All of Excelia’s study programmes now include Climacité©, a civic initiative offering students the opportunity to undertake a voluntary project with an environmental focus.
The main objective of Climacité© is to educate students to become responsible managers by placing them in a real operational setting to experience the challenges of protecting the environment and dealing with climate change issues.
As a hands-on learning experience, Climacité© will enable them to complement their academic knowledge in the field of Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility (SD/CSR). The Climacité© project differs from a regular company-based internship as it constitutes a valuable personal development experience.
A LONGSTANDING EXCELIA COMMITMENT
Excelia is a pioneer in this field, having been the first higher education establishment to introduce a Master programme focussing on sustainable development issues, as early as 1999.
The objective is to ensure that students and graduates acquire the necessary interdisciplinary skills in the field of social and societal responsibility of organisations.
Climacité© is a compulsory learning initiative designed to provide students with an opportunity to explore and experience sustainable development first hand. It was inaugurated in December 2020 as part of Excelia’s Bachelor in Business programme.
A PROJECT FOCUSSING ON CLIMATE CHANGE ISSUES
Excelia has now launched the Climacité© initiative across all its qualification-awarding programmes. The goal is to raise student awareness, educate them and train them in how to protect the environment and deal with climate change issues.
As part of their studies, students will carry out a 2- to 6-week project which must have a significantly positive impact on climate change. Projects must meet the following two criteria:
- the nature of the project – it must combat climate change and be linked to one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are part of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
- the carbon footprint of the project – students must demonstrate that they have taken the necessary steps to limit the project’s carbon footprint
Climacité© projects can be undertaken within organisations such as an association, an NGO, a company or a local authority, or they can take the form of one-off civic actions. They can be carried out in France or abroad.
AN INITIATIVE CONSOLIDATING EXCELIA’S COMMITMENT TO SD/CSR
Driven by its values of Sharing, Humanity, Courage, Responsibility and Commitment, every year Excelia encourages students to embody these values via Humacité© projects. Since the launch of Humacité© 15 years ago, some 7,000 students have benefitted from this unique initiative. The aim is to educate learners to become responsible managers.
Climacité© shares the same goal, but by adding an environmental aspect to the social dimension of Humacité©, it aims to address the current issues of climate change. These two initiatives are based on different pedagogical approaches, yet they are complementary because they enable students to explore two distinct aspects of Sustainable Development… one social, the other environmental.
Actively involved in SD/CSR through its research institute, the emphasis it places on this important subject in its teaching, and its proactive policy of sustainable management, Excelia is now consolidating its commitment by offering students the opportunity to put theory into practice in the field.
INITIATIVE INAUGURATED BY BACHELOR IN BUSINESS STUDENTS AT EXCELIA BUSINESS SCHOOL
The very first Climacité© projects were carried out in December 2020 by Year 1 students of Excelia Business School’s Bachelor in Business programme: a total of 104 students i.e. the entire year group! This new initiative generated enthusiastic feedback, as shown by the testimonial of Amandine Magnan, a Year 1 Bachelor in Business student who carried out her project with the association Remplir les Ventres, pas les Poubelles (fill bellies not bins).
Amandine Magnan, Year 1 student, Bachelor in Business
During the months of April and May, Climacité© projects will be carried out by students on Excelia Business School’s BBA and Master in Management programmes. They will then be followed by students from Excelia Tourism School and Excelia Communication School programmes.
By 2025, 100% of Excelia’s students will have carried out a Climacité© project in addition to their Humacité© project.
