What is WEBS?
HOW IT BEGAN
The initiative started with a conversation Professor John Skåtun, Dean of the University of Aberdeen Business School (UABS) had with the provost of Curtin University, Professor Jeremy Kilburn at the end of 2022.
The three universities of Aberdeen, Calgary and Curtin (Perth, Australia), all situated in World Energy Cities (WEC), were about to sign a tripartite agreement, with most of the engagement revolving around engineering and science. Identifying the potential the triparty agreement might have in the study of the causes behind the economic, societal and business communalities and variations across WEC’s, John Skåtun contacted the two deans at Calgary and Curtin during spring 2023 in order to constitute WEBS.
The three deans collectively all agreed that the three Business Schools (as well as other business school in WECs) had central roles to play by offering analysis and solutions to societal and business concerns within the context of geographical areas such as the WECs.
The network is intended to also encompass Business School situated out with of the WECs, but who are heavily invested in the study of energy related issues.
Overview
Business Schools research the interactions between business, the economy and society. In times of transformational change, Business School research is at the fore of understanding the effects of the change and, importantly, can inform business, policy and the behaviours of those in society.
Business Schools situated in areas with a high concentration of energy production have a particular role to play in understanding energy markets; energy transition; energy society and security; and energy and the environment. Such research and scholarly activities are both academic exercises in themselves but are also important as such Business School research has the potential to affect the regions in which the Business Schools operate.
The World Energy Business Schools (WEBS) network seeks to build a network of Business Schools, who located in energy intensive geographical regions are ideally placed to provide both local insight and global, business, economic and societal, solutions to some of the most pressing energy related problems of our time.
The Stakeholders
The stakeholders of WEBS are anticipated to be many and varied and include, amongst others, the academic community, businesses, NGO’s, government, the community in general, students, media, and future generations.