[THEME: ACTION][YEAR: 2026][STATUS: ACTIVE]
What We Do

Practices, not programs

GRLI works through four interconnected practices that keep our central inquiry alive and generative. These are not fixed programs but ongoing modes of engagement.

Each practice informs the others. Invitations lead to inquiry; inquiry surfaces opportunities for initiation; initiated projects generate learning to be amplified. The cycle continues.

Practice 01

Inviting

Convening diverse voices

We bring together leaders, educators, and practitioners from across sectors, cultures, and generations. Diversity is not decoration—it is the source of the inquiry's generative power.

Examples
  • Annual gatherings that cross institutional boundaries
  • Regional dialogues in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas
  • Intergenerational conversations on leadership futures
Practice 02

Inquiring

Deepening through dialogue

Through structured and emergent dialogue, we explore what globally responsible leadership requires in different contexts. We ask hard questions and sit with the discomfort of not knowing.

Examples
  • Peer learning circles for deans and faculty
  • Research collaborations across institutions
  • Reflective practice communities
Practice 03

Initiating

Catalyzing collaborative action

When the inquiry reveals opportunity, we help catalyze new initiatives. We don't build empires—we incubate ideas and then steward them into independence.

Examples
  • PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education)
  • 50+20 Agenda for management education
  • Sustainability Literacy Test (Sulitest)
Practice 04

Amplifying

Sharing learning across ecosystems

Insights that emerge in one context can inform practice elsewhere. We document, share, and help translate learning across our ecosystem of partners.

Examples
  • Case studies and field notes
  • Cross-institutional learning exchanges
  • Open-source frameworks and tools
Initiatives

Where the practices take shape

Each initiative represents a concrete expression of our practices—some led by GRLI, others by partners, and some that have grown into independent organizations.

Initiative Type
Status
ActiveGRLI-ledFeatured

BE The Tipping Point

BE The Tipping Point is a scaling strategy that aims to mobilise a critical mass of business schools to radically repurpose curricula and practice…

Curriculum & pedagogy
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ActiveGRLI-ledFeatured

Crucial Conversations

GRLI Crucial Conversations are 90-minute, purpose-built dialogues for people trying to move responsible leadership from aspiration to practice…

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ActiveGRLI-ledFeatured

GRL4ST Collaborative Course

The Globally Responsible Leadership for Sustainable Transformation (GRL4ST) collaborative course connects students and faculty from multiple…

Curriculum & pedagogy
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ActiveGRLI-ledFeatured

Deans & Directors Cohort

Initiated in 2017, the Deans & Directors Cohort is a trusted "collaboratory" for senior business school leaders—an intentionally non-competitive…

Faculty developmentInstitutional strategy & governance
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ActiveGRLI-ledFeatured

Whole Person Learning (WPL)

Whole Person Learning (WPL) is GRLI's foundational pedagogical approach, reintegrating the rational, emotional, and embodied dimensions of…

Responsible leadershipFaculty development+1
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ActiveGRLI-ledFeatured

Virtual Peer-Learning

To reduce the environmental footprint of international collaboration while maintaining relational depth, GRLI pioneered approaches for virtual…

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ActiveGRLI-ledFeatured

Accreditation: Values in Action

Values in Action captures GRLI's sustained strategic effort to leverage accreditation and quality assurance as a lever for embedding ethics,…

Assessment, accreditation & rankingsInstitutional strategy & governance
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IntermittentGRLI-ledFeatured

Responsible Leadership Dialogues

Responsible Leadership Dialogues convene leaders from academia, business, and civil society to explore the evolving meaning of responsible leadership…

Responsible leadership
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LegacyGRLI-ledFeatured

The GRID – Global Responsibility Diagnostic

The GRID diagnostic was developed by GRLI partners to translate the abstract concepts of global responsibility into actionable insight—supporting…

Responsible leadership
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ActiveIndependent (GRLI incubated)Featured

AIM2Flourish

AIM2Flourish is a student-led initiative that uses Appreciative Inquiry to discover and celebrate business innovations that address societal and…

Curriculum & pedagogy
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ActiveIndependent (GRLI incubated)Featured

Sulitest.org

Sulitest provides tools to map and raise sustainability literacy worldwide, most notably through its "Test," which acts as a global benchmark for…

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ActiveIndependent (GRLI incubated)Featured

Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME)

PRME works to embed principles of responsibility and sustainability into the teaching, research, and operations of business schools worldwide,…

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LegacyIndependent (GRLI incubated)Featured

The 50+20 Vision

Presented at the Rio+20 Earth Summit, the 50+20 Vision called for business schools to shift from being "best in the world" to "best for the world,"…

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ActivePartner-led (GRLI involved)Featured

Responsible Research in Business & Management (RRBM)

RRBM advocates for research that produces credible knowledge with tangible societal impact, challenging incentive systems that prioritise publication…

Institutional strategy & governance
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ActivePartner-led (GRLI involved)Featured

Competency Assessment for Responsible Leadership (CARL)

CARL is an assessment tool designed to measure competencies and character dimensions associated with globally responsible leadership, responding to…

Responsible leadershipFaculty development
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ActivePartner-led (GRLI involved)Featured

The SDG Accord

The SDG Accord provides a shared commitment framework for universities and colleges to align with the Sustainable Development Goals and to report on…

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ActivePartner-led (GRLI involved)Featured

HESI (Higher Education Sustainability Initiative)

HESI galvanises higher education's contribution to the SDGs through teaching, research, campus operations, and policy engagement, bringing…

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ActivePartner-led (GRLI involved)Featured

Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll)

The Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) is a global collaboration working to transform the economic system toward human and ecological…

Curriculum & pedagogy
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LegacyPartner-led (GRLI involved)Featured

The Eth Word

The Eth Word is a digital media initiative designed to rethink the role of business by sharing "un-business-like" conversations about values,…

Responsible leadership
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LegacyHistorical (legacy)Featured

COMMIT

COMMIT—developed jointly with oikos International—focused on empowering the "next generation" to become co-creators of their learning journey rather…

Curriculum & pedagogy
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LegacyPartner-led (GRLI involved)Featured

The Gap Frame

The Gap Frame is a normative framework that translates the SDGs into relevant national priorities, identifying the 'gap' between where a country is…

Curriculum & pedagogy
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LegacyHistorical (legacy)Featured

SDG Transformations Forum

The SDG Transformations Forum was established to engage the deeper systemic changes required to realise the Sustainable Development Goals—moving…

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Ready to contribute?

Whether you're an institution, an educator, or a practitioner, there are many ways to engage with GRLI's work.

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