Founded in February 2024, the ESMT Institute for Sustainable Transformation (IST) supports businesses in accelerating their sustainable transformations. With a robust agenda in sustainability education and research, the institute spearheads sustainable leadership practices that benefit individuals, businesses, and society at large.
It leads initiatives that foster connections between businesses, policymakers, and civil society, as evidenced by the Sustainable Business Roundtable and the Climate Governance Initiative Germany. Moreover, it contributes to the sustainable transformation of ESMT Berlin, leading campus decarbonization efforts. Within degree programs, the institute connects students with companies to create experiential opportunities to learn and innovate in sustainable business.
A global network for sustainable learning
Education for sustainability literacy
Empowering organizations for sustainable transformation
Most employees around the world want to support their company’s sustainability work, yet many do not feel confident about the topic. Our learning approach helps everyone in the organization build the knowledge and skills needed to secure the company’s long term success. We offer short online modules for quick skill building and tailored programs for specific departments to help speed up sustainable change.
These programs give leaders and employees a solid understanding of sustainability and practical tools to guide sustainable business transformation. Participants learn how to apply these insights in their daily work. Each program is highly customized and goes far beyond standard training. They can take place on our campus, at the company site, in live virtual formats, or fully online.
Sustainable transformation research
Professorships and faculty research
The institute addresses real-world environmental, social, and governance (ESG) challenges through rigorous academic research led by the institute’s professorships, including the ESMT President Jörg Rocholl, the Deutsche Bank professor in sustainable finance, and ESMT Dean of Faculty and Research Per Olsson, the DHL Group professor in sustainable accounting.
Other key contributors include Tamer Boyaci, Professor and Michael Diekmann Chair in Management Science, Rajshri Jayaraman, Associate Professor of Economics, and Catalina Stefanescu-Cuntze, Professor of Management Science and Faculty Lead of the Master in Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Program. Research of our faculty focuses on sustainable transformation, development, finance, accounting, operations, and analytics.
Tailored research
The institute conducts customized research projects in collaboration with companies, exploring themes closely related to our faculty focus, including sustainable transformation, development, finance, accounting, operations, and analytics. This type of research work also contributes to our teaching through the creation of case studies and equips companies with agile solutions (e.g., applets) to effectively manage sustainability data and decisions.
Student research
Our students conduct Master's thesis research and other engagements on sustainable business. They are supervised by our international faculty and often tackle social, environmental, and governance challenges submitted by companies in our network.
