HEC Montréal shines at sustainable campus awards

The pedagogical approach of the School’s Développement durable et gestion : enjeux et pratiques course was a winner at the 2022 edition of the Trophées des campus responsables awards. The competition recognizes institutions of higher education in the international French-speaking community that integrate sustainable development into their programs. The awards are managed by Campus responsables, the first network of institutions of higher education committed to sustainable development.

The course, which won in the “Pedagogy for a sustainable society” category, was chosen by the judges for its innovative teaching approach. Among other techniques, it makes use of the “backcasting” method, which consists of imagining a desirable future and then deciding how to get there. By assigning mandates to students, the approach lets them explore the concrete and local dimensions of major sustainability challenges. They take their partners’ vision of the future and then create possible pathways to achieve it. This innovative approach initially emerged from a partnership between HEC Montréal and the Biosphère, Environment Museum, as part of the MTL+ exhibition in co-operation with 12 participating organizations.

The course is given by Rafael Ziegler, a professor in the Department of Management and Director of the Alphonse and Dorimène Desjardins International Institute for Cooperatives. The sustainability project mandates were made possible in collaboration with different partners working in the community and the private sector, and with the School’s Office of Sustainable Development.

Rafael Ziegler (center), surrounded by Lya Porto, lecturer and doctoral student at HEC Montréal, and graduate student Camille-Charlotte Gilbert-Lapointe.