Dr Elena Cavagnaro visits the University of Bergamo

By Elena Cavagnaro

AIHR professor Elena Cavagnaro has been honoured with a visiting professorship at the University of Bergamo (Italy). In 2016 the University of Bergamo developed a Master's Degree in ‘Business Administration, Professional and Managerial Accounting’ as part of its International programme. The master is organized in two curricula, one taught in Italian and the other one in English. The English stream focuses on Accounting, Accountability and Governance (AAG) and includes two 'Majors': Financial Accounting for International Professionals (FAIP) and Sustainability, Accountability and Governance (SAG).

The aim of SAG is to provide students with the competencies necessary to envisage, design and implement innovative solutions for governing Sustainable Development-related issues in the daily management of organizations. SAG has been centred on the Three Levels of Sustainability framework developed by Elena Cavagnaro and George Curiel in their book with the same title. From here stems the invitation to Elena to become a visiting professor at the University of Bergamo and to introduce the Three Levels of Sustainability framework to the master students who chose for the SAG major.

During her first visit, in the academic year 2016-2017, Elena renewed her acquaintance with Dr Silvana Signori, associated professor at the Department of Management, Economics and Quantitative Methods. Dr Signori is deeply engaged with social and environmental accountability, and has widely consulted with (small) business organizations in the area around Bergamo. Lately she has been involved in the development of a local food chain. Notwithstanding her various engagements and projects, Dr Signori found the time to write a best case on the use of local food for the book 'Sustainability in Hospitality, Guests on Earth' edited by Elena.

During this year's visit, Elena introduced the Three Levels of Sustainability as a tool to approach sustainability in an integrated fashion. She then touched on sustainability as a paradigm shift in the way we understand the relationship between the economy and nature; in our vision on managerial responsibilities; and our understanding of the motivations driving human behaviour. Finally she presented to the students a case on Shale Gas exploitation in the Karoo that she developed with the cooperation of Peter Myles.

For more information on the master program, see: https://en.unibg.it/study/bachelor-and-master-degrees/masters-degree-programs/md-business-administration-professional