Sustainable Leadership Content
Today’s business world is complex and uncertain, requiring you as a leader to deal with various challenges and make well-founded decisions. A sustainable leadership culture offers you approaches and methods for gaining a deep understanding of problems and ensuring the long-term success of your company on a socio-economic and ecological level. This leadership culture is based on the principles of sustainable development, which promote the responsible use of resources both personally and within your entire organization. This means that we work sustainably with our own personal resources, empower others to use their resources sustainably, and apply this principle to the organization as a whole.
In the Sustainable Leadership continuing education program at Heidelberg University, you will learn more about current trends and challenges in the field of sustainability. This includes not only legal requirements such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG), the EU Green Claims Directive, and the impact of artificial intelligence, but also practical skills and competencies in productivity, mindfulness, emotional intelligence, effective communication, agile management, and organizational development. In addition, we address the dynamic changes in the European regulatory landscape, for example within the framework of the European Commission’s Omnibus Initiative.
Sustainable Leadership combines theories from management literature with concepts of leadership and personal development. In addition to lectures and simulations, you will have the opportunity to exchange ideas with sustainability experts and other leaders in interactive settings and work together to develop solutions.
What makes it special
A central element of the program is the step-by-step development of your own project or case study from your professional practice, based on the content of the training program. In the final presentation, you will present your learning transfer based on your project.
Upon successful completion, you will become a Sustainable Leadership Expert and part of the Leadership Network, where motivated and committed sustainability experts come together for solution-oriented peer exchange. This way, you not only acquire knowledge and skills but also gain access to a strong network that meets annually and exchanges ideas on new topics.
Modules
- Introduction and Regulation, May 8–10, 2025
You will acquire fundamental competencies in sustainable development and sustainable leadership. First, you will engage intensively with core concepts (e.g., circular economy, regenerative business models) and current trends in the field of sustainability. Afterwards, you will gain an overview of legal requirements (e.g., LkSG, CSRD, CSDDD), how they are changing (e.g., through Omnibus packages), which standards are connected to them (e.g., ESRS and VSME), and their practical relevance. You will learn the basics of the Sustainable Leadership concept and understand how to apply it in your professional environment - Green Skills, Artificial Intelligence and Competence Development, July 3–5, 2025
You will deepen your understanding of the personal dimension of sustainable development (e.g., productivity techniques, mindfulness, mindset) and develop key skills to act competently in a sustainable and digitally transformed working world. To this end, you will acquire in-depth knowledge of green skills and green competencies as well as advanced sustainability - Strategy and reporting, September 18–20, 2025
You will acquire the skills to prepare a sound carbon footprint assessment in accordance with the GHG Protocol and use this as a basis for developing a transformation plan. You will gain in-depth knowledge of the application of strategy tools such as SWOT analysis in order to formulate sustainable corporate strategies. In addition, you will learn how to perform a double materiality analysis to identify the sustainability issues relevant to your company. You will take an in-depth look at common sustainability reporting standards such as VSME, ESRS, GRI, and DNK, as well as certifications (e.g., EMAS and ECOVADIS) in order to meet the requirements for transparent and comprehensive sustainability reporting. - Transformation Management and Organizational Development, October 9–11, 2025
You will focus on essential skills that are crucial for sustainable change and the success of transformation processes, such as classic leadership aspects, crisis management, stakeholder management, and the development and measurement of performance indicators. Furthermore, you will deepen your knowledge of sustainable organizational structures and cultures, develop strategies for future-oriented competence management, and learn how to integrate sustainability principles into project management. You will strengthen your emotional and social intelligence to act sensitively in communication, transformation processes, and in dealing with crises and conflicts. - Case Reflection and Completion, November 13–14, 2025
You will reflect on a case study from your own practice and complete the program with a final presentation.
Learning Objectives
The Sustainable Leadership program aims for you to…
- learn the foundations of a scientifically based leadership approach,
- experience the impact of different leadership techniques through in-depth knowledge, exercises, self-reflection, and self-awareness,
- experience structure and orientation in transformation processes,
- analyze the potential effects of artificial intelligence on sustainable development in companies,
- complement your interest in sustainable development with deep knowledge and skills and professionally integrate them into your expertise.
Didactics
The continuing education program is designed to be completed alongside your career, giving you flexibility and autonomy. The combination of attendance times in Heidelberg and at the KLIMA ARENA (Sinsheim) as well as location-independent self-study phases in the sense of a blended learning concept enables you to pursue flexible continuing education while being part of a motivated learning group.
The program concept is based on scientific theories and methods. The integration with practice, transfer into practice and the principle of learning with and from each other are central elements of the program. During the course, peer consulting groups are formed to support reflection on learning and self-experience as well as the transfer into practice throughout the program.
In a group of no more than 20 participants, intensive self-reflection and concentrated discussion of content is possible.
The seminar style is characterized by a mix of short lectures, discussions, small and large group exercises, and reflections.
Each session is preceded by a preparatory online phase on the Moodle e-learning platform. Tasks and literature for preparation and consolidation, as well as documentation of the modules, are provided there.