Iscte has a mission “to co-create societal impact by providing close-to-practice high-quality education and research that promote responsible management”. The school has achieved a year-by-year improvement of the PIR score, highlighting a growing recognition by students of the school’s efforts. One example of such an effort is reflected in the school’s desire to match academic assignments and societal challenges. This has been achieved by applying an externally-launched project challenge to the student evaluation method. This has enabled highlighting the impact of education on society for students.

The curricular unit ‘Ethics, Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability’ includes the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda in its syllabus. It provides students with a broad notion of sustainability concepts and the challenges of its integration into strategy. One group of students developed the business case for the project ‘Fruta à Moda Antiga’ [Old fashioned fruit] under the guidance of the course coordinator. The food-waste prevention project consists of rescuing fruit stock otherwise disposed of by retail businesses and creating versatile and delicious food. The fruits are cooked by elderly people in social institutions, engaging in a meaningful activity and valuing their generational insights and skills. The student won the externally-run contest promoted by GRACE Academy and serving SDG 9.

These kinds of projects and competitions contribute to the implementation and integration of the SDGs by Iscte Business School. Through SDG 4 and SDG 17, students enhance their initiative capacity and collaborative skills forming new partnerships. First, they created a partnership within the university across two different schools. Second, the project was based on partnerships between the corporate world and non-profit organisations.