Since its inception in 2002 as the Centre for Corporate Citizenship (CCC) housed within the College of Economic and Management Sciences (CEMS) at the University of South Africa (Unisa), the ICC has been assisting organizations in embedding corporate citizenship into their core practices, promoting sustainable business and social unity. Drawing on its experience, the CCC evolved into the Institute for Corporate Citizenship (ICC) in 2009 and was subsequently rebranded as the Institute for Sustainability and Corporate Citizenship (ISCC) in 2025. This transition reflects a broadened mandate and an Afrocentric, multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary approach to research and scholarship in sustainability and corporate citizenship.
As a research and science-driven hub of excellence, the ISCC asks pertinent and, at times, difficult questions about the role and contribution of business to sustainable development. The ISCC actively encourages thought-provoking debates about sustainability and corporate citizenship, and helps raise awareness across the private, public, government, and civil society sectors. The ISCC continues to widen its research through strategic partnerships, open-access publications, and innovative programmes, and actively engages communities to create lasting social and environmental impact. The ISCC advances transformative knowledge and solutions that enable individuals, governments, businesses, and communities to act responsibly toward people and the planet. It integrates science-driven research, citizen science, and participatory innovation to address real-world challenges through a holistic, inter-, trans-, and multi-disciplinary approach. The ISCC fully embraces the use of cutting-edge technologies and digitalisation to understand the trends and dynamics of global phenomena, such as climate change, ocean dynamics, terrestrial ecosystems, and their impact on businesses and humanity. Furthermore, the ISCC adopts a model of co-creating, co-designing, and co-delivering research and other developmental agendas, informed by systems thinking frameworks.
Vision
An Afrocentric, multi, inter, and transdisciplinary global institute that imagines, rethinks, and provokes sustainability, corporate citizenship, and research excellence.
Mission
Undertake cutting-edge, life-changing, and community-engaging research in the fields of sustainability and corporate citizenship, thereby shaping futures in the service of humanity.
Strategic goals and Intent
The desire to continue to address a critical research agenda in the sustainability and corporate citizenship fields, including addressing ESG matters.Emerging and dominant global and regional development agendas that include the AU Agenda 2063, 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its intertwined 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Paris Agreement on climate action and the global race towards NetZero emissions by 2050, Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction, UN Ocean Decade, and Habitat III’s New Urban Agenda.Remaining an institute in service of humanity and the pitching of strong, advocacy-propelled community engagement programmes through the continued delivery of specialized undergraduate and post-graduate courses in ISCC focus areas.
Last modified: 2026/05/12