GETTING TO GRIPS WITH SOCIETAL ISSUES: THE EDHEC ASSOCIATION EXPERIENCE
Be Solid'Aide, Develop, Oikos, ... a host of associations at EDHEC Business School invite students to get to grips with contemporary societal issues while also developing their powers of initiative.
A double objective notably pursued by EDHEC Nations-Unies, a student association whose members take part in simulated diplomatic negotiations, create geopolitical content and also organise “geopolitical cafes”. These activities all seek to “make information accessible to the greatest number and to encourage debate, by hosting luminaries of the geopolitical world”, underlines EDHEC Nations-Unies member Louise Roussel. This taste for discussion and exchange also characterises Agora, a longstanding EDHEC association that has been raising students’ awareness of the diversity of viewpoints existing on contemporary issues for close to 20 years now. Agora schedules conferences with prominent personalities in the fields of business, the arts or politics: “among the guests we’ve hosted are the climatologist Jean Jouzel and Élisabeth Moréno, the former Minister for Gender Equality”, specifies Agora member Hugo Nicaise. Opening one’s mind to other ways of thinking is not only one of Agora’s main goals, but also a marker of the vision that infuses association engagement at EDHEC, along with the objective of instilling a sense of responsibility and a taste for enterprise. An approach that ensures association life fits naturally into the School’s overall educational mission of training future leaders capable of making a marked impact on society and business.
