SUMAS Career Fair 2025: Connecting Students With Sustainability Practitioners

What Was the SUMAS Career Fair 2025?

The SUMAS Career Fair 2025 was a two-day event held on 4-5 December at Sustainability Management School (SUMAS), designed to connect students with practitioners who apply sustainability in their daily work. Rather than abstract theory, the SUMAS Career Fair centred on lived professional experience across ESG strategy, sustainability consulting, diversity and inclusion, circular social enterprise, and responsible travel. Each session paired a working leader with students seeking to understand how sustainability translates into concrete roles. The format reflected a core SUMAS principle: education in sustainability management should open direct access to the field where it is practised, shaped, and challenged. Over the two days, students engaged with speakers from sport, consulting, social restoration, and exploration-based tourism, gaining a wider map of where a sustainability career can lead and how to position themselves within a fast-evolving labour market.

Why Does a Sustainability Career Fair Matter in 2026?

A sustainability career fair matters because the green labour market is expanding faster than the talent pool can fill it. According to LinkedIn's 2024 Global Green Skills Report, the share of job postings requiring at least one green skill reached 7.7% in 2024, up from 6.8% in 2021, while global demand for green talent grew 11.6% between 2023 and 2024 against only 5.6% growth in supply. The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 projects that green transition trends will create roughly 34 million additional jobs by 2030. For students, this gap is an opportunity: employers actively seek candidates who can connect sustainability principles to business performance. The SUMAS Career Fair gives students early, direct exposure to how those roles function and what skills hiring managers value most.

Who Spoke on Day One (4 December)?

Day one of the SUMAS Career Fair 2025 opened with three practitioner sessions, each connecting a distinct sustainability theme to organisational reality. The speakers addressed why inclusion is a strategic asset, how circular social enterprise restores dignity and opportunity, and how a global sporting brand builds an ESG strategy. The day one line-up included:

• The Business Case for DEI - Vani Seshadri, Founder, The Different Strokes: how diversity, equity, and inclusion drive innovation, culture, and long-term competitiveness.
• The Great Restoration - Vidyun Goel, Founder, The Toy Bank: how play, circularity, and community development advance social restoration.
• Sports for Good - Andrew Goodman, Head of ESG/Sustainability, Scott Sports SA: how an outdoor sporting brand integrates climate action and social responsibility into its ESG strategy.

Who Spoke on Day Two (5 December)?

Day two of the SUMAS Career Fair 2025 turned to professional practice, giving students a candid view of consulting work and impact-driven travel. The two sessions examined the skills companies expect from sustainability advisers and the way exploration-based tourism can reshape local economies. The day two line-up included:

• Sustainability in Practice: What Businesses See and What Consultants Do - Diana Perales, Project Manager, Sapiens Advisory & Consulting srl: the real-world skills, data interpretation, and regulatory awareness behind authentic sustainability performance.
• Impact of Explorations - Chinmay Vasavada, General Manager, Explorations Company: how exploration-based travel can empower communities and redefine the ethics of luxury experience.

What Do Students Gain From the SUMAS Career Fair?

Students gain practical orientation that classroom study alone cannot provide. The SUMAS Career Fair lets students test their interests against real roles, hear how practitioners moved into sustainability work, and understand the day-to-day skills employers reward. These conversations help students map the breadth of sustainability careers, recognise their own strengths, and build confidence about the impact they can make. The career fair benefits include:

• Direct exposure to working professionals across consulting, ESG, social enterprise, and responsible tourism.
• A clearer view of how sustainability principles translate into specific job functions and sectors.
• Insight into the skills, mindsets, and regulatory knowledge that employers currently hire for.
• Networking opportunities that can lead to mentorship, internships, and project collaboration.
• Greater confidence in choosing a focused, purpose-driven career pathway.

How Do You Build a Sustainability Career With SUMAS?

Building a sustainability career starts with combining sound management foundations with sector-specific expertise, then applying both through events such as the SUMAS Career Fair. Sustainability Management School offers programmes that align with the skills employers seek, from undergraduate study through to executive and doctoral levels. A Bachelor of Business Administration builds the management base, while specialised master's and MBA tracks deepen expertise in ESG, finance, fashion, hospitality, or sustainability strategy. The SUMAS Career Fair complements this academic path by connecting students with practitioners who can illustrate where each route leads. For students weighing their options, exploring SUMAS programmes alongside career-fair conversations offers a grounded way to decide where they can create measurable impact in a labour market that increasingly rewards green skills.