Training future leaders in sustainable business management

Context

Bangladesh is the world’s second largest exporter of clothing and textiles. While the industry has been enjoying impressive growth over the last two decades, further progress in social and ecological development remains a challenge. A lack of skills in sustainable business practices on the part of the industry’s mid-level managers is one of the major challenges that need to be addressed. This means tackling qualification gaps in the area of sustainable corporate management among staff in positions of responsibility.

Objective

The application-oriented competencies in the area of sustainable business management among future specialists and managers in Bangladesh’s textile industry are improved.

Approach

HELD implements sustainability curricula in higher education, vocational education (TVET) and on-the-job training for managers. It brings together national with international partners and works in various ways:

• Designing bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes at university level with the Bangladesh University of Textiles (BUTEX) and the German Hof University of Applied Sciences.
• Integrating demand-driven sustainability topics into the curricula of Textile Diploma Institutes in the TVET sector with the Bangladesh Technical Education Board (BTEB).
• Innovating managerial leadership and industrial resilience with the Bangladesh Institute of Management (BIM), the Centre of Innovation, Efficiency and Occupational Safety and Health (CIEOSH) and the German Technical University Dresden (TUD).
• Enhancing social dialogue in cooperation with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Academy of Work (AoW) education programme of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) for young union executives.

Elements of the HELD project that play a role across all activities are capacity building with an emphasis on women empowerment, training trainers and establishing links between the educational and industrial landscapes in Bangladesh and beyond.

Last update: August 2023