Can you please tell us about the sustainable innovation module offered at SKEMA?
The sustainable innovation (SI) module was started four years ago to train “social and business transformers” capable of facilitating change in organisations. The programme, based on the core competencies of the 21st century (OCDE 2017, World Economic Forum 2025), is aimed at developing people’s ability to solve complex problems. It encourages them to be creative in restrictive circumstances, collaborate, develop a critical eye about the world around them and move forward despite uncertainty. Over 120 students in their first year of SKEMA’s Grande Ecole programme (L3) chose this optional second semester course at the Sophia Antipolis campus. It is worth 20 ECTS credits.
What led to the inception of the conference that you and your students are organising in October on the theme ‘Act today to preserve tomorrow’?
The COP1 Étudiante conference arose from the students’ collective desire to make as many young people as possible take cognisance of the major issues of this century. It is not just about the environment, however. It is also about devising new economic, educational and social models and addressing the issue of technologies. The discussions will focus on how these subjects are linked to each other, the challenges, and creating synergies between the participants for taking action. The conference will take place over two days on October 5 and 6 in Paris and will be broadcasted live to other cities in France and around the world.
What are the next steps?
We will keep inviting thinkers, scientists and people interested in the themes of the COP1 conference. This time, we are fortunate to welcome eminent speakers from the Centre de Recherches Interdisciplinaires de Paris, Sauvons le climat, ChangeNow Summit and The Noise.
Engie, Altus Energie and Teach on Earth are sponsoring us but we are continuing to raise funds. We need to find some appropriate venues in Paris for future events and work on spreading the overall concept of the conference across the world. It will be an exciting journey!
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