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Global forum tackles pathways to a sustainable future

Attendees at a world business education forum have heard about the power of social advocacy to drive effective, lasting behavioural change.

Government, community, higher education and corporate presenters and delegates have gathered at Australian Catholic University’s North Sydney campus for the International Association of Jesuit Business Schools conference.

The four-day symposium, Our common home: the role of Jesuit business education in creating a sustainable future, was held to bring new ideas about how to tackle some of the world’s complex problems.

Panels discussed a variety of topics, including progress towards Closing the Gap, Laudato Si, and the role of corporations in social affairs.

Dr Alexander Campbell, a marketing lecturer at ACU’s Peter Faber School of Business, was part of a panel alongside Patrick Langrell, director of the newly formed Governance and Public Affairs Centre, and Khemistry Marketing Agency’s Dr Patricia David.

Dr Campbell introduced to the delegates new research that has built on literature that investigates how social change interventions can build and sustain critical mass.

The new framework described how identity, community and role modelling are additional steps that can reinforce desired behaviour.

It is a model that can be applied to varying contexts, including health campaigns and the environment.

“The social advocacy model can benefit all sectors of the behaviour change environment,” Dr Campbell said. “It will allow behaviour change practitioners to extend behavioural outcomes by empowering individuals through the change process, allowing for a transfer of their aggregated knowledge to others.”

Other presenters at the conference included panellists from California’s Loyola Marymount University, Gonzaga University in Washington State, and Madrid’s Comillas Pontifical University.