In the last two decades, the global sustainability debate has entered the world of business. It was not only the pressing issues of the UN Sustainability goals but also the COVID-19 pandemic, the emergence of a mental health crisis within businesses, and a general change in the values of employees that created urgency.

Business norms and values have become more important as an organizational “hardware” that attracts and holds or loses the service and support of employees. The length of time employees stay in a company is directly related to the company’s culture, its norms, and its congruence with the employees’ reflected values. On the other hand, businesses are vital cultures themselves that serve as learning spaces for larger societal behaviours: our relationship to democracy, ecology, and human dignity is also learned in the workplace.

This symposium discusses the ability and responsibility of the business world to change how humans behave in the world – and thereby change business itself.