Students from ESCP, ESSEC and HEC Paris pool their ingenuity to depolarize the debate around ecological transition

On Friday April 26, 2024, 120 students from the three French top-ranked business schools will gather for a full day at the “Académie du Climat” in Paris to reflect on how to analyze and dismantle the polarization of debate and action around climate change issues. Following masterclasses and workshops, the students will present their analysis and recommendations to overcome polarization in various spheres of society, thereby unlocking more efficient, collective climate action.

The discourses and debates surrounding the ecological transition have become increasingly polarized, marked by entrenched positions, ideological divides, and competing narratives. In recent years, issues such as climate change, climate action, sustainable practices and environmental policies have often been framed in politicized terms, leading to fragmentation and deadlock rather than constructive dialogue and cooperative action. This polarization is evident across various sectors and societal spheres, including corporate boardrooms, family dinner tables, print and social media, political discourse… and university campuses.

Amidst this landscape, the April 26 event "Ecology in times of societal polarization" emerges as a crucial and timely initiative.

Leveraging collective intelligence for action-oriented proposals

ESSEC, ESCP and HEC have joined hands to co-organize a historic and major event to discuss climate change and the ecological transition, thereby allowing their respective students to work together and sending a strong, unified signal of cooperation on the matter.

Through masterclasses, collective intelligence workshops and a final restitution engaging 120 Masters and MBA students (mainly from their respective sustainability-focused Master’s programs; 40 students from each institution), the event aims to decipher and dismantle polarization, encourage critical thinking, and catalyze innovative solutions by emphasizing dialogue and cooperation.

Students will work in mixed groups (20 teams of 6 students each) and be offered several workshops to reflect on how to analyze and depolarize the debates around climate change in the five following societal spheres, referred to as “universes” in the context of the event: Academia, Corporate, Family, Media, Politics. They will be supported by facilitators to help them unfold issues of polarization through topical analysis and theatrical simulations:

•    Academia with Charles Puybasset, Initiator & CEO, We Are One
•    Corporate with Estelle Haas, Public Speaking Coach
•    Family with Jeanne Granger, Facilitator
•    Media with Léa Martel, Founder, Bloom
•    Politics with Valentin Martinie, Sustainability Teacher & Actor

At the end of the day on 26th April, which is designed as a computer-free day, we expect students to formulate strong statements identifying the main root causes of polarization, how it arises and manifests, and the most relevant strategy for overcoming polarization in each universe. Students from each universe will have 10 minutes to present their conclusions, under an original format combining a skit which illustrates a typical scenario of polarization within their universe, and a vision board – i.e. a hand-designed placard – showcasing the strategy they propose to dismantle polarization in such scenarios.

The topic of polarization and these recommendations will then be discussed at a panel discussion with the deans of the three business schools, Eloïc Peyrache (HEC Paris), Leon Laulusa (ESCP) and Vincenzo Vinzi (ESSEC), in the presence of the schools’ faculty and management teams as well as distinguished guests.

Online Masterclasses to grasp the dynamics of polarization

In the run-up to the April 26 event, students first received the expertise of professors from the 3 business schools through 3 online masterclasses to explore the theme of polarization through the interdisciplinary lens of politics, social sciences, ecology philosophy and change management.

These masterclasses were designed to enable students to familiarize themselves with their teammates, and to delve deeper into the various issues surrounding polarization from an academic perspective to build their arguments and lay the foundations for their collaborative work.

- The first online masterclass, which took place on 20th March, welcomed HEC Paris’ Professors Jeremy Ghez & François Gemenne on the topic of political polarization is the United States and Europe

- The second online masterclass, which took place on 3rd April, welcomed ESCP’s Professor Aurélien Acquier, as well as Professor Thomas Roulet, from the University of Cambridge, who tackled ecological polarization through the lens of social sciences and ecology philosophy

- The final online masterclass, which took place on 22nd April, welcomed ESSEC’s Professor Marwan Sinaceur who presented the topic from a change management perspective

France's leading business schools join forces for climate action

ESCP, ESSEC and HEC Paris share similar values and a vision for a just ecological transition. This vision is strongly supported by the three sustainability-focused entities that have been established for several years within the three business schools respectively; they are associated to the April 26 event and will contribute to anchor and expand the three schools’ collaboration in the long run.

HEC Paris Sustainability and Organization Institute (S&O) and its Climate & Earth Centre, represented by Fernando Diaz Lopez (Executive Director)

ESSEC Center for Social and Sustainable Innovation (CISE), represented by Jérôme Schatzman (Director)

ESCP Centre for Sustainability Transformation & Applied Research (ESCPSTAR) represented by Florian Lüdeke-Freund (Co-founder & Academic Director)

Through this event, the three business schools are affirming their desire to get their stakeholders – from students to faculty – to work together to tackle common challenges, so as to become collectively more effective in contributing to the transition.

By providing a meaningful platform for in-depth reflection and idea generation, we aim to move society from polarization to action on climate change. Student proposals will aim to ease societal tensions on the subject, create cohesion, find common ground, develop ideas and solutions for business schools and the public interest.

The event is thought of as the first milestone of a long-term collaborative journey to collectively exchange and accelerate a healthy and fertile production of knowledge, conversations and action in favour of a just ecological transition in the sector of higher education and beyond.

Last but not least, we walk our talk! The event is not only a way for our students to reflect on how to overcome the polarization of society, but also an original collaborative platform for three competing management schools to get to work together, thereby affirming that our collaboration is more fruitful than our rivalry.

Follow the event LIVE #ESCPxESSECxHEC