Kicking Off GSM: Learning Through Experience, Collaboration, and Purpose
25 master’s students from five ENGAGE.EU partner universities came together at WU Vienna this September to begin their journey in the Global Sustainability Management (GSM) Program. As a jointly developed and taught program that features students, academics, and practitioners from across Europe, GSM is designed to prepare future sustainability leaders through challenge-based and experiential learning that extends far beyond the traditional classroom.
For participants, the program represents an opportunity to develop not only academic expertise but also the skills and mindset needed to help solve today’s complex global challenges. “We believe in students, faculty and experts from NGO’s and industry to meet at eye level and tackle things collaboratively. Over the course of this semester, students engage with more than 25 experts from academia and the world of practice – and with each other. This is pretty unique – and very “ENGAGE.EU”, says Dr. Oliver Vettori, the GSM Director.
Experiencing Sustainability in Action
The Kickoff days equally reflected the distinctive learning philosophy at the heart of GSM. Rather than starting with a series of lectures, students immediately engaged with sustainability as something to be explored, discussed, and experienced together.
The first day combined interactive onboarding sessions with opportunities to discover future-oriented solutions through a new lens. Students explored WU Campus and its surroundings and began to connect the concepts they had encountered in their previous studies with real-world examples. At the same time, they got to know the international community that will accompany them throughout their GSM year, arriving from different countries, disciplines, and academic traditions, yet united by a shared interest in creating positive change.
The following evening program allowed the group to get to know each other even more closely and invited students to release the power of collaboration – with a culinary twist. During the “GSM Cooking Challenge”, they were tasked to prepare dinner for the entire cohort. Equipped with a limited selection of ingredients, a few recipes, and plenty of creativity, the newly formed teams had to organize themselves, distribute responsibilities, manage resources, and solve problems on the go.
Exploring Leadership, Purpose, and Impact
The GSM journey is set out to go way beyond acquiring the most recent textbook knowledge. It is equally designed to empower learners to get active and understand their own role in creating a more sustainable future.
The second day therefore focused on personal leadership and purpose. Through a personal development workshop and inspiring conversations with professionals working in sustainability-related fields, students explored the diverse pathways that can lead to meaningful impact. Among the guests were Stefan Grafenhorst (former VP Sustainability & Corporate Communications at Greiner), Daniela Ortiz (Head of corporAID Research and Events at ICEP), and Vera Economou (Sustainable Solutions Group Lead at ING). Honest discussions about successes, challenges, and career decisions encouraged participants to reflect on their own ambitions and values while considering what kind of changemakers they hope to become.
The theme of the day continued with a visit to Vienna’s Viktor Frankl Museum. Through the life and work of the renowned Austrian psychiatrist, students explored the concepts of meaning, resilience, and personal responsibility. The experience offered them a powerful reminder that sustainability challenges are not only technical or economic in nature. They are also profoundly human challenges requiring purpose, empathy, and courage to act in uncertain environments.
For Nikolay Boshnakov, Master’s student of Business and Environmental Sustainability from UNWE, this combination of various perspectives captures what makes GSM distinctive: “GSM uniquely combines an understanding of the present value of sustainable development with the search for one’s personal purpose and place in the global context. I highly appreciate the variety of activities: meeting and learning from dedicated professionals, experiencing contemporary international business values and cultures, engaging in reflective, insightful writing, and discussing inspiring topics with peers from different countries.”
From Classmates to Community
Another defining aspect of GSM is its strong international and discursive character. This spirit of exchange was particularly evident during an outdoor experience that brought students, faculty, and sustainability practitioners together to hike and dine in the vineyards in the hilly outskirts of Vienna. Conversations ranged from professional development and leadership to personal values and visions for the future, demonstrating that some of the most enriching learning experiences occur outside conventional educational environments.
By the end of the Vienna GSM Kickoff Week, something remarkable had become apparent. A group of students arriving from different countries, disciplines, and academic traditions had already begun to grow into a community.
As Daniele Giuseppe Guido Vianello (MSc in Strategic Management with a Sustainability Major) from Luiss reflected: “We came to study sustainability, and in our very first days we discovered that it begins with taking care, of the people beside us, of our own growth and of the time we share. Cooking together and hiking side by side, we stopped being strangers and became a team, and that bond is what will carry us through everything the year ahead asks of us.”
For the students from Luiss, the University of Mannheim, Tilburg University, UNWE, and WU, the Vienna kickoff was much more than an introduction to GSM. It was the beginning of a shared European journey and an invitation to become part of a growing community of sustainability changemakers. As they learn and prepare to address the grand challenges of today and tomorrow, the months ahead promise not only learning, but transformation.