: https://www.unwto.org/tourism4sdgs.
About the instructors
Johanna Wagner and Carina Hopper co-founded Back to School for the Planet, a nonprofit aimed at creating and supporting lifelong learning in sustainability, and initiated the EDuC Label with their impact-first company Join EDuC.
For more information:
https://www.backtoschoolfortheplanet.org/
https://www.labelleeduc.org/educ-label/
Contact: Johanna Wagner, [email protected]
About Glion Institute of Higher Education
Founded in 1962, Glion Institute of Higher Education is a Swiss institution offering bachelor’s and master’s degrees in hospitality, luxury and finance to an international student body across three campuses in Switzerland and London, UK.
Glion is ranked among the world’s top five higher education institutions for hospitality and leisure management, and in the top three number for employer reputation since its entry in the ranking in 2018. (QS World University Rankings by Subject, 2022).
Part of Sommet Education, worldwide leader in hospitality education, Glion is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE).
For more information, visit glion.edu.
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