Nowadays, corporate social responsibility is increasingly gaining interest and is an item on every management agenda. Still there was no postgraduate program that enabled managers and auditors to specialise in this area. The Erasmus University Rotterdam (Eurac BV) therefore starts with the one year postgraduate programs Sustainability Management and Sustainabilty Auditing. Nancy Kamp-Roelands, senior manager with Ernst & Young is responsible for the contents of the programs.
“Whoever as manager got assigned to “sustainability”, till now was forced to gather his knowledge from different sources”, says Nancy Kamp-Roelands of Ernst & Young. “Often a manager gained experience on the job and during some courses. The same was true for people engaged in sustainability auditing. The program we offer now provides a better theoretical base. The lectures are given by authoritative professors and guest lecturers with up to date knowledge of the sustainability practice. This ensures that the programs do not linger in theoretical, ivory tower knowledge, but give direct handles for the daily practice.”

In the programs attention is given to general aspects, the economical, environmental and social aspects of organisations, strategy and policies in the area of corporate social responsibility, its management and the external reporting. The last module deals with assurance regarding sustainability reporting and only those who already possess auditing qualifications in general are admissible.

The design of the programs is international and is therefore also accessible to students from abroad. The academic quality of the programs is guaranteed by the Erasmus University Rotterdam.