Sustainability Fundamentals

Date : 2nd March (3h)

In this session, we will review the current state of the Earth and learn about the ajor dynamics that are taking place in ecosystems to understand how we are impacting our planet.

We will introduce the key notions of biodiversity and ecosystems (what are they, and how do they work) that will allow you to identify the potential impacts that your activities have on the natural systems regulating our planet. These concepts will also lead us to the definition of Planetary Boundaries. Regarding our impact, we will learn about the great acceleration (socio-economic and natural systems) and develop the concept of Anthropocene.

At the end of the session, we will analyse a case study from different perspectives (financial and environmental aspects) and see how the sector reach a compromise between these two constraints.

Date : 9th March (3h)

In this session, we will develop the concepts of life cycle thinking and life cycle analysis and will have a closer look at the two human activities that have a major impact on the environment: agriculture and greenhouse gas emissions.

We will introduce life cycle thinking as a tool to approach the complexity of socio-ecological systems. We will define the key concepts (system components, interactions, feedback loops...) that will help us to map complex systems and understand their dynamics. Then we will see how these tools turn helpful to perform a proper Life Cycle Analysis of a product. These concepts will also be applied to two major impactful human activities. First, we will analyse the consequences of the methods used in intensive agriculture. Then we will focus on the impacts that anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions have on the climate.

Date : 16th March (3h)

This session is devoted to understanding the current state of the energy sector (primary sources, pro and cons, perspective) as well as the concept of carbon footprint (what is it and how to quantify it). For this session, you will have to compute your own carbon footprint, that will be debriefed during the session. Finally, we will introduce the concept of sustainable development as a response to the current challenges that we are facing. 

• Energy : the big picture, primary sources, comparative analysis, historical perspective ; 
• Carbon footprint : how to measure it, your carbon footprint, individual actions ; 
• Introduction to Sustainable Development (SD) : history of the concept, SD as an ethical aspiration, SD as a system optimisation, resilience.

Date : 23rd March (3h)

In this session, you will take part in a simulation game which puts you in charge of a company (a fishery) whose success relies on utilising resources from a shared pool (the fish stocks), which is also exploited by other companies.

Along with an introduction on fisheries and the current state of real fish stocks, this game will have you face the challenges that companies have to deal with when devising their strategy. We will then debrief the results of the game and analyse the different causes of non-sustainability.

This session will highlight that one driver of unsustainability is the overexploitation of self-renewable resources: it is mostly driven by economic incentives, but it is exacerbated by the nature of complex system dynamics and political factors. Also, we will see that unsustainability is not inevitable: avoiding it relies on proper governance that reinforces conducive social norms and behaviour.

Date : 4th May (3h)

In the last module, there will be an exchange with 2 business leaders who will testify how they have transformed their business sustainably. After this first part, you will be introduced to who is best placed to accelerate societal change, and how to overcome resistance to change. Last, a stock taking exercice will be performed that will allow you to see how you progressed since the first module regarding sustainability knowledge and application. The following topics will be covered : 

• Radical transformations (vision zero, zero-carbon world) 
• System level change (reinforcing loops, multi-stakeholders' engagement)
• Organizing for change within your company