Sustainability & Organizations Center Sustainability & Organizations Center
In a world shaped by interconnected environmental and social challenges, the S&O center brings research and education together to inform decisions, inspire solutions and equip current and future leaders to advance a sustainable and just transition.
Created in 2009 as HEC Paris’ first interdisciplinary center, the Sustainability & Organizations (S&O) Center explores how businesses can respond to the environmental and social challenges reshaping economies and societies.
Today, S&O brings together researchers, students, business leaders, policymakers and civil society actors around two closely connected fields: climate and social sustainability. By combining rigorous academic research with knowledge drawn from practice, the Center develops a deeper understanding of systemic challenges and helps identify credible pathways towards more sustainable and inclusive forms of development.
Research lies at the heart of its mission. Through interdisciplinary programs, European research projects and initiatives such as the Impact Lab and HOPES, S&O supports innovative research agendas, field-based experimentation and dialogue across sectors. These collaborations contribute to management scholarship while producing evidence-based insights that can inform organizational practices and public policy.
S&O also helps translate knowledge into learning and action. The center contributes to programs that equip students, executives, and current and future leaders to understand sustainability challenges, question established models and make more informed decisions. From the MSc in Sustainability and Social Innovation to courses and experiential learning activities embedded in the HEC Paris curriculum, its pedagogy connects academic knowledge with real-world situations.
As part of the HEC Institute, S&O operates within a broader ecosystem of centers while retaining its distinctive focus on climate and social sustainability. This environment creates opportunities for collaboration across disciplines and communities, connecting research, education and practice.
S&O’s ambition is to produce knowledge that matters, develop the capabilities needed to act and contribute to the transformation of organizations in support of a sustainable and just transition.
Our Thematic Labs and Exploratory Initiatives
At a time of profound environmental, social and geopolitical change—when public debate is increasingly polarized and trust in science and institutions is under pressure—HEC Paris has a responsibility to produce rigorous, independent knowledge and make it accessible beyond the academic community.
S&O’s thematic labs and exploratory initiatives create spaces where researchers and practitioners can investigate emerging issues, test ideas and build knowledge across disciplinary and sectoral boundaries.
Business and Geopolitics
To provide leaders with fast, reliable, and actionable strategic intelligence in a world shaped by technological disruption and geopolitical instability.
Making the Transition Possible
To position the climate transition as a strategic, economic and societal opportunity, rethinking value creation, business models, markets, and technologies to align sustainability with competitiveness and resilience.
Social Cohesion & Trust
to restore trust at the core of organizations and society, viewing it as a key driver of social justice, collective well-being, and sustainable economic performance
Climate & Migrations
To transform a crisis into a driver of inclusion, social innovation, and economic opportunity.
Longevity, Aging Well and the Silver Economy
To address the economic and societal challenges of demographic ageing, while turning increased longevity into a strategic opportunity.
HOPES
To reduce structural inequalities by expanding access to education, economic opportunities, and entrepreneurship for underrepresented and marginalized groups.
A community of thought and action
We are deeply grateful to our community of partners, 250 donors, Majors Donors to the HEC Foundation, without whom none of this would be possible
Annual Forum fostering multi-stakeholder dialogue
S&O News
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