EM Normandie awarded the DD&RS Label

The Label Committee has just awarded the DD&RS Label for Higher Education to EM Normandie, for 2 years. This standard underlines the commitment of the Business School and all its stakeholders to an environmental and societal impact, and supports its 'School for Good' approach, the school's guiding principle.

Since 2015, the labelling scheme, known as the DD&RS Label – for Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility – for higher education, covers the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined at international level and is structured around five axes, derived from the DD&RS Reference Framework, covering all areas of sustainable development:

• Strategy and governance,
• Education and training,
• Research and innovation,
• Environment,
• Social policy.

It provides national and international recognition for the sustainable development and corporate social responsibility initiatives of French higher education and research establishments. It also enables institutions to develop their skills as part of a group of committed institutions through participating in the labelling committee and through auditing candidate institutions.

Recent years have been marked by profound changes in society. The younger generation has expressed the wish for a fairer, more just, and reasonable world. EM Normandie, inheriting the social values of its founder Jules Siegfried, who founded the school in 1871, has therefore been seriously considering the impact of a Grande Ecole on its environment and, in 2021, started coming up with a strategic plan. The new 'School for Good' model mobilises the entire organisation around a common project: to have a positive societal and environmental impact by 2030 and to involve all stakeholders, employees, students, institutions, and partners in this change.

With this in mind, in 2021 the school created the Societal and Environmental Impact Department (DISE). It covers all actions that are aimed at reducing its campuses’ environmental footprint and making them more sustainable places to live, that are more respectful of environmental and societal standards (Campus for Good), as well as producing and disseminating knowledge to bring about change (Knowledge for Good) and mobilising all its audiences to support transition (People for Good).

As part of this strategy, DISE decided to embark on the DD&RS labelling process in order to take stock of and promote individual and communal initiatives, identify new ones, and continue and intensify this momentum. This DD&RS label enables establishments with this label to progress forward together, using a common methodology and reference system that involves the whole organisation in these vital issues.

The DD&RS labelling committee particularly emphasised the relevance of EM Normandie's 'School for Good' strategy, its actions in terms of research and innovation, and the quality of its social policy for employees and students.

"We’re very proud to join the group of establishments that have been awarded the DD&RS Label. Obtaining this standard from our very first application proves that our commitment to these issues and our actions have meaning and impact. This only reinforces our 'School for Good' philosophy and our ambition to have a positive impact on society and the environment by 2030. We must continue to make progress, and encourage and unite everyone in their commitment to these values," explains Solène Heurtebis, Director of DISE.