POLIMI Graduate School of Management

International Master in Sustainability Management and Corporate Social Responsibility

Programme structure

Our International Master in Sustainability Management and Corporate Social Responsibility, a 12-month programme at POLIMI Graduate School of Management, equips you with the essential hard and soft skills necessary for managing sustainable companies, with a focus on real-world applications and collaboration with startups and experts from PoliHub, Politecnico di Milano's Innovation Park & Start-Up Accelerator. As CSR becomes more central to business, this programme prepares you for the increasing number of CSR-centric roles, offering hands-on experience and interaction with sustainability professionals.

At POLIMI GSoM, your learning journey goes beyond lectures and textbooks, as we have designed a transformational path that will allow you to embark on a journey towards professional and personal fulfilment.

Your Courses

• General Management Courses (Distance Learning)
• Why a sustainable company?
• How to manage a sustainable company
• Implementing sustainability strategy

Your Purpose

• Management with Purpose
• Inspiration from Purpose Pioneers
• Leadership with Purpose

Your Practice

• Challenge Yourself
• Meet the Corporate World

Your Career

• Career Training Sessions
• Purpose in Your Career
• Impact Career Fair

Project Work / Internship
Graduation Ceremony

Start and End of courses may vary.

At the end of your Master’s, if eligible, you will be granted a:

• Master’s Diploma from POLIMI Graduate School of Management
• 1° Level University Specialising Master Degree from Politecnico di Milano

Your Career Path

The Career Development Centre provides students with a self-assessment of their skills and an analysis of the job market; candidates will be supported in designing a customised career strategy and an effective action plan, to turn their career aspirations into achievable goals. The Career Development Programme will assist students to develop professional skills and to become successful “Career Leaders”.

Career Impact & Top Employers

Our International Master in Sustainability Management and Corporate Social Responsibility gets you ready for a variety of roles, including:  

• ESG, Sustainability or CSR manager 
• Consultant 
• Innovation manager 
• Start-upper (sustainable entrepreneur) 

For the 2022 cohort, over 75% of our students* were offered employment opportunities by the end of the programme, covering positions in a wide range of company sectors such as Consulting, Energy, Healthcare and many others.

The Last Year’s Top 3 Employers

• Credit Agricole 
• L'oreal  
• Siram Veolia

Is it right for me?

You are an ideal candidate if you:

• possess a strong academic background in environmental sciences, engineering, economics, or a related field, though other backgrounds are also accepted. Additionally, you are passionate about sustainability and eager to contribute to the goal of sustainable development. Moreover, you are enthusiastic about exploring and implementing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives to drive positive social and environmental impacts within the business landscape.
• are looking for a programme that provides you with the necessary tools and skills to create and oversee strategies centered on sustainability and corporate social responsibility. This programme will strengthen your abilities in areas such as environmental impact evaluation, business ethics, and sustainable business models. Furthermore, you will study essential subjects like sustainable supply chain management and investigate advanced techniques for assessing and reporting CSR performance.
• are driven to confront the critical industry challenges in CSR. These challenges encompass promoting ethical business conduct, minimising environmental footprints, and advancing social justice. By pursuing career paths such as CSR consultant, sustainability manager, or corporate ethics officer, you will be instrumental in tackling these issues and fostering positive change in corporate sustainability and social responsibility. Your career goal is to manage a sustainable company from the fundamentals, aligning personal and professional sustainability values.
• place a high value on a practical learning experience that includes engaging in hands-on projects and real-world case studies with a diverse range of industry professionals. This approach enables you to effectively apply theoretical knowledge, thereby contributing to meaningful solutions and advancements in the field of sustainability and corporate social responsibility.

Please note that we’ve designed this programme for recent graduates with ideally no more than 3 years of work experience. If you have more experience, you might also like to take a look at our International MBA programmes.

• Sustainability is the biggest challenge of our times: companies are not fully equipped with managers and leaders able to guide this change. To understand why a company should be sustainable as well as address the main changes to implement to manage a sustainable company, it is fundamental to develop specific hard and soft skills for professional development in the field
• The sustainability trend opens up great business opportunities for both incumbent companies and newcomers, such as startups. This Master's provides a strongly experiential, smart learning and project-based approach, with extensive use of real case studies and innovative teaching methods through interaction with startups and experts by PoliHub – the Innovation Park & Start-Up Accelerator of Politecnico di Milano
• In the future, more and more CSR-centric jobs will be created. As CSR grows more central to business operations, dedicated roles will be needed to make sure organizations track and achieve their goals. The direct involvement of partner companies as well as the interaction with academics and professionals dealing with sustainability, ensures a hands-on approach and experiential opportunities.

Moreover, by becoming part of our School you will:   

• Be in direct contact with innovation and digital transformation due to our network that includes over 370 research centers, PoliHub – the Politecnico di Milano incubator – and over 40 observatories
• Participate in networking moments with alumni, headhunters, and companies that will give you insight into the market needs to be required to become a future leader
• Be able to develop your professional career with the assistance of our Career Development Centre. In the academic year 2021-2022, an 83% rate of Employability within all the Specialising Master’s was accomplished three months after the end of teaching activities.