Formalizing Our Values

Academic excellence transcends the classroom. We believe that study abroad changes lives, and changed lives change the world.

Our guiding principles—inspired by the UN's Sustainable Development Goals—are designed to focus and showcase our mission-driven desire to not only educate students, but to open their eyes to some of the greatest challenges the world faces today. Students work together with fellow classmates and faculty to research and identify opportunities and potential solutions for those challenges in the local context of where they are living. Our three important principles and values include: Sustainable Living, Equitable Living, Human Well-Being.

These values are underpinned and supported by IES Abroad’s overarching Global Good Commitment—aimed to ensure that we are doing all that we can to be active participants in bettering the world. This commitment is a multifaceted approach to creating a more sustainable and just world that grounds who we are as an organization and what we do within four key categories: People & Equity; Education, Academics, Curriculum, & Career-Readiness; Engagement & Resources; and Sustainable Operations & Services. 

Our commitment to global good is also lived out through our programs with global pillars courses: Designing the Sustainable City, and Intersectional Equity. In these courses, students engage in a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural learning community through the lens of a specific and relevant global issue. 

Putting People & Equity First

These are facets of the ways we, an international education provider, break down our efforts in big and small ways to create global good for a more sustainable and equitable world, today, tomorrow and for the future.
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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Anti-Racism
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Inclusive Hiring Practices
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Guided by Ethical Principles
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Health & Safety
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Study Abroad Scholarships
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Global Pillars Courses

Global Good Commitment

The Global Good Commitment is an organization-wide initiative that aims to uphold our Global Pillars. Based on the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), our Global Good Commitment is a multifaceted approach to creating a more sustainable and just world grounds who we are and what we do within four key categories. 

a group of students pose for a photo while on a hike through New Zealand's coast

People & Equity

In big and small ways, we intentionally create global good for a more sustainable and equitable world, today, tomorrow and for the future. We are committed to matters of diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism, uphold inclusive hiring practices, incorporate ethical principles, and lead the field in standards of health and safety.

a line of students with a professor walking up the peak of a mountain range

Education, Academics, Curriculum, & Career-Readiness

We develop courses, curriculum, experiential learning, and co-curricular programming rooted in sustainable practices. We also maintain a growing a network of internship partners working towards a more sustainable world.

students sitting in a Berlin Center classroom during a lecture

Engagement & Resources

We understand the importance of stating our values, and that it's equally important to put those beliefs into practice. That's why we foster a community of global thinkers through events like our Global Leadership SerIES, networks like the Center of Excellence in Teaching & Learning Abroad, and alumni engagement opportunities.

Group of People in a Group Smiling in front of Forest

Sustainable Operations & Services

We make it personal. Faculty and staff at our Chicago Headquarters and Centers abroad live out these values in ways like: changing the way we consume and produce at our operating locations, mindfully printing our catalogs on 100% post-consumer recycled material, using soy-based ink, reducing air travel, and building a cross-departmental internally sustainability team.

Global Pillars Courses

Be a force for good by participating in one if our Global Pillars courses inspired by the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The “Designing the Sustainable City” and “Intersectional Equity” courses focus on sustainable and equitable living respectively, connecting a cohort of students and faculty from a variety of academic backgrounds to discuss, assess, and contribute to solutions for global issues.  

In these unique courses, you’ll identify the most pressing sustainability and equity issues in your host city and, working in small teams, offer solutions to the issues at the local level, taking into account the environmental, historical, and social characteristics of the area. Upon successful completion of these courses, you’ll earn a micro-credential in Sustainability and Development or Intersectional Equity and Project Development.

See Programs with Global Pillars Courses 

“I feel like you hear ‘sustainability’ and they bring out like ‘hydro flask’ or ‘recycling’ but it’s way more than that and it’s beyond materials, it’s about the people who are involved.”
Kennedi C. • Bowdoin College • Barcelona - Liberal Arts & Business

What Students Do in the Global Pillars Courses

Learn
Learn from international teams about their problem-solving experiences with sustainability solutions.
Differentiate
Differentiate between realistic and unrealistic goals for solutions related to sustainability.
Analyze
Analyze the successes and failures of sustainability initiatives in other locations. 
Present
Present their ideas to experts in a range of fields, and integrate these experts’ advice into their designs.
Get Certified
Earn a micro-credential in Sustainability and Development for sustainability literacy.

Student Classwork In Action

Global Pillars Courses Faculty

If there weren’t enough reasons to take one of the Global Pillars courses, our Faculty are an integral part to the success of these courses around the world. Each faculty member is an expert in their respective field whether it’s environmental science, sustainable urban planning, social entrepreneurship, or other related topics. 

Our Faculty on these courses are connected across the globe and share best practices, key learnings, and more to enhance the course and the overall learning experience. In fact, we host a Global Pillars Faculty Forum where each instructor of the course gets together to learn from each other and take their learnings back to the students.  

“Since the beginning, we wanted students to have a rather broad understanding of what sustainability is in terms of the kind of scope it allows people to analyze any kind of issue.”
Alejandra C. • Barcelona Faculty at IES Abroad
Academics are in Everything We Do

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A student in Berlin, Germany studying outside in the IES Abroad Berlin courtyard.