Jamshedpur: In a first of its kind initiative,Xavier Labour Relations Institute-XLRI has become the first B-school in the country to ink an UN-backed global initiative to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability in business education curricula.

The unique initiative would work towards implementing the academic project titled' Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME)'. The plan is the handiwork of an international task force comprising of 60 deans, university presidents and official representatives of many globally distinguished business schools.

Sources state, in its first year of development, the proposal would try to groom adopting academic institutions in such a way that they formulate a set of good practices on not only the execution but also the efficient reporting of the PRME.

The principles offer a framework for academic institutions to move forward for the larger cause of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and incorporate universal values into core curriculum and research. They help guide an institution's effort to continuously improve curricula and research with regard to issues of corporate citizenship and sustainability.

It's hoped that such an initiative would set the ground for a 'global forum of responsible management education' to be convened by the end of 2008. With this initiative, XLRI has joined the league of institutions such as Xinhua, the London School of Business, and Cornell, one of the 100 'early adopters', of such an initiative.

Globally speaking, the PRME is supervised by the United Nations Global Compact, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International), the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), Aspen Institute's Business and Society Program, the European Academy for Business in Society (EABIS), the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI) and Net Impact.