Université Paris-Saclay launches a new staff training course in sustainable development
At the end of 2024, Université Paris-Saclay launched an unprecedented training course which will be deployed over the next two years to train approximately 16,000 staff members in sustainable development issues.
Global warming and biodiversity loss are major threats for our planet and societies. When the university was first established, Université Paris-Saclay decided to make sustainable development a key part of its institutional statutes. This symbolic act has meant that the university has incorporated the major environmental challenges of the 21st century into all of its research, education and university activities, bringing together all of its services and departments.
Humanity has the possibility to take action collectively, and simultaneously reduce inequalities in different parts of the world; this is the challenge of the ecological transition. However, in order to appreciate what is at stake, we must first understand how these global changes work and their relationship with our lifestyles and consumption patterns. This is the very objective of the new training course “Demain autrement” (A different tomorrow).
The training course was developed using IPCC and IPBES reports and was coordinated by Sophie Szopa, a research director at the Laboratory for Climate and Environmental Sciences (LSCE -CEA/Université Paris-Saclay), also former Vice President at Université Paris-Saclay (May 2022 –June 2024). The course aims to help staff at Université Paris-Saclay to familiarise themselves with the scientific bases which justify the need for an ecological transition, and give participants a shared foundation of knowledge in environmental issues.
At the end of the course, trainees will have explored the causes and consequences of climate change, biodiversity erosion and the extent of these disruptive changes caused by human activity, which can still be reversed. Participants will also learn about the ways to adjust and reduce these changes.
Once trainees will have acquired this foundation, additional training courses adapted to specific jobs and areas of expertise may also be provided.
In the long-term, the Demain autrement training course will be made available in open access to all.