Responsibility, diversity and sustainable development are taking an increasingly important place in the School’s teaching activities and methods. Moreover, a special group of ‘Responsible’ associations brings together all the associations where students become involved in working for others, or promote responsible management.
Teaching activities : Openness to diversity, Accountability, Entrepreneurship and innovation.
In each Rouen Business School’s programmes, the core curriculum includes at least one interdisciplinary course dedicated to issues associated with social responsibility and sustainable development. The team of teachers responsible for these courses have, in fact, recently completed a manual which will be published by Pearson in the near future. To this can be added the elective courses which more specifically concern Business Ethics, Responsible Project Management, Managing Diversity and Cross-cultural Issues. Over the next few semesters, in each discipline, a case study or a session will be specifically dedicated to considerations of responsible management within that discipline.
Other activities are being added to these courses. For example, in the Master Grande Ecole Programme, the Intercultural Seminar groups together the newly arrived 1st year students and the international exchange students to consider problems taking advantage of the diversity of the participants. In the Spring, a dozen or so professors from all over the world give a series of talks on a theme associated with the School’s vision (responsibility, innovation, diversity…) whereby students are exposed to a wide range of ways of approaching these questions in Australasia, India, Latin America and Northern Europe.
Finally, the talks given by guests of the Des Mots & Débats association involve people closely linked to considerations of the question of social responsibility and sustainable development.
In 2010-2011, Rouen Business School will be one of the lead sites for the implementation of a special Sustainable Development awareness day developed by REFEDD (French students network for sustainable development), together with the Conférence des Grandes Ecoles (Association of leading university-level institutions).
Generally, the project approach and the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation are the core of Rouen Business School’s approach to teaching, whether it is a question of the ‘Entreprendre’ project the ‘Manag’ing’ project (run in association with the Esigelec graduate engineering school and the regional business incubator), or the new Innovation and Creativity seminars in the Master Grande Ecole Programme. Students are also invited to take part in competitions such as the ‘Feeling’ project (in partnership with Ferrero).
Commitment to association work
Association activities have always been an integral part of the experience and training offered by Rouen Business School, and the School provides supervision, financing and specific training seminars. Whatever its objective, every association must operate in a responsible way. For student parties, for example, the prevention of addictive behaviour is obligatory.
Several associations offer students the possibility of committing to or becoming involved with a community service activity, or of promoting responsibility and sustainable development, both inside and outside the School. These associations form the ‘Social Responsibility’ group.
Genepi works in prisons to help the social reintegration of offenders, l’Envol des Nides organises activities in a home for children who have been taken away from their parents by the court, Osmoz’ works with the paediatrics department at the Rouen University & General Hospital and takes part in national events in aid of medical research, Cheer’Up provides company for children being treated for cancer. ESC Sans Frontières carries out projects to help education in Senegal, Cambodia and Mexico, and Amnesty International works to promote human rights. Handi’Namic works to promote the integration of handicapped people in higher education and in the field of work.
Finally, Ethika is the association which promotes sustainable development, ethical business and fair trade. It is a member of the REFEDD network and each year it organises the Sustainable Development Week in the School.