Course description

Title of the Teaching Unit

Business Ethics and Sustainability

Code of the Teaching Unit

22SH024

Academic year

2024 - 2025

Cycle

Number of credits

Number of hours

Quarter

1-2

Weighting

Site

Anjou

Teaching language

English

Teacher in charge

RUWET Coline

Objectives and contribution to the program

There are two AA for this course:
(1) 22SH020 – A – Business ethics and Sustainability (60%)
(2) 22SH020 – B – Sustainability Challenge (40%)

Three main objectives are linked to this course:

(1) Connect
- Identify individual and collective values
- Expand the sensitivity to the living world, be it human and other-than-human beings
- Differentiate descriptive and normative statements, short-term problems and long-term consequences
- Identify and empathize with the various voices (or stakeholders) and take them into account while making decisions

(2) Act
- Formulate problems properly and suggest potential solutions referring to different theoretical inputs (in-ex novations, holistic approach, strong sustainability, typology of sustainable models, resilience…)
-Implement an individual sustainability challenge during 30 days
- Innovate with regards to contemporary sustainability challenges

(3) Think
- Forge a critical approach to Sustainability. Understand the semantic and operational ambiguities inherent in the concept and the diversity of its tools, without being naive and/or cynical
- Develop the ability to be accountable for one’s choices and implement their ethical choices accurately and concisely, while being aware of the objections to their decisions that could arise
- Express and communicate one's thoughts in a coherent and structured way with a critical perspective
- Understand the forthcoming deep and systemic changes linked with issues at the global and local scale such as climate breakdown, biodiversity loss or the rise of social inequalities and trigger meaningful actions for adaptation and mitigation
- Reflect on the three sphere of social transformation

(2) 22SH020 – B – Sustainability Challenge (40%)

- Take place in May, 20-23, 2025
- Student groups will develop and defend entrepreneurial solutions to societal issues.
-

Prerequisites and corequisites

None

Content

- General introduction: ethics and the challenges of our times
- Defining ethics, ethical issues and ethical decision making
- Sustainability oriented challenges, innovations and ex-novations. Grassroot innovations. The 5Ps of Sustainability.
-Understanding the different sphere of societal transformation
- Sustainability: critical perspective and system thinking.

Teaching methods

Ethics and Sustainability: Fundamentals

The oral lessons are dedicated to ex-cathedra presentations, case studies, group work, experts’ conferences and testimony of professionals. It is strongly advisable to take an active part in the course to work actively with your group, benefit from a concrete approach through illustrations and examples developed during the course. These illustrations will not necessarily be included in the documents distributed.

AIs are likely to be used as assistants for brainstorming, to search for information (search engine type), as assistants to organize or revise a production (level 2)..

The Sustainability Challenge will take place in May, 20-23, 2025. Student groups will develop and defend viable solutions to societal issues presented by organizations (business, non-profit organizations, social enterprises, etc.). Teaching method: 3 or 4-day seminar in the end of May - design sprint - agile method and lean startup - team work - mix of plenary sessions, coaching and group work in/out situs or online if there is a health crisis

Sustainability Challenge

Teaching method : 4-day seminar – design sprint – agile method and lean startup – team work – mix of plenary sessions, coaching and group work in situs (Online only in case of health crisis).
- Attendance at the entire seminar is compulsory.

Assessment method

Ethics and Sustainability: Fundamentals

The final assessment is based on an individual portfolio.
“A portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the student's efforts, progress, and achievements in one or more areas of the curriculum. It should represent a collection of students' best work or best efforts, student-selected samples of (work) experiences related to outcomes being assessed, and documents according growth and development toward mastering identified outcomes.

Discussion and active participation will be very important in this course It's only through sharing and confronting opinions and ideas that you can forge your own values and convictions and develop knowledge in this field. The participation will thus be fully part of the final evaluation.

The student is considered as an independent, self-organised learner. We expect every student to prepare the readings and homeworks in order to be able to contribute as actively as he/she can to the discussions in class. Moreover, students’ acquisition of knowledge will be assessed using an individual oral exam.

IA can be used as a research assistant (level 2) but cannot be used as an assistant to generate content (answers to assignments). Be sure to use them transparently (you'll need to mention your type of use for all written productions) and critically, and to produce original, personal ideas. Students who decide to use generative AI as research assistant must provide a responsible use protocol, which in addition to detailing the uses in accordance with current recommendations, will produce a personal reflection on the challenges of transitions associated with these uses.

Sustainability Challenge
Type of assessment : Individual participation, intermediate deliverables, pitching of the final solution in front of a jury of experts and communication exercise in 90 sec.

- August session: individual work (contact: laurent.lahaye@ichec.be)

There are two AA linked to this course, for each of them there is a specific assessment of your work:
(1) Business ethics and Sustainability: theory (60%)
First session (January 2025)
Active participation (20%),
- Active participation to the seminars (attendance list)
- Meet the deadlines for the assignments

Individual e-portfolio with specific assignments:
- Written document (40%)
- Oral exam (40%)

Detailed instructions concerning the deadlines as well as the work content will be presented in the first lecture and available on the Moodle website of the course.

Second session (August 2025)
Individual portfolio (same instructions)
- Written document (50%)
- Oral exam (50%)

(2) Sustainability Challenge: seminar (40%)
Type of assessment: Intermediate deliverables by group, attendance, and participation, pitching of the final solution in front of a jury of experts and communication exercise in 90 sec.
Second session (August 2025)
Individual work.

Please contact laurent.lahaye@ichec.be for instructions.

References

No manual for this lecture but specific articles and references (see moodle website for details)