The UConn Center for International Business Education & Research (CIBER) recently hosted its sixth annual sustainable business program in Australia.

Each winter the CIBER program offers the unique experience to faculty from across the country, providing professors the opportunity to experience how Australia has successfully addressed the real-world issues of sustainability in business. This year seven faculty participated in the program, which took place in January.

The program is co-hosted with the University of Queensland. Participants visited an array of companies. Their visit included a rare, behind-the-scenes tour of the Sydney Opera House and to the popular fragrance company Perfect Potions. They also visited Oz Harvest food rescue, the Toronga Zoo and Rockcote, a low-fume paint company, to learn about how these businesses have met the challenges of protecting the environment.

“It has been fascinating to see how these companies have thrived over the last few years,” said CIBER Director Michele Metcalf. “And it is equally exciting to see how these professors will incorporate the ideas that they’ve learned into their classrooms here in the United States.”

“Overall I would rate this faculty travel to Australia as one of the most memorable experiences in my career,” said Munir Quudus, dean of the college of business at Prairie View A&M University in Texas, adding that he met many interesting people and businesses and saw many incredible places. “We made many valuable contacts both in higher education and in industry. We were exposed to a wide range of ideas and practices in the business world and in city governments, dedicated to making sure that what we do does not greatly harm the planet’s delicate ecosystem.”