CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY - 2026/7

Module Overview

The course evaluates and discusses the way environmental and social concerns have affected organisations in the private sector, and how such organisations have affected the content, shape and direction of the public debate. Particular emphasis will be paid to corporate sustainability strategies, the distribution and organisation of roles within an organisation, the contribution of different departments, as well as the industrial perspective towards industrial ecology and sustainable consumption.

Module provider

School of Engineering

Module Leader

CHENOWETH Jonathan (Sch of Eng)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Indicative content includes:

- Introduction to the Module

- Introducing corporate sustainability

- Corporate Policies and Strategies

- Cleaner Production, Materials Use and Waste Management

- Risk and The Genesis of Industrial Accidents

- Embedding Sustainability: Management Systems?

- Industrial Ecology

- Socially Responsible Investment and entrepreneurship

- Product-based Supply Chain Management

- Environmental Reporting and Stakeholder Management

- Transitions Outlook: What are companies for?

- Sustainable finance and investment

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

The alternative assessment for the group presentation is an alternative short essay. 

Assessment Strategy

The summative assessment for this module consists of:

• A group presentation on climate and sustainability themes chosen from a list. Students can choose a topic as a group and make a 15 min presentation to the class towards the end of the intensive teaching week.
• A 2500 word post-module reflective essay or company report. Students can either pick from a list of topics or identify, and seek prior approval for, their own topic. This is often done to reflect personal preferences, employment opportunities for part-time students (and future full-timers), develop further confidence in a favoured part of the module or to challenge one¿s thinking. Students are encouraged to develop their own views on the topic at hand, as well as develop their abilities to present their views in a cogent manner, informed by relevant literature.

Formative assessment and feedback:

• In-class discussion and feedback
• Feedback will be provided as part of the seminars and tutorials (peer and from the module organiser).

Module aims

• To provide students with a critical understanding of contemporary corporate sustainability and environmentalism
• To understand and conceptualise business practices toward environmental protection
• To understand how and why companies and organisations implement corporate sustainability strategies
• To critically assess corporate sustainability in a practical context.
• To understand the varying levels of corporate sustainability that are applied by different organisations
• To develop both essay and report writing skills on a corporate sustainability related topic
• To present arguments on a corporate sustainability theme working as a group

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategies are designed to: The module adopts a case-based learning strategy that presents, after a lecture on the material, a case (often using videos) that offers direct application of the learnt concepts and ideas. Emphasis is given to fostering opinions and ideas on the material to apply the learning material in a direct, practical and business-relevant manner.

The learning and teaching methods include lectures, seminar discussions, practical applications, and company case studies. A particular feature is the presentation style of industry case studies. Practitioners will be asked to not prepare a monologue that will be followed by polite questions, but to shortly present their company, and then ask specific questions to the students, who are then prepare their answers in small groups. A subsequent plenary allows the sharing of the ideas with the presenter, as well as direct feedback from the presenter and peers in the class.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: ENGM305

Other information

The Centre for Environment and Sustainability is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience, in line with Surrey's Curriculum Framework. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills and capabilities in the following areas:

Sustainability - This module explores the importance of Corporate Sustainability to businesses, especially in a world that is underpinned by many unsustainable practices. This module helps students realise the importance of the triple bottom line of economy, society and the environment for businesses to be truly sustainable. The unit may help students realise that it is possible to achieve gains in all three sections and gives real-life examples of this occurring.

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2026/7 academic year.