ESG Workshop for International Economists

18:18, December 25, 2022

Students of the "International Economics and Business" have developed projects on digital traces of ESG attributes

Ekaterina Pantyukhova, Head of ESG Department, PJSC Sberbank (Moscow) told the students of the educational program " International Economics and Business " about the global problems and trends of the ESG agenda in the context of changes in the financial market and the technological revolution. Tatyana Sarycheva, Head of Mass Personalization at the Retail Business Block, Sberbank (Moscow) outlined the importance of the ESG impact on business, introduced economists to Sberbank ESG transformation process, and gave digital ESG tasks.

Students spent a month working on ESG projects on the instructions of Sberbank as part of the Corporate Social Responsibility course. The teams were engaged in the search, development and analysis of ESG attributes in various industries and daily human activities.

The day before, the final pitch session took place, where the teams presented their creative and analytical solutions to Sberbank ESG experts and course instructors Zhanna Belyaeva and Yana Lopatkova. Each project was peer-reviewed in several stages according to various criteria.

The winning teams shared their impressions:

“Defending the project in front of course instructors and representatives of Sberbank is a truly exciting event. During the preparation and defense process, we had a wonderful opportunity to learn more about our favorite brands and their involvement in ESG, as well as to understand how we can comply with these principles in life. The victory for the team was a great “point” in the history of this project, during the development of which we became convinced of the importance of teamwork and constructive criticism,”  the TeaParty team (the 2nd year IEB students) which took 1st place, shared the secret of success.

“Research on green business initiatives across industries has proven to be both challenging and exciting. Our team was enthusiastic about its practical value, as the evaluation was carried out by experts from the ESG department of Sberbank. During the implementation of the project, we decided to divide the types of business activity among ourselves, and after the initial data collection, we discussed the results together. In my opinion, this was the reason for a good analysis: each of us delved into a certain issue and understood the global development of ESG strategies,” said Ksenia Sharavina, a 4th year student, on behalf of the Pitchers team, which took 2nd place.

“In the course of solving this problem, we managed to learn a lot of new information about our region. We have learned where you can relax, and at the same time not harm our nature. Also, thanks to this task, the team and I managed to get as close as possible and do really high-quality work. Thanks to the Sberbank team for the opportunity! Also very grateful for the kind words from the experts! They motivate to move on and keep working,” commented the members of the DFC team, which took 3rd place.

The winners received valuable educational prizes from Sberbank, and all participants received an excellent experience for their CV. We thank PJSC Sberbank and the Commission of the Sverdlovsk Regional Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs on sustainable development and the ESG Agenda and for an interesting practical project and a high assessment of the results. Project activity is an important component of the implementation of the educational process of the programme " International Economics and Business".