Discursos e Iniciativas Educacionais de Desenvolvimento de Competências para a Sustentabilidade do World Business Council for Sustainable Development

Abstract

The adoption of the logic of developing sustainable development (SD) competences in the business environment has grown both in the literature in the area and in business initiative programs. One player that emerges with the aim of assuming leadership in this process is the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). This article aims to answer the following research question: Are the WBCSD’s discourses and initiatives for developing sustainability competences spaces of various translations of corporate sustainability or a place for reaffirming logocentric and definitive discourses on the theme? For this, we analyzed the institutional documents (Vision 2050 and Action 2020) and carried out a series of on-site visits at the Brazilian and Portuguese BCSDs. In addition, we conducted a set of in-depth interviews with the managers and participants in the initiatives for developing sustainability competences (DSC). The data were analyzed according to the categories of Derrida’s deconstruction process. The analysis of the educational initiatives of the Brazilian and Portuguese BCSDs showed that they include the various discourses on corporate sustainability in their formative approach; however, logocentric and definitive thinking about the theme is reaffirmed in that the way the Vision 2050 guidelines are carried out is limited to the application of management tools.