Courses in Sustainability
Yes
Sustainability course is
Optional
Description
The Darden MBA program incorporates ethics, social responsibility and sustainability throughout the curriculum. Through real-time case studies and experiential opportunities, students are encouraged to think deeply about the nature of business, responsibilities of management, and need for business to achieve profitability in an ethical, socially minded and environmentally responsible manner.
The ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance) Concentration (available second year) prepares students to manage the complex society dynamics that impact business and to understand the critical issues facing multiple stakeholders. From impact investing to corporate sustainability to business-government relations, the ESG Concentration provides the essential skills for managing in today’s business environment.
The concentration offers students access to over 25 elective courses and 180+ cases that solely or partially focus on sustainability and ethical leadership/decision-making: The Sustainability Initiative - Curriculum | UVA Darden School of Business ????(https://www.darden.virginia.edu/sustainability-initiative/curriculum )??
Global Immersion Courses(https://www.darden.virginia.edu/mba/academics/experiential-learning-opportunities/global/immersion/south-africa):
Darden offers faculty-led courses abroad, which provide experiential learning opportunities and close access to international business leaders and cultural heritage sites. These customized courses immerse students in a particular global market and business theme, leading to a deeper cultural understanding, a global network and life-changing ideas.
Examples:
Doing Business in Rwanda: Students explore how the country has become a leader in environmental conservation and its role in driving the tourism sector (https://www.darden.virginia.edu/mba/academics/experiential-learning-opportunities/global/immersion/rwanda).
South Africa Community-Based Conservation: Student explore novel business models aimed at addressing societal and social challenges, with engagement focused on businesses & community conservation efforts in and around Cape Town and a game reserve (https://www.darden.virginia.edu/mba/academics/experiential-learning-opportunities/global/immersion/south-africa).
Global Client Projects (GCP) Course:
Darden’s Global Client Project second-year course offers students the opportunity to directly consult with organizations that are working to solve a variety of sustainability challenges.? For example, this past year, students worked with a nonprofit organization dedicated to sustainable community development in Morocco.? The students were asked to deliver a strategic analysis to identify and evaluate potential university markets in the United States and the European Union for the sale of carbon credit offsets.? Other projects included:
Assisting a company in the Philippines to provide PV systems from residential homes to large industrial and commercial properties, including government buildings, resorts, churches, schools, and off-grid communities and islands?
Working with an international NGO delivering technical support and capacity-building to Social Protection Centers, government partners, and local NGOs to assess both direct and indirect costs associated with each model, incorporating financial, social, and developmental outcomes
Providing financial modeling and fundraising support to an NGO working to advance children’s rights around the world.
Learn more: https://www.darden.virginia.edu/mba/academics/experiential-learning-opportunities/global/consulting
Other Experiential Learning Opportunities
UVA Darden is a part of the Partner School Network of ClimateCAP(https://www.climatecap.org/), the premier learning resource for MBA students interested in the business of climate. As a ClimateCAP partner school, Darden participates in the annual MBA summit and supports student attendance at the summit where they gain a deeper understanding of the implications of climate change for business and investment.
UVA Darden is part of the Golub Capital Board Fellows program (https://www.darden.virginia.edu/ibis/initiatives/golub-capital-board-fellows) that connects MBA students with local nonprofit organizations for a unique opportunity in board service. Golub Capital Board Fellows have a lasting impact on their nonprofit partners by completing a meaningful project for their nonprofit over the course of the program. ?
Research Opportunities in Sustainability
Yes
Description
During the academic year, students can participate in a variety of for-credit research projects and experiential learning opportunities. Darden’s Centers of Excellence, provide research and educational opportunities focused on sustainability for students.
Research Initiatives (https://www.darden.virginia.edu/faculty-research/centers-initiatives#initiatives):
Darden’s initiatives, supported by the Institute for Business in Society and the Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, represent topical areas of focus that are critically important to leaders, businesses and organizations. Our initiatives have a strong research orientation and intersect with several scholarly disciplines, centers and institutes at the school. Topical initiatives may be temporal in nature, although some may evolve over time demonstrating sustained impact for faculty, students and business at large. Students are able to contribute to programming and research through collaboration with faculty.
Health Care Initiative (https://www.darden.virginia.edu/healthcare)
Global Water Initiative (https://www.darden.virginia.edu/global-water)
Sustainability Initiative (https://www.darden.virginia.edu/sustainability-initiative)
Disruptive Innovation Initiative
UVA Darden Ideas to Action (https://ideas.darden.virginia.edu/):
Darden students collaborate with faculty and experts to contribute to thought leadership and practical insights through the Darden Ideas to Action platform that shares business knowledge – research, analysis, and commentary – from faculty and experts of the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.
Sustainability Collection: Increasingly, customers and employees are expecting corporations to consider impacts on the natural environment, resources and human beings when conducting business. Sustainability is no longer a side project but, rather, it must be embedded into decision-making at all levels of the enterprise to have meaningful impact. From technology innovation and impact investing to economic development and diversity and inclusion, Darden experts explore the sustainable practices and metrics needed to ensure success.? https://ideas.darden.virginia.edu/innovation-for-sustainability-collection?_gl=1*1xic13u*_gcl_au*MjA5NTIzNzY4Ny4xNzY5NzkyODc0*_ga*MjEyMDc1NzEzOC4xNzc0Mzc3Mjky*_ga_SLY12CWTWF*czE3NzYyNzMyMDMkbzEwJGcxJHQxNzc2Mjc4ODY5JGoxJGwwJGgw
Independent Studies:
Independent studies provide an opportunity for a faculty member to offer a one-time learning experience for an individual student or a small group of students. Electives in this category allow the student(s) to focus deeply on a specialized topic, address a specific challenge facing a firm, or learn from developing a venture. An independent study can be case development, research project, consulting project, or venturing project. Research examples: corporate political engagement on climate; energy use in data centers; infusion of sustainability in the core curriculum.
The Rotunda Fund: Sustainable Investing
The Rotunda Fund, managed by?Darden Capital Management (https://www.darden.virginia.edu/mayo-center/darden-capital-management/dcm-funds), integrates sustainability research with fundamental analysis to select investments that are likely to outperform the market due to the improved long-term financial performance and lower risk features that accompany sustainable practices.?
School's environmental commitment 1:
At Darden, sustainability is incorporated into everything that we do — from curriculum grounded in business ethics to faculty research and our commitment to carbon-neutrality on Grounds. This video was created to highlight some of Darden’s offerings on grounds: https://www.darden.virginia.edu/about/environmental-sustainability
Darden first became carbon neutral in 2019, but we continue to work to decarbonize school operations and reduce our environmental impact, guided by our 2030 sustainability goals, including being fossil-fuel-free by 2030. The Sustainability Council, which includes alumni, faculty, staff, board, and student members, is entering into its fourth year. The council’s charter is to guide the school toward our 2030 goals and helping to remove barriers to achieving them. Last year, two new task groups were created to better support students on sustainability career pathways and develop consistent sustainability communications across the community (particularly with regards to waste and changing behaviors on grounds).
We continue to work to find ways to educate not only students interested in careers but all students on sustainability topics. We aim to equip every MBA student with at least a basic understanding and ability to apply this important lens to every decision regardless of role.
1. Sustainable Building Design: Newly constructed buildings on grounds, including the Forum Hotel and Conference Center and new Student Housing (to be completed in 2027) are compliant with the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) certification and meet UVA current green building standards. The five-acre arboretum and botanical gardens behind the Forum features an outdoor classroom, native species, provides trail access to the broader community, and creates a space for mindfulness, wellness, and reflection with nature. Student Housing is being designed to be fossil-fuel free, and plans are underway to renovate and electrify the adjacent Abbott Dining facility. In the current Abbot Dining facility, Darden invested in an indoor hydroponic farm by Babylon Micro-Farms to grow basil and other greens, reducing water and nitrogen fertilizer use and serving as an opportunity for education of the Darden community around sustainable food sources. Plans are also underway to renovate and improve energy and water efficiency of the Faculty Building, with the school also targeting LEED certification.
School's environmental commitment 2:
2. Sustainable Hospitality Services: At First Coffee, Darden offers a unique opportunity to bring community together every day at 9:30 for coffee. This is a chance for students, faculty and staff to interact with each other. For the third year, incoming students were given free Yeti coffee mugs in an effort to reduce paper cup waste. All departments across the school received free Darden mugs from the school to give to school guests. Recognizing that some paper cups will still be used, compost bins were provided at First Coffee and then expanded to classroom hallways. This is in addition to the 300+ pounds of coffee grounds being composted each week through local supplier Black Bear. Compost bins were also added to the faculty building and, the kitchen in the Library building. Darden also eliminated plastic water bottles across its hospitality services. Alternative protein options have been added to the lunch menu. At graduation, composting bins are provided along with staff monitors to ensure compliance. Last year, we collected 65 bins of compost. All of Darden’s wares (plates, cups, cutlery, to go containers) are compostable.
School's environmental commitment 3:
3. Sustainability Events:
Darden hosted several events in 2025-2026 that featured sustainability topics bringing faculty, industry experts, and MBA students together to identify solutions for action.
Responsible Investing Symposium | Sands Capital (Mar 2025) https://www.sandscapital.com/responsible-investing-symposium/
Second Chance Business Coalition Conference - Events - IBIS | UVA Darden School of Business (April 2025) https://www.darden.virginia.edu/ibis/events/second-chance
Strategic Insights in Nonprofit Management Conference (April 2025) https://news.darden.virginia.edu/2025/04/08/qa-strengthening-nonprofit-leadership-and-community-ties-through-dardens-board-fellows-program/
Africa’s Future: Leveraging Technology as a Catalyst for Growth (Darden African Business Organization student conference April 2025) https://news.darden.virginia.edu/2025/04/17/dabo-conference-explores-technology-driven-opportunities-in-africa/
Data Centers and the Value Chain of AI (February 2026) file:///C:\Users\morsem\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\Content.Outlook\XWQ5Q4EN\Data%20Centers%20&%20The%20Value%20Chain%20of%20Ethical%20AI
In addition, the Good Disruption podcast (https://gooddisruption.podbean.com/), featuring Darden Professors Mike Lenox and Yael Grushka-Cockayne, has covered clean tech topics such as electric vehicles, vertical farming, renewable energy, alternative proteins, and long duration energy storage (June 2026 release).
Save School
Opt-Out Signal Honored
