First intake for Gaïa, the school of ecological and social transition launched by Audencia

191 students in the Audencia Grande Ecole programme started their first semester with Gaïa, the school of ecological and social transition created in 2021 by Audencia, where they will attend a full-time programme in sustainable management.  

On 5 September, the 191 second-year students of the Audencia Grande Ecole Master in Management Programme started their first semester at Gaïa, the school of ecological and social transition that Audencia launched last year. They will attend 240 hours of classes, divided into ten courses taught in English, aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

The Master 1 Gaïa semester programme is taught by permanent Audencia professors and professionals who are all leading experts in environmental and social issues and their management. The programme, in English, is composed of ten courses of 24 hours each. Among the ten courses, seven are mandatory, and students have the option of choosing three courses from a selection of thirteen. 

The programme, dedicated to the management of ecological and social transition, provides students with the key skills needed to integrate societal and environmental issues into their future careers in finance, marketing, consulting, supply chain, and HR. 

Gaïa students will learn to develop a culture of impact by combining knowledge from management, environmental sciences, humanities, and technology. 

Manon, a student, explains why she chose this semester:

“I wanted to link management to the societal and ecological dimensions. I wanted to get up in the morning to do something that made sense. Audencia was the only school that offered such a programme”.

Constantin, 22, agrees:

“It is important for us in business schools to learn how to adapt business models. They must integrate the major challenges we will have to face in order to lead the change in our future companies. Our generation is committed to sustainability and Audencia is a school that is responding to these challenges”.

Audencia is supporting ecological and social transition in many other ways. In November, Audencia and The Shift Project will present the results of the final report of the ClimatSup Business project, a first-of-its-kind initiative within business schools, aimed at transforming their courses and business specialisations through a reference framework of competencies and an action plan that can be duplicated by other higher education providers.