Global Impact Projects welcome 11 new partners
Since 2024 students on EDHEC Business School’s BBA and Master programmes have been able to undertake their mandatory international experience by engaging on Global Impact Projects (GIPs). These social solidarity projects have welcomed 11 new partners in 2026.
Each year, some 40 EDHEC students go abroad to undertake their chosen Global Impact Project. “It’s a stand-out initiative that’s unique in the management school sector”, underlines Sonia Gastaud, Head of GIPs and International Mobility. “The assignments take place over a semester in collaboration with the managers of the various partner associations. The goal is to plunge our students into the realities on the ground and to allow them to contribute to causes of high social impact in the areas concerned”.
On site, students engage in assignments that respond to the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs), such as access to clean water, the promotion of gender equality, the availability of quality education or the eradication of global hunger. All in all, the GIPs cover more than 10 SDGs, notably causes related to energy transition, fostering women’s autonomy, protecting childhood, safeguarding cultural heritage and preserving biodiversity and forests.
These subjects expose participants to real-life situations that can sometimes be intense. “Several meetings are arranged beforehand with students interested in undertaking GIPs. The aim is to enable them to fully understand the framework of their assignment, as well as the country they’re going to. The selection process is demanding. In addition to academic performances, EDHEC pays particular attention to the student’s degree of maturity, their adaptability and their desire to engage on the ground”, explains Sonia Gastaud. “And to ensure the assignment goes smoothly, EDHEC tutors follow the students before, during and after their assignments, while other tutors from the partner associations are also present with students on site”.
New partners: diversifying causes and countries
Since the beginning of 2026, 11 new agreements have been signed with associations and NGOs, lifting the total number of GIP partners to 20. From protecting heritage and leveraging know-how in Djerba, to preserving biodiversity and developing renewable energies in Madagascar, these new collaborations cover a broad spectrum of cultural and natural heritage issues.
Another development has been the addition of new destinations in South America, including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Brazil and Guatemala (TECHO Latam), and Peru (AKKU), as well as in Africa, including the Ivory Coast (ProKids) and Togo (Africa Smile). Europe has not been left out either, and has seen the arrival of three new partner associations: SINGA in Brussels, which helps find accommodation and arranges integration workshops for refugees, CESIE in Palermo, which assists migrants in their integration and, lastly, Rewilding Portugal in the Côa Valley, which works to return land to wildlife and restore natural processes.
Another highlight has seen two leading international NGOs join the GIP initiative. In Madagascar, Barefoot College, an organisation founded in India in 1972 and now active in 98 countries, trains women in solar energy jobs. Between 2022 and 2024, it notably supported 3,800 female solar engineers and contributed to the electrification of some 212,500 households in Madagascar. For its part, TECHO, a Chilean NGO active in 18 Latin American countries, engages over a million volunteers in the fight against poverty. Since its creation, it has notably built over 135,000 emergency housing units for highly vulnerable families.
