Abstract
Abstract The adoption of the logic of developing sustainable development (SD) competences in the business environment has grown both in the literature in the area and in business initiative programs. One player that emerges with the aim of assuming leadership in this process is the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). This article aims to answer the following research question: Are the WBCSD’s discourses and initiatives for developing sustainability competences spaces of various translations of corporate sustainability or a place for reaffirming logocentric and definitive discourses on the theme? For this, we analyzed the institutional documents (Vision 2050 and Action 2020) and carried out a series of on-site visits at the Brazilian and Portuguese BCSDs. In addition, we conducted a set of in-depth interviews with the managers and participants in the initiatives for developing sustainability competences (DSC). The data were analyzed according to the categories of Derrida’s deconstruction process. The analysis of the educational initiatives of the Brazilian and Portuguese BCSDs showed that they include the various discourses on corporate sustainability in their formative approach; however, logocentric and definitive thinking about the theme is reaffirmed in that the way the Vision 2050 guidelines are carried out is limited to the application of management tools.
Highlights
The adoption of the logic of sustainability development (SD) competences in the business environment has grown both in the literature in the area (Lans, Blok, & Wesselink, 2013; Munck & Borim-de-Souza, 2012) and in business initiative programs (Wiek, Withycombe, & Redman, 2011)
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) can be considered an example of a think tank that acts in providing guidance on SD, in that it seeks to organize spaces for debate and courses for developing sustainability competences, as is the case of the Future Leaders Team (FLT), which focuses on training young businesspeople
This article focused its discussion on the following research problem: Are the WBCSD’s discourses and initiatives for developing sustainability competences spaces of various translations of corporate sustainability or a place for reaffirming logocentric and definitive discourses on the theme? To answer that question we studied institutional documents (Vision 2050 and Action 2020) and carried out a series of on-site visits and interviews at the Brazilian and Portuguese BCSDs
Summary
The adoption of the logic of sustainability development (SD) competences in the business environment has grown both in the literature in the area (Lans, Blok, & Wesselink, 2013; Munck & Borim-de-Souza, 2012) and in business initiative programs (Wiek, Withycombe, & Redman, 2011) Behind this movement there is the idea that it is necessary to create educational spaces and mechanisms of transformative learning to promote the development of human capacity in work, at the individual and collective levels, to respond to pressure from civil society movements, governments, and international organizations such as the UN for practices recognized as socioenvironmental competences (Ribeiro, Cortese, Kniess, & Conti, 2019). The Council acts in a context of the emergence and strengthening of international institutions and multilateral organizations that recommend and demand companies implement socioenvironmental management systems These are social actors that Stone (2005) recognizes as think tanks, that is, groups that seek to influence governments and companies in areas of interest. The WBCSD can be considered an example of a think tank that acts in providing guidance on SD, in that it seeks to organize spaces for debate and courses for developing sustainability competences, as is the case of the Future Leaders Team (FLT), which focuses on training young businesspeople
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