Embedding sustainability and responsible business practices in undergraduate marketing education: a case study from a Scottish university

As the global business environment becomes increasingly uncertain, there is a growing need for marketing professionals who can balance profit, people, and planet. This developmental paper outlines the early stages of a case study examining how sustainability and responsible business practices are embedded into an undergraduate marketing module at a Scottish university. The study aims to explore how students’ attitudes, knowledge, and capabilities may evolve when sustainability is introduced from the first year through analysing students' reflective coursework about their behaviour as consumers and future marketers and post-module surveys. While the full data analysis is still ongoing, the paper offers practical insights for aligning marketing education with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) and identifies challenges and opportunities for educators to prepare students as agents of change in an uncertain world.