Transformation of campuses and citizen engagement: EDHEC puts the collective at the heart of the student experience

Rethink of campuses from the angle of student experience and well-being

As places of life, learning and relationship-building, campuses are essential levers for attracting students and ensuring their success. EDHEC is therefore committed to offering its students and professors an ever-more outstanding environment in the coming years. This commitment will involve €120 million of investment over five years, devoted to an in-depth transformation of the School’s Lille and Nice campuses, through an approach focused on student experience and academic innovation, all while respecting the School’s engagements in terms of environmental sustainability. On completion of the plan, the School’s three campuses in France - Lille, Nice and Paris – will together comprise 85,000m² of buildings, hosting close to 10,000 students.

Lille: a blend of heritage and modernity for an enhanced student experience

In early 2025, EDHEC began an extensive €60 million-euro transformation project for its Lille campus, aimed at leveraging the site’s potential, while retaining its rich architectural heritage. Devised by blaq Architectures, the project is also aligned with an ambitious environmental approach that notably seeks to reduce the campus’s carbon footprint by 30% and preserve biodiversity on the campus’s more-than 10 hectares of parkland. To foster quality of life and facilitate exchanges with others on campus, the School is modernising a total of 18,000m² of space to be devoted to new academic uses, the creation of a Care hub providing all-round support to students (health, well-being, sport, student life, diversity, disability accommodation services, financial assistance, help with administrative procedures, etc.) and the development of new external sports facilities. The flagship project involves the creation of a central forum of 1,300m², destined to become the new heart of campus life. Earmarked for inauguration in September 2027, the forum will comprise a food court, areas where people can meet and exchange, the learning centre and the student-association village.

Nice: a new emblematic building on the Promenade des Anglais

EDHEC is embarking on a new stage of its development with the construction of a new 7,500m² building on the Promenade des Anglais, in immediate proximity to its current campus. The €60 million-euro project will increase the capacity of the campus and enhance its international visibility, while also integrating it fully into the urban environment and that of the surrounding region. Designed by ABC Architectes, the six-floor building will satisfy the highest standards of sustainability, as recognised by a BREEAM international certification. Work is slated to begin at the end of 2026 and last 40 months. The new areas will be devoted to teaching and innovative academic uses, so as to offer students an augmented learning experience. The building will notably comprise high-tech modular rooms fostering active and collaborative learning, together with several terraces designed to open visions to the city and the sea. Everything has been designed to create a more fluid and luminous campus, geared to students’ well-being and success. The overriding goal is to make Nice a modern and sustainable campus fully open to the city and its surrounding region.

Creation of a “Citizen Association” label to promote and showcase the citizen engagement of students 
 

Student associations are a pillar of student experience at EDHEC. These associations are genuine laboratories where students learn skills - project management, leadership, responsible decision-making, budget management – that are highly valued by recruiters.

For EDHEC, training leaders also means training engaged citizens capable of acting today on the School’s campuses and in their surrounding areas, and tomorrow throughout their professional careers. As such, the School is creating the Citizen Association label in order to encourage, structure and recognise the citizen initiatives pursued by the 100 or so student associations based on its Lille and Nice campuses.

Open to all student associations, irrespective of size or focus (cultural, sporting, charitable, environmental or entrepreneurial), the label aims to establish a tangible link between academic, association and professional life.

The label is inspired by the ISO 26 000 international standard, while being adapted to the specifics of student association at EDHEC. Assessment will be based on five fundamental dimensions: ethics and governance, social and societal impact, environmental impact, communications and events, followed by progress and continuous improvement. All in all, 113 evidenced-based criteria will be used to assess the degree of maturity of associations, according to three levels of labelling. The labelling process comprises a self-diagnosis, support from EDHEC (training and workshops), and a final audit conducted by a mixed jury comprising external experts and guaranteeing credibility, transparency and equity.

For the first year of the rollout, 15 pilot associations have been selected in order to ensure the provision of high-quality support.  

EDHEC is aiming for 50% of the School’s associations to be labelled by the end of the 2028 academic year, with all associations being engaged in the process.