From Complexity to Impact: The Next Chapter of the Sustainable Impact Challenge

The EDHEC Global MBA Programme's trademark Sustainable Impact Challenge (SIC) is entering a new phase in its 5th year. Rooted in real-world sustainability issues and designed to push participants beyond traditional classroom learning, the Challenge continues to evolve in structure, ambition and outcomes. Of note, joining stalwart Associate Professor Pierre-Jean Barlatier to co-helm the programme will be Bernard Lebelle, an EDHEC alumnus and noted entrepreneur.

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15 Sep 2025

The Sustainable Impact Challenge: a cornerstone of the EDHEC Global MBA

Since its launch five years ago, the Sustainable Impact Challenge has become a defining element of the Global MBA experience. It gives participants the chance to work with companies, start-ups, NGOs and associations on urgent sustainability issues, problems that are rarely straightforward to say the very least.

Associate Professor Barlatier has been an integral part of the Challenge for years. He emphasises the importance of this deliberate complexity: “When the problem has no obvious solution, you cannot simply follow a fixed roadmap. Students must build their approach step by step, testing ideas, facing contradictions and learning to manage trade-offs. That is what makes the Challenge so valuable.”

From environmental regulations to new green technologies, students are exposed to the same tensions that companies confront daily: balancing business performance with environmental responsibility, or reconciling short-term feasibility with long-term transformation. For many, the process becomes one of the most memorable and formative parts of their MBA experience.

Supporting this transformation, the programme’s PILab contributes expertise in pedagogical innovation and digital tools, designing collaborative learning formats and interactive technologies that foster deeper engagement throughout the challenge.

Fresh leadership and a practitioner’s mindset

This year, the Challenge enters a new era of leadership. Bernard Lebelle, EDHEC alumnus, entrepreneur and sustainability consultant, joins Professor Barlatier in a co-leadership position in the SIC programme.

Lebelle brings more than 30 years of international experience in consulting, innovation and transformation, with senior positions at PwC, BearingPoint, Deloitte France and Deloitte Canada. Today, he leads The Green Link, an AI-powered platform that helps organisations translate sustainability strategy into operational reality. His arrival brings new energy and a sharper focus on execution.

“Our goal is to prepare participants to deliver real change. That means understanding strategy, navigating internal complexity, and being ready to act from day one.”

For Lebelle, the Challenge is not about ideation in isolation. “Companies don’t need more ideas written on a whiteboard,” he argues. “They need initiatives that are technically viable, financially justified and organisationally credible. That’s the standard we set for our students.”

To get there, participants are introduced to structured consulting tools, many derived from Lebelle’s own professional practice. “We show them how to map stakeholders, identify operational risks and validate a business case,” he explains. “By the end, they should not only have a recommendation, but also the confidence that they can take it from concept to implementation.”

Preparing leaders to deliver real-world change

The Challenge is also shaped by the diversity of EDHEC’s MBA participants. Teams bring together engineers, managers, entrepreneurs and consultants from around the world.

That the MBA programme’s participants average 9 years’ work experience offers another unique edge—with the professional expertise and real world experience of having already solved complex challenges. This diversity fuels creativity, of course, but also adds complexity.

“Even the word ‘innovation’ can mean very different things depending on your background,” Barlatier reflects. “Part of the Challenge is learning to build a shared understanding across disciplines and cultures.”

Redesigning the journey for greater impact

The structure of the Challenge itself has also evolved. As in the past, it runs alongside the MBA programme’s core courses.

This year, it moves into the second semester, with its slightly lighter core courseload. “We saw that running the Challenge in parallel with classes created stress,” explains Barlatier. “By shifting it later in the year, students can focus completely and apply the knowledge gained in their first semester.”

Another major innovation is the introduction of two MBA teams per project. This new format encourages both collaboration and friendly competition. As Barlatier notes, “It is a way to maximise learning, not only from your own challenge, but by seeing how others approach the same problem differently.”

To reinforce its real-world orientation, outcomes will now be tracked beyond the classroom. Company partners will be invited to provide feedback six months after project completion, ensuring that solutions have tangible relevance. “This creates accountability,” says Lebelle. “It signals that the work we do together is not hypothetical. It must be credible, practical and ready to be used.”

The ambition, both faculty members agree, is clear: to prepare graduates who can step into sustainability roles with confidence and competence. “We want participants to leave knowing they can take a project from concept to delivery,” Lebelle affirms. “That confidence is what will make them effective leaders in the years ahead.”

Interested in partnering with the Global MBA Sustainable Impact Challenge?

Contact Jennifer Pasquier: [email protected]