We kindly invite fellow educators and researchers from the PRME and responsible management education community in general, and their respective stakeholders, to respond to this call and submit track proposals that correspond to and/or complement the conference theme, “Rethinking Growth and Exploring New Possibilities for a Regenerative World: Unexplored Management Research and Education Areas that Reconnect Purpose to Responsible Business and Leadership.”

For more information about the Conference, please check the Conference Home Page, which will be regularly updated.

Background

In 1987, the Brundtland Commission defined sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” In 2015, the United Nations accelerated organisational and institutional commitment to sustainable development by establishing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and advocating for their achievement by 2030.

Since then, the SDGs have become benchmarks used by governments, businesses, nonprofits, civic and multilateral organisations, as well as educational institutions, including universities and colleges, and society at large, to measure progress towards a more just, prosperous, and flourishing world. Yet with only five years left for their achievement, practitioners and academic scholars are proposing concepts that, while still embodying a common sustainable development agenda, move beyond the SDGs. One of these emerging, sustainable development concepts is regeneration.

Regeneration takes as its starting point that human beings are a constitutive and active part of the ecosystem rather than a controlling recipient of its ‘resources.’ As its name implies, regenerative systems renew themselves not once, but over and over again – often getting stronger and more robust in the process.

Regeneration goes beyond sustainability and other emerging sustainability concepts, such as thriving, by offering the most holistic perspective to date to address complex and interdependent socio-ecological systems. Pioneer, regenerative businesses, such as Unilever, Danone, Nestle, Mars, and Interface, place planetary health and societal well-being at their core. These firms are moving beyond the idea of “doing less harm” to an ethos of co-evolution within their own social-ecological system.

This, in turn, drives not only substantive business model and business system reinvention but also a re-examination of business purpose and leadership skills needed to effect this transformation. Regeneration also raises interesting research questions for management scholars and creates opportunities to refine/redefine understandings of responsible management education and learning. These are the themes of the 12th Responsible Management Education Research Conference.

Call for track proposals

We invite individuals to submit Conference Track Proposals that are associated with the general theme of the RMER Conference – Rethinking Growth and Exploring New Possibilities for a Regenerative World: Unexplored Management Research and Education Areas that Reconnect Purpose to Responsible Business and Leadership. Track proposals could be related, but are not limited, to:

• Approaches and Strategies that Empower Learners to Become Responsible Managers: Exploring frameworks that foster regenerative, purpose-driven leadership.
• Moving from Content to Competencies: Identifying core skills that shape responsible, sustainable managers and leaders.
• Beyond the SDGs: Pushing beyond global targets to reconnect purpose with business and leadership.
• Historical and Cultural Contexts: Learning from different eras and societies to inform regenerative strategies.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) in RME: Leveraging AI ethically for greater impact in responsible management education.
•  Student-Focused Research: Using student insights to shape the next generation of responsible leaders.
• Cultivating a Sustainable Mindset: Encouraging holistic thinking and long-term, regenerative approaches.
• Forward Thinking for Sustainable Futures: Overcoming challenges and seizing opportunities for purpose-aligned
  growth.
• Learning from Failure: Transforming setbacks into pathways for stronger responsible management.
• Innovations in Internal Dialogue: Fostering interdisciplinary collaboration to reconnect organizational purpose.
• Innovations in External Dialogue: Engaging communities and corporate partners in solutions for responsible leadership.
• Education for Sustainable Development: Empowering youth and communities through transformative learning experiences.
• Governance and Policy for Sustainable Development: Mobilizing multi-stakeholder partnerships and coherent policy frameworks.
• Innovative Pedagogy in Teaching Responsible Management Education: Integrating advanced methods and technologies to cultivate regenerative leadership.
• Faculty Development Needs, Challenges, and Responses

Responsibilities of the track proponents include:

• Attending the 12th RMER Conference
• Coordinating with the conference committee on all conference-related matters
• Disseminating the Call for Contributions (Papers/Abstracts/Extended Abstracts/Work in Progress)
• Organising the contribution review process and providing recommendations for acceptance
• Chairing their tracks during the Conference

The track review process will be run by the conference Program Committee, who will also suggest the format and schedule for the accepted tracks/sessions.

The deadline for the conference track proposal submission is 1 March 2025.

To submit a track proposal, please follow the link below and complete the form, entering a track title and short track description.

Important Dates:

• Call for Track Proposals: 1 February 2025
• Deadline for submitting Track Proposal: 1 March 2025
• Notification of acceptance: 12 March 2025
• Call for Contributions (Abstracts/Papers): 15 March 2025
• Deadline for Contributions (Abstracts/Papers): 15 June 2025
• Notification of Acceptance of Contributions: 8 July 2025

*Please note that we will not be able to consider proposals submitted after the due date.

Conference Information:

• 21 – 23 October 2025, Belgrade, Serbia
  Faculty of Organizational Sciences,
  University of Belgrade

For additional insights, announcements and perspectives about Responsible Research, visit the conversation here.