Sustainability & Transitions

Accelerating sustainable transition at HEC Liège

Created in 2020, S'LAB is HEC Liège's cross-disciplinary platform dedicated to the challenges of social and environmental transition. Its mission is to federate sustainability-related initiatives, expertise and projects within the School, in order to better connect them to the realities of the field, the business world and society.

Aware of the key role of higher education in transforming our economic models, S'LAB is working to train the managers and entrepreneurs of tomorrow, capable of reconciling economic performance, social justice and respect for planetary limits.

An impact structured around our three pillars

Education

The S'LAB actively contributes to the integration of sustainability into all HEC Liège programs. It participates in strategic reflections on curricula and provides concrete support to teachers wishing to integrate these issues into their courses, across all disciplines.

The Lab also supports major pedagogical projects such as the Enterprise, Sustainability and Transition course, skills workshops, student challenges and the Welcome Sprint, an entrepreneurial challenge that brings first-year students together every year to focus on the Sustainable Development Goals.

As early as 2010, thanks to its Centre for Social Economy, HEC Liège positioned itself as a true pioneer by offering its students a specialization in the Management of social and sustainable enterprises, within the Master in Management (120 credits). 

Since then, other programs have been added to our offer, such as the Specialised Master in Social Economy, in partnership with UCLouvain, and since the academic year 2022-2023, a Specialised Master in "Sustainable and Climate Finance".

HEC Liège Executive Education is currently developing a new training program that will strengthen the expertise of Walloon managers and decision-makers involved in the sustainable transition of their organizations.

Research

Taking into account the scarcity of natural resources, climate change and the persistence of socio-economic inequalities, each of our 7 strategic research fields questions the solutions taken for granted and develops specific expertise in transition (sustainable finance, change management, smart cities, social economy, sustainable marketing, sustainable supply chains, global performance). On this basis, the teachers and researchers at HEC Liège develop new business models based on alternative models of value creation. 

Community service & citizenship

An impact-driven approach

The S'LAB raises awareness and mobilizes the entire HEC Liège community. Through campaigns such as Stop Waste, Danc'IN Diversity, the Sustainability Friends network and Climate Actions Training, the Lab encourages everyone to become an agent of change, both on campus and in society at large.

Aware of the challenges of the ecological and social transition, each member of the HEC Community is positioning himself as an actor of change.

The S'LAB supports this work of awareness and mobilization, by organizing numerous events around the theme of transition, and by supporting the activities organized by its partners, such as the Green Office of ULiège, the Digital Lab, the Venture Lab, Liège Creative, etc.  The S'LAB supports the meeting between all the actors of the HEC Liège Community and offers everyone the opportunity to address the challenges of the transition in their daily activities and missions.