Environment & Sustainable Development
Innovate today to preserve tomorrow: research serving sustainable development.
Ecological transition at the heart of training
Faced with the climate and ecological crisis, all sectors of activity are called upon to transform. To meet this challenge, we must collectively integrate environmental issues into all professions. However, the concept of ecological transition is relatively vague today in the media debate. It involves a radical change in economic and social model in favor of a more sustainable one, based on the observation of the environmental and climate emergency. The concept integrates, for example, the principles of resilience and circularity, applied in all fields. The ecological transition would provide a global response to the planetary limits and the social challenges we face and their complexity (illustrated in particular by the drastic reduction in CO2 emissions recommended by the IPCC, or the return of a reference biodiversity).
But how can we achieve this if our training doesn't provide us with the right tools? How can we respond to these challenges if we don't understand them? More than awareness, training is a powerful lever for ecological transition: it is therefore essential that higher education stakeholders address these issues.
Training the engineers of tomorrow for a sustainable society
CentraleSupélec, a leading engineering school, integrates training for careers in the energy and ecological transition at the heart of its strategy, while drawing on its fundamental disciplines: mathematics, computer science, energy, industrial engineering, etc. Research and teaching teams in these fields have been working for several years to advance science and technologies related to the environment and sustainable development.
The sustainable_development[at]cs initiative brings together the school's laboratories and departments to promote existing initiatives, encourage new initiatives, and coordinate collective projects. The Metz campus is fully committed to this dynamic with the creation of the "transitions workshop."
CentraleSupélec innovates and trains to build a sustainable future
The number of stakeholders involved, their diversity and their complementarity allow CentraleSupélec to address the issues raised by sustainable development at very different levels (scientific, methodological, experimental, human), on the major technological barriers of the energy and ecological transition: bio-sourced materials, renewable energies, hydrogen, energy storage, new mobility solutions.
CentraleSupélec aims to train all its engineers so that they can integrate and understand the challenges of sustainable development at the right scale in their respective sectors and professions, by equipping them with the knowledge, questioning skills, and appropriate initiatives. CentraleSupélec thus intends to contribute significantly to sustainable development through research, innovation, and training, with two major ambitions: to give our society the means to produce and consume in a sustainable and informed manner.
A concrete commitment to Sustainable Development
Established and emerging research activities, educational programs, national and international projects, spin-offs, experimental platforms, corporate chairs, industrial or academic partnerships, as well as significant events on the subject make CentraleSupélec a historic and major player in the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly production systems, in an increasingly competitive context constrained by the scarcity of resources.
Finally, CentraleSupélec aligns these scientific and educational issues with its operations and practices. Following certification of the carbon footprint of its Paris-Saclay campus, CentraleSupélec, along with its staff and students, has defined a plan to reduce its CO2 emissions (building management, staff and student mobility, purchasing, etc.). This plan is part of a comprehensive approach to the impacts of all CentraleSupélec activities.
CSR axes
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Since 2019, CentraleSupélec has been committed to the field of environmental transition with all of its stakeholders with:
- The establishment of Sustainable Development Governance (DD) integrating all of the establishment's stakeholders:
- A referent, Pascal da Costa responsible for mapping, coordinating and proposing a shared action plan
- Transition student delegates who rely on a student club – Gritec – responsible for evaluating and proposing courses
- A Sustainable Development Commission which carries out actions and evaluates the school's strategy
- Referents in each laboratory
- Integration of sustainable development issues into all of the establishment's actions:
Training - Research - Campus
- The DD&RS Charter
Initiated in 2021, the Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility charter was the result of work involving all the School's stakeholders: CentraleSupélec staff, unions, management, students, etc.
This document voluntarily presents all of the school's SD&RS objectives across 5 axes:
- Strategy and Governance Axis - Contributing to the construction of a responsible society
- Training Axis - Train all its engineers so that they can integrate and understand the challenges of Sustainable Development & Social Responsibility, at the right scale, in their respective sectors and professions, by equipping them with the knowledge, questioning skills and appropriate initiatives.
- Research Axis - a major ambition: to give our society the means to produce and consume in a sustainable and informed manner.
- Social Policy Axis - Promoting a human and social policy of equity and diversity among staff and students, promoting science to a diverse public
- Environmental Management Axis - proactive actions to go beyond the regulatory framework, aiming to limit the impact of its operation on the environment, from resource consumption to the protection of biodiversity, as well as in terms of mobility or responsible purchasing.
This document was validated by all of the School's bodies in 2022: the Council of Studies on October 4, the Scientific Council on October 5, the Technical Committee on October 10 and, finally, the Board of Directors on October 13.
This charter, which is alive by its very essence, will be updated regularly to adjust our practices and actions.
The CentraleSupélec charter is complementary to the so-called Sustainable Development Charter, which theParis-Saclay University in 2021Developed by all the establishments, including CentraleSupélec (via its SD representative), this charter lays the foundations of the SD&RS policy of the University of Paris-Saclay, particularly on legal aspects. - The establishment of Sustainable Development Governance (DD) integrating all of the establishment's stakeholders:
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A central place in the 2022-2023 strategic plan
The School's strategic plan, adopted in 2022-2023, clearly affirms CentraleSupélec's commitment to being a committed player in sustainable development and sustainability. By driving energy and ecological transitions, improving health, and contributing to maintaining key balances, CentraleSupélec places sustainable development at the very heart of its strategy.
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The Annual Performance Project
An operational translation of the strategic plan, the annual performance project has integrated a certain number of objectives specific to the School's new, asserted positioning in terms of sustainable development.
3 axes have thus been identified:
AXIS 1 Launch actions to reduce the impacts of CentraleSupélec on its campuses
AXIS 2 Train all our students in the challenge of sustainable development, in their professional sector
AXIS 3 Governing and leading Sustainable Development at CSStudent life integrating Sustainable Development issues
An essential component of the School, students, through their associations, are also stakeholders in the integration of sustainable development issues into their actions:
In conjunction with student associations, the following have been set up:
- An Environmental Charter adopted by all associations to reduce the environmental impact of student events (cups, textiles, etc.)
- Regular events of awareness to the challenges of sustainable development through conferences, exhibitions, etc.
- The organization every year du Responsible Engineers Forum
- An official CentraleSupélec delegation to the COP on Climate
- The creation of student clubs dedicated to sustainable development issues in education: GRITEC for CS and COTTAGE for the Central Group.
CentraleSupélec, whose mission is to address society's major challenges in order to advance it, has naturally placed the issues of Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility at the heart of its strategy. To successfully carry out this transformation, the school has structured itself by implementing:
- A governance & a charter
- A strategic action plan, including a climate roadmap, mobility and waste plans
This investment has been recognized by its peers across the DD&RS label, obtained in December 2022
Concrete examples for the environment and sustainable development
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The mission of the CentraleSupélec Chair of Biotechnology is to develop innovative and competitive processes to convert renewable carbon from biomass into various goods and services for society, such as materials, molecules of interest and bioenergies.
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Its 35 researchers are working to foster the bioindustry and contribute innovations to address the challenges of sustainable development. This promising activity benefits from an exceptional working environment, as the Chair is located near Reims at the CEBB*, a unique infrastructure that brings together researchers working in the fields of biotechnology, green chemistry, and agromaterials.
- Partners: Grand Est Region, Marne Department, Greater Reims University Council, European Union
- Holder: Patrick Perré
- Website of the Chair of Biotechnologies
*European Center for Biorefinery and Bioeconomy
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At the heart of sustainable energy issues, the SPMS laboratory is working on the development of solid oxide electrochemical cells for the production of decarbonized hydrogen or the conversion of this green hydrogen into electricity. New proton conduction fuel cells have been formulated, manufactured, and tested. Another growing area of research concerns energy harvesting, which allows the production of electricity from mechanical energy, which is generally wasted. In this case, new lead-free piezoelectric materials are being developed and shaped in the laboratory to enable more efficient energy conversion.
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Launched in 2020, ESA_Lab[at]CentraleSupélec is a privileged framework for collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and CentraleSupélec. Structured around several axes (teaching, research, entrepreneurship, dissemination, etc.), its objective is to develop peaceful space exploration activities and the resulting applications, for the mutual benefit of both organizations and society.
Examples include climate monitoring, Earth observation, navigation, (cyber)security, artificial intelligence, sustainability, and the space economy.
The first activities addressed within the ESA_Lab[at]CentraleSupélec are Earth observation and piloting and control in aeronautical and space transport, the control of (bio)processes for sustainable production, conferences and project proposals, particularly around the circular economy and sustainable development.
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A structure to harness the power of digital technology to serve the environment and sustainable development. The alliance aims to build and deploy environmentally friendly tools with high added value for citizens, public, and private stakeholders in the region. It brings together industrial and regional companies to pool upstream, industrial, and experimental research, and also includes a hub for educational projects.
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Partners: IRT SystemX, Paris-Saclay Community, SIOM of the Chevreuse Valley, Manitou Group, GE HealthCare, Mews
Laboratories involved in serving the environment and Sustainable Development
| Laboratory or team | Director / Manager | Research areas | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Rennes Institute of Electronics and Digital Technologies (IETR) - AUT Team | G. Andrieux | Automation, energy efficiency of systems, networks |
 | Molecular and Macroscopic Energetics EM2C | S. Ducruix | Energy, combustion, physics, applied mathematics |
 | Electrical Engineering Laboratory of Paris GeePs | C. Marchand | Electrical engineering, materials, electromagnetism, characterization of materials for electronics and energy |
 | Signals and Systems Laboratory L2S | P. Bondon | Automation, signal processing and statistics, telecom |
 | Industrial Engineering Laboratory Lgi | B. Yannou | Industrial engineering, eco-design, life cycle analysis, circular economy, energy and mobility management and economics |
 | Process and Materials Engineering Laboratory LGPM | F. Puel | Engineering of production processes and transformation of materials, Development of materials and biomaterials |
 | Mathematics and Computer Science for Complexity and Systems - MICS | C. Hudelot | Applied mathematics IT |
 | Paris-Saclay Mechanics Laboratory LMPS | P.-A. Boucard | Mechanics of materials and structures |
 | Structures properties and Modeling of solids SPMS | H. Dammak | Physics, chemistry, materials |
 | CentraleSupelec ONERA NUS DSO Research Alliance SONDRA | S. Saillant | Earth observation, signal processing |
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