Climate Responsibility Today : Organisations, Communication and Impact.
ECTS : 2
Volume horaire : 18
Description du contenu de l'enseignement :
The course examines how organisations engage with climate responsibility and how this engagement is communicated. It explores the relationship between communicating about climate and organisational action, highlighting tensions between strategy, impact, communication, and credibility.
Students will develop a structured understanding of climate responsibility from both organisational and communication perspectives. The course addresses how responsibility is framed, operationalised, and sometimes contested across organisations, sectors, and global contexts.
Through lectures, examples, discussions, a collective intelligence workshop, and final presentations, students will critically examine climate communication practices, organisational responses to climate change, emerging business models, and evolving expectations related to climate responsibility.
Sessions combine lectures, case studies, structured discussions, a collective intelligence design thinking workshop, and group work.
Session 1 — Climate Responsibility Foundations.
Understanding Climate Responsibility Context.
- Climate Science literacy : key scientific resources relevant to organisational decision-making.
- Why climate responsibility matters for organizations : risks, opportunities, and stakeholders’ expectations.
- Introduction to climate communication narratives – Analysis of a coalition-led world campaign.
Session 2 — Climate Communication, Credibility & Regulations.
Communicating Responsibly About Climate.
- Greenwashing definitions and typologies
- Real-world examples and critical analysis
- Communicating climate responsibility for organizations
Session 3 — Organisational Responses to Climate Constraints.
Transforming Organizations to meet Climate goals.
- Translating awareness into structured organisational methodologies
- Key organizational frameworks and metrics - critical perspective.
- Responsible growth, degrowth, slow growth and alternative business models
- Guided class discussion : How can regulation, governance, and technology support organisational climate strategies?
Session 4 — Collective Intelligence Workshop.
Design-thinking workshop exploring a shared climate challenge from multiple stakeholder perspectives.
Output:
A collective multi-actor climate alignment roadmap.
Session 5 — Global Perspectives & Future Challenges.
- Group applied project presentations – Part 1
- Class discussion : Social dimensions of climate responsibility : Labor, Diversity, Climate justice.
Session 6 — Final Presentations & Exam.
- Group applied project presentations – Part 2.
- Course synthesis and conclusions
- Individual in-class exam (paper and pen).
Compétence à acquérir :
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Understand the main dimensions of climate responsibility in contemporary organisational contexts;
• Analyse climate communication strategies and narrative framing;
• Critically assess greenwashing risks, regulatory influences, and credibility challenges;
• Identify organisational responses through measurement methodologies, reporting systems, new business models, and value chain transformation;
• Apply systems-thinking, design-thinking, and collective intelligence approaches to climate responsibility;
• Reflect critically on emerging global challenges and future developments in climate responsibility.
Mode de contrôle des connaissances :
- Group Project (40%);
- Individual Written Exam (60%) – In class, hand and paper.
Bibliographie, lectures recommandées :
- Hickel, J., Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World. Penguin, 2021;
- Klein, N. , This Changes Everything : Capitalism vs. The Climate, Penguin, 2015;
- Hawken P., Drawdown, The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, Penguin, 2017;
- Porter, M., & Kramer, M, Creating Shared Value. Harvard Business Review, 2011.
Web resources :
United Nations. Transforming Our World : The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
IPCC. Climate Change 2023 : Synthesis Report (AR6), 2023
Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Circular economy resources
Project Drawdown
Climate Fresk (La Fresque du Climat)
More references and case studies provided during the course.