Ethics, responsibility and sustainability (ERS) are at the core of the School鈥檚 mission and strategy, and are reflected in all aspects of its activities.
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LSM is deeply committed to integrating ethics, social responsibility and sustainability in all its activities. This is a core value which we live, teach and promote, with a very much research-based approach, aiming to drive change in academia, the corporate world, and society.
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Our ambition is to develop responsible, competent and inspiring entrepreneurial leaders 鈥� people who are free, talented and respectful of the talents of others, profoundly honest and tolerant, and also clear-sighted and dynamic personalities. We aim聽to train entrepreneurs willing to launch innovative projects, solve complex problems by adopting a systemic perspective, and change business norms; ethical leaders who care about people and broader society, willing to undertake cultural change for more ethical and sustainable developments; and statesmen, willing to participate in the design of a new political governance and to contribute to the common good.
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ERS issues are at the heart of much of our faculty members鈥� R&D work and of many LSM PhD and master鈥檚 theses. We are seeking even more resources for teaching, research, partnerships, and service in this area through fundraising for the new multi-company Philippe de Woot Chair in Corporate Sustainable Management. Our members strongly believe that they cannot succeed in isolation; they must collaborate, with one another and with proactive companies, to develop and participate in the most advanced networks with respect to CSR, entrepreneurship, globally responsible leadership, and sustainable development. LSM is working in partnership with the CEMS network, the signatories of the UN-inspired Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), for which we聽were part of the launch in November 2017 of the France-Benelux PRME Chapter and report on progress every 2 years, with Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI), Mind & Market, Openhub, Yncubator, and The Shift (the Belgian meeting point for sustainability), among other networks.
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The School participates actively in UCLouvain鈥檚 strategy to live the principles of CSR and sustainability in the RIO+20 pledge. We also led Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Barometer for Belgium studies.
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All master students聽(Louvain-la-Neuve and Mons campuses) must complete a course on Corporate Social Responsibility.
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Since 2017, students registered in the CSR class in Louvain-la-Neuve are invited to participate to the Sustainability Literacy Test (Sulitest),聽an international set of questions and specialized modules of local questions about sustainability and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). With the Sulitest, we can convey an understanding of the role of the SDG聽as a business enabler. We can open their appetite for the complexity and the huge business opportunities lying ahead of them in that area.
Sulitest to enhance Sustainable Literacy -
In 2019-2020, students contributed on the B Corp聽Live Experience, in collaboration with 17 start-ups and SMEs from diverse industries considering the B Corp certification and willing to have an objective overview of their impacts. In this context, students worked on the B Impact Assessment (BIA) in cooperation with the company, identified areas for improvement, developed concrete and practical recommendations and critically analysed the BIA and B Corp certification. Not only students, but also companies benefit from this action-oriented, experiential CSR learning.
Successful "B Corp Live Experience鈥�
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In 2017 we launched the Philippe de Woot Major in Corporate Sustainable Management ( and ). It is a multidisciplinary option of 6 courses in our MMS and MBE programmes聽which aims to develop competent and responsible leaders with a transversal view of the different management fields and offers a solid understanding of the complex dilemmas and the tools to develop agile and responsible organizational cultures and to implement effective compliance, business ethics and corporate sustainable management programmes. It is named in honour of LSM Professor Philippe de Woot, who during 40 years at the School was a precursor of today鈥檚 commitment to CSR among the best enterprises and management educators. The major is very popular, including among international students.
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Through the inter-university Philippe De Woot Award with related corporate partnerships and events, UCLouvain continues work with other universities 鈥渢o reinforce cooperation between the corporate and the academic world in the CSR field, to enhance an inter-university approach on these matters, and to raise this undertaking to an international level.鈥�
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The regenerative economy course defines the concept of regenerative economy (as a circular, local, collaborative, functional and bio inspired economy) and based on real-life challenges entrepreneurs are facing, students are asked to "hack"聽a business model and to propose innovative and sustainable solutions.
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The specialization in Sourcing and Procurement聽devotes part of the International Supply Chain Management course to ethical considerations, including a case involving the distribution policy for vaccines.
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We've developed our courses offer on-line by launching two Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC), 鈥淒iscovering Corporate Social Responsibility鈥� and 鈥淐SR reporting and communication鈥�. By presenting insights from CSR experts, from both academia and practice, these MOOCs provide managers, consumers, and citizens with in-depth insights and critical perspectives on companies鈥� CSR activities and communications.聽On average over 3.000 participants from 130 different countries have registered for each of its聽editions to-date.
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To help the next generation of leaders develop ethical and sustainable leadership skills, LSM realizes intellectual approaches are insufficient. Emotion and spirituality must be part of the learning process, achieved through discussion and exchanges of experiences that engage the whole person. Experiential, presentational, propositional, and practical ways of learning must be integrated into globally responsible leaders鈥� curricula. For example, students might confront a disorienting dilemma that combines both global and individual challenges, making the integration of multiple perspectives paramount and multiple stakeholders are part of the process. In such situations, students react not only with their rational abilities but with all of their senses and skills (practical, affective, conceptual, imagination), in a whole person learning approach.
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The annual LSM Cup, initiated and organized by a student enterprise, continues growing as the biggest CSR business game in Europe. One example of active involvement by the School鈥檚 students and faculty in socially positive initiatives also outside the classroom. Among other student-led initiatives, Academics for Development does entrepreneurship projects with social impact, and our students are regularly awarded for or involved into CSR projects (HERA Awards, LSM Conseil can help you become a B Corp).
