​Stockholm School of Economics reshapes its undergraduate education - New Global Challenges track will form the leaders of tomorrow

The Stockholm School of Economics has launched a new focus within its Bachelor Program in Business and Economics. The new educational track is called Global Challenges and entails an expanded curriculum aimed at enhancing students’ understanding of the global challenges facing society, making them wise, compassionate and discerning leaders.

“Although we educate a small proportion of the country’s undergraduate students, they account for a large share of Sweden’s future decision-makers in business and society. We seek to assume responsibility for this and ensure that our program harmonizes with a world in constant change. Specialized knowledge is not sufficient in becoming a leader who takes the wider community forward – our students must also be trained in, and have an in-depth understanding of, cultural contexts on graduating from the school”, says Lars Strannegård, President of the Stockholm School of Economics.

The new training initiative has been made possible by a generous donation of SEK 40 million from the Global Challenges Foundation. The foundation was established in 2012 by Laszlo Szombatfalvy, financial analyst and author of the book The Greatest Challenges of Our Time (2009). The Foundation’s objective is to enhance knowledge of the greatest risks that currently threaten humanity and to stimulate discussion and proposals regarding how these problems can be dealt with, and hopefully eliminated.

“Today, the global community faces a number of global problems and risks: climate change, other large-scale environmental degradation, politically motivated violence, extreme poverty and continued rapid population growth. It is my hope that the Global Challenges track at the Stockholm School of Economics will provide future decision makers with knowledge and insight enabling them to contribute to a safer and more sustainable world,” says Laszlo Szombatfalvy, founder and president of the Global Challenges Foundation.

Global Challenges, which can be compared with programs for contextual studies provided by other leading international universities, runs parallel to the first two years of the program and provides a context for the other courses and contents of the program. The educational approach is based largely on creative interaction between researchers and students, but also on the continuous participation of Swedish and international companies and organizations.

The program’s advisory group includes Johan Rockström, Executive Director of the Stockholm Resilience Center and member of the Board of Trustees of the Global Challenges Foundation, Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and Joanna Mair, Professor of Organization, Strategy and Leadership at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin.

For further information and images, please access www.hhs.se/globalchallenges or contact:

Katarina Hägg, Vice President External Relations
Stockholm School of Economics
Tel: +46 (0)704-399341
katarina.hagg@hhs.se

Carin Ism, General Manager
Global Challenges Foundation
Tel: +46 (0)709-989797
carin@globalchallenges.org