Research seminar: Industry Collaborations for Disruptive Sustainability: Exploring a Dialogue on Fossil Fuel Collaborations

University-industry collaborations are widely acknowledged as a way for universities achieve their impact and sustainability goals. In achieving these goals universities can support a sustainable energy transition and related disruptions. However, divergent views on how universities can and should act as disruptors in the sustainable energy transition have recently emerged. This study examines the University of Amsterdam’s formally organized 6-month long dialogue on whether it should collaborate with the fossil fuel industry. Based on an in-depth qualitative study, we identify three forms of perceived responsibilities – moral, academic, and impact – that led to six key tensions. We outline six conditions where universities need to make decisions on how to address very polarized views. Our study offers novel insights to scholars of university-industry relations as well as disruptive sustainability.

Arno Kourula Bio (from University of Amsterdam Business School)

Kourula obtained his PhD from the Aalto University School of Business in Finland in 2009. The title of his dissertation was Company Engagement with Nongovernmental Organizations from a Corporate Responsibility Perspective. Between 2010 and 2015, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Stanford University and Fellow at the Copenhagen Business School. He joined the Amsterdam Business School in 2012. As a lecturer, he has been active in the development of new courses and programmes. In 2020 he co-founded the Sustainability Honours Programme for students enrolled in the MSc Business Administration. Since 2017 he has been the director and later co-director of the ABS Sustainability Initiative.