"Change - A new way of talking business" IÉSEG Magazine - Issue #11
BUSINESS AND RESEARCH
Finance departments: the transformations of a crucial function /P.17 GOOD NEWS
Training, transformation /P.18 P.04
NICE TO MEET YOU
Guillaume Koudlansky de Lustrac, seasoned sportsman and ecological transition consultant /P.22
THEY CONTRIBUTED TO THE PRODUCTION OF THIS ISSUE... THANKS TO:
• Tristan Clay
• Antoine Decouvelaere
• Verena Ehrler
• Tristan Ferté
• Élodie Gentina
• Maja Korica
• Guillaume Koudlansky de Lustrac
• Rémi Lefebvre
• Corinne Michel
• Gouri Mohan
• Hayley Moore
• Marie Redon
• Laetitia Sergent
• Corinne Statnik
• Camille Thiriez
NUMBER 11
The magazine that takes a new look at IÉSEG business
IÉSEG
3, rue de la Digue - 59000 Lille
1, parvis de La Défense - 92044 Paris www.ieseg.fr
June 2025
Publishing director: Caroline Roussel
Editor in chief: Laure Quedillac
Editorial team: Alexandra Briot, Antoine Decouvelaere, Laetitia Dugrain-Noël, Manon Duhem, Andrew Miller, Victoire Salmon, Vincent Schiltz, Laure Quedillac
Design & Production: alcalie.fr
Editing: alcalie.fr
Photography: ACALY, Benoît Dupont, Nicolas Eymard, IÉSEG, istock2025
A BETTER SOCIETY
Equality between women and men: a transformation taking (very) small steps
BUSINESS AND RESEARCH
When the energy industry embraces the circular economy /P.16
“Our responsibility is to support our students in their transformation, in particular through individual support”.
TRANSFORMING UNCERTAINTY
The world of higher education is evolving and cannot escape the transformations affecting our societies. Whether they are demographic, technological, environmental, economic or geopolitical, our mission is to anticipate them so that we can respond strategically, lucidly and responsibly.
In higher education, the first of these changes is the intensification of international competition, which is all the more pronounced because of the relentless demographic trend. From 2027 onwards, the number of 15 to 18 year olds will begin to fall at a rate that will continue to accelerate thereafter. We must therefore constantly adapt the way in which we carry out our missions - training, research, services to businesses - in a society that will soon have more active seniors than young students. This effort is also part of a context marked by commitment. Commitment to the ecological transition, through a policy of reducing our carbon footprint. Commitment to educational innovation, by making judicious use of new technologies - in particular AI - to put them at the service of teachers and learning. Finally, a commitment to a responsible economy, capable of making our societies better.
Caroline ROUSSEL, Managing Director of IÉSEG.
This responsibility involves educating the younger generation. Our primary mission is a human one: every year, the School welcomes young people emerging from adolescence. Three to five years later, our graduates are adults ready to take charge of a life that has only just begun. All are different, all have their own outlook, all are preparing to pursue a life project that is gradually taking shape. Our responsibility is to support them in this very personal transformation. Through individualised support - be it pedagogical, academic or linked to their career plans - through internships and the constant attention we pay to their wellbeing and academic success, we contribute to the development of an autonomy that is further strengthened by the international experience provided by our vast network of 300 partner universities. This commitment extends well beyond the degree itself: our ties with alumni remain strong, through the vitality of our alumni network and the continuing education programmes and targeted modules we offer. Transformation is a lifelong process, and that’s where IÉSEG is heading.
The world is changing fast, and democracy is in a bad way. In its latest report, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), an offshoot of ‘The Economist’ magazine, once again sounds the alarm: the number of countries considered to be ‘full’ or “imperfect” democracies has fallen from 74 to 71 in 2024, while 96 countries are defined as ‘hybrid’ or outright authoritarian regimes. Worse still, the world average has fallen to 5.17/10, its lowest level since the index was created in 2006. Is democracy going out of fashion? Rémi Lefebvre, political scientist and professor at the University of Lille, takes a closer look.
IN FRANCE, AS IN EUROPE, DEMOCRACY SEEMS TO BE AN ACHIEVEMENT THAT IS UNDER THREAT. IS THE THREAT REAL?
We can indeed speak of a process of democratic deconsolidation. Democracy is based on a number of fundamentals that seemed solid 20 years ago. Some people even saw the fall of the Soviet bloc as a kind of end of history and the triumph of Western democracy over the Soviet bloc*. We more or less consciously assumed that democracy would be history’s unassailable horizon.
BUT THINGS ARE CHANGING... It’s hard to pinpoint the beginning, but the trend has been accelerating sharply over the last ten years. We are of course thinking of what is happening in the United States, but the phenomenon did not wait for Donald Trump’s second term to make itself felt. Almost everywhere, abstention is becoming a mass phenomenon, and the discrediting of politicians is reaching new heights: more than seven
out of ten French people consider them to be corrupt to some degree**. Pillars such as the rule of law, the vote and political parties are being eroded. Our society is becoming more fragmented by the day, with polarisation becoming more pronounced. It is becoming more difficult to build common ground. At the same time, powerful authoritarian forces are gaining ground. The transformations that await us in the coming decades - the ecological transition, increased migration, etc. - are likely to make this fragility even more acute.
1851 WITH NAPOLEON III, 1940 WITH VICHY... FRENCH DEMOCRACY HAS SEEN ITS SHARE OF CRISES IN THE PAST. WHY IS THAT?
In a way, crisis is a routine feature of democracy. The discrediting of political elites is an equally old phenomenon - just think of the anti-parliamentarianism of the 1930s or the Poujadism of the 1950s. This can no doubt be explained by the fact that democracy is a political system that
always produces uncertainty and disappointment, because it is a process that requires time to be informed, to listen, to debate and to deliberate, and which produces expectations that are always new and difficult to meet, such as equality.
WHY SHOULD THE CURRENT CRISIS BE MORE SERIOUS?
Because time is becoming a scarce commodity. Everyone is caught up in the rush, individually and collectively. One event constantly chases another: terrorism, Covid, the yellow waistcoats, the geopolitical crisis, the institutional crisis... This permanent centrifuge creates an anxiety-inducing climate, coupled with the impression that we no longer have control over anything. There is less time to think. If ecology is disappearing from political agendas, it’s not by chance: it takes time and invites us to project ourselves into a worrying future. At a time when the present is already constantly slipping away, the crisis of democracy is also a crisis of the future.
“The pillars of democracy are schools, universities, the media and the justice system. They are all under attack.”
JASON STANLEY, PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO (“LE MONDE”, 2 MAY 2025)
6,6 % OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION LIVE IN A “FULL DEMOCRACY” (THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT, 2024).
YOU MENTIONED A PHENOMENON THAT IS ACCELERATING. WHAT ARE THE REASONS FOR THIS?
It seems to me that a number of phenomena are contributing to this. Globalisation is one of them, insofar as it overturns the principle of nation-states, where democracy was understood as a system united around a national community. Globalisation upsets this perception by giving rise to the idea that we no longer control anything. The other striking factor is a paradox: in reality, the level of demand for democracy has risen sharply. Proof of this is the fact that a significant proportion of the population is asking
to participate in political life and decision-making. 25 years ago, people were content to vote. Today, people have more say than ever before, but they also want to be heard. Many citizens want to have a say in other ways - a minority, admittedly, but a very active minority. The third phenomenon is the impact of digital technology: the web and networks are disrupting and deepening the crisis.
WHY IS THIS?
The web reinforces the polarisation of opinions, with a form of digital populism that simply reflects the power of GAFAM. The technological context is not conducive to democracy. It could be, because the way networks function could lead to greater involvement and participation, but the weaknesses of its regulation are making it more fragile.
IN THE FACE OF THIS RAPID TRANSFORMATION, DOES DEMOCRACY HAVE ANY TRUMP CARDS?
*Cf. “La Fin de l’histoire et le Dernier Homme”, de Francis Fukuyama (1992). **Enquête CEVIPOF, 2025.
“Where danger grows, so too grows that which saves,” as Hölderlin once wrote. We are entering a moment of truth, one that presents us with a stark alternative: either we begin to rethink new ways of “practising democracy,” or we risk descending into chaos.
The pessimistic scenario is one in which anti-democratic forces gain enough influence to radically transform the system. This threat of an authoritarian drift is real. Yet, we have also witnessed promising developments—such as the Citizens’ Convention on Climate in France. This initiative proved that 300 randomly selected individuals are fully capable of generating collective intelligence, provided they are given the time and means to do so. Resilience can also emerge from the failure of ruling forces: Poland, for instance, has shown that it is possible to recover from an illiberal turn.
The issue today is that democracy can no longer be reduced to voting once every five years. Citizens, especially younger generations, are no longer satisfied with this limited participation. The real challenge lies in reconciling traditional representative democracy with more direct, participatory, and consultative forms of civic engagement.
WEIMAR, THE WARNING
A tenacious legend has it that Hitler was elected by the Germans in 1933. In his recent book* on the fall of the Weimar Republic, historian of the Third Reich Johann Chapoutot reminds us that nothing could be further from the truth: Hitler was appointed Chancellor by President Hindenburg, not elected, the day after parliamentary elections in which the Nazi party, the NSDAP**, suffered a clear defeat. The rapid collapse of the Weimar Republic was the result of a political choice, not a majority popular vote.
*Johann Chapoutot, “Les Irresponsables. Qui a porté Hitler au pouvoir ?”, Gallimard, 2025.
**Parti national-socialiste des travailleurs allemands
Rémi LEFEBVRE, political scientist and professor at the University of Lille
WHAT IF THE HR DIRECTOR WAS AN AI?
Human resources are no exception to the trend towards artificial intelligence, with algorithms being used in a number of HR processes. Where do we stand? Hayley Moore, postdoctoral researcher at IÉSEG, explains.
CAN AI IMPROVE THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS? HOW?
AI can optimise the start of a recruitment process, for example by automating certain tasks such as screening applicants or sending rejection letters. This frees up recruiters’ time so that they can concentrate on high added-value tasks, such as interviewing. AI is also used to prescreen CVs, by searching for keywords and ranking candidates according to their suitability for the job. The first limitation of this automation is that these systems can miss qualified candidates if their CVs use a different language from that of the learning model. What’s more, these tools can reproduce certain previous biases if they are trained on poor quality databases. Amazon, for example, abandoned a recruitment tool that penalised female CVs, having been trained on predominantly male data. This shows how biased data can lead to discriminatory results, even if the system seems neutral. Without a human eye, these tools can reinforce prejudice.
CAN AI IMPROVE TRAINING PROGRAMMES AND GPEC*?
AI can improve training and team planning by identifying current or future skills gaps, particularly in large groups. It can analyse performance appraisals, career transitions and training programmes to recommend ad hoc career paths. AI could also predict skills shortages by analysing the job market, for example, to anticipate competition for highly sought-after skills. Finally, it can be used to personalise learning by recommending modules or creating adaptive learning environments.
CAN CERTAIN ADMINISTRATIVE TASKS BE AUTOMATED USING AI?
AI is useful for routine, formal and repetitive HR systems: scheduling interviews, sending automated messages, answering new employees’ most frequently asked questions to help them through certain procedures. It can help management allocate teams by analysing the availability and skills of employees to generate optimised schedules. But AI is also playing a growing role in complex tasks such as employee appraisal, turnover forecasting, engagement, etc. Some predictive models can boost retention by identifying early signs of disengagement, enabling managers to act before problems escalate. Some tools use anonymised data to
monitor changes in morale, detect the risk of burnout, etc. Used properly, AI is not just an automation tool, it is also a source of analysis and decision-making support. But it can never replace the human eye.
*Gestion prévisionnelle de l’emploi et des compétences / Forward-looking management of employment and skills
Hayley MOORE , postgraduate researcher at IÉSEG.
FRENCH INDUSTRY AT A CROSSROADS
The last thirty years have been painful for French industry. The sector can count on some promising assets and a few giants, provided that it transforms itself.
Is France a champion of de-industrialisation? The trend has certainly been more pronunced than elsewhere: since the 1980s, the industrial sector’s share of GDP has fallen from 25% to 16.8%*, well behind its neighbours in Germany (25%), Italy (22%) and Switzerland (20%). The chronicle of this steady decline has been fuelled by a long list of departures, bankruptcies and takeovers, often associated with social disruption that has left its mark on the collective memory, from Alstom to Whirlpool to Ascoval. Still on the bad news front, the sector is facing structural challenges: a shortage of land (40% of industrial parks are already saturated), hourly labour costs well above the European average (€43.6 compared with €34) and lengthy administrative delays - setting up a factory in France takes on average twice as long as in the rest of the OECD**. In addition, 65% of the sector’s managers are experiencing recruitment difficulties.
SOME STRATEGIC ASSETS
France still has some powerful assets to offer in the run-up to a possible revival. Although the country has lost half its factories and a third of its industrial jobs since 1995, one out of every two CAC 40 companies is in the secondary sector - global giants such as Air Liquide, Bouygues, TotalEnergies and Stellantis feed a solid network of subcontractors in critical sectors ranging from automotive to defence, pharmaceuticals and aerospace. Many of them have joined forces to carry out large-scale projects, such as Stellantis and TotalEnergies on electric motors (see opposite) or Airbus, Air Liquide and Vinci Airports on airborne hydrogen. More broadly, French Tech and its 30 “unicorns” have undeniable potential, especially as they are largely positioned in the disruptive technologies of the industry of the future - a point often criticised in France, which remains the only European country to feature in the top 10 global technology clusters. Even if its strike power is obviously not on a par with that of China
or the United States, France is present in six of the ten cross-disciplinary technological fields considered crucial for the industry of the future***: biotech, quantum computing, cleantech, the Internet of Things, 5G and AI. Launched in 2021, the France 2030 investment plan (€54 billion) is designed in part to make up for France’s industrial lag and invest in innovative technologies. Between 2017 and 2023, industry created 130,000 jobs.
RENEWAL UNDER THREAT
The fact remains, however, that re-industrialisation is no simple matter, requiring considerable investment to modernise plants and mobilise ecosystems in a difficult international context. The post-Covid upturn - which is real - has been sluggish for some months now, with massive government support. Although France remains the most attractive country in Europe for foreign investment, weak European demand and excessively high energy costs are weighing down a picture that is further complicated by the US
customs policy, which is both illegible and brutal, and overproduction by Chinese industry, which is pushing down tariffs. The environmental transition further complicates the picture, destabilising some sectors while helping others to emerge. The bottom line is that the steel and chemicals industries are suffering, held back by falling demand in the automotive sector. Conversely, health, agri-food, energy and industries linked to the circular economy are booming. This has had an impact on net job creation: after 81,637 jobs created in 2023, the figure for 2024 stands at 31,223. Another point: industrial investment continued to rise (+9%) between 2023 and 2024.
The year 2025 therefore looks more uncertain than ever: while the major defence effort announced at European level is supposed to boost the arms industry, the vagueness surrounding the amount of US customs duties could encourage some players to relocate part of their production across the Atlantic, at the risk of slowing the pace of investment in France and Europe, investment that is so necessary.
*BPI, 2024
**INSEE, 2023
***McKinsey, 2023
HAUTS-DE-FRANCE, A TEXTBOOK CASE
Boosted by large-scale projects, particularly in the field of automotive batteries, the region has been concentrating major industrial investment over the past three years. But the road ahead remains uncertain. In a region long associated with the decline of its coalfields, electricity is almost like a new Eldorado. Firstly, in the nuclear sector, with the announcement of a future extension to the Gravelines power station, designed to accommodate two new EPRs on a site that is already home to the most powerful reactors in Western Europe, a project costing 18 billion euros. Then there’s the automotive sector, with four gigafactories either operational or on the verge of becoming so. ACC (a joint venture between Stellantis, Mercedes and TotalEnergies) has been producing battery cells for several manufacturers, including Stellantis, since 2024. Added to these are the Sino-Japanese AESC near Douai, Tiamat in Amiens and Verkor in Dunkirk: the Grenoble-based company already has its first site up and running there and has submitted applications for authorisation for Verkor 2 and Verkor 3. The aim of this ‘Battery Valley’ is to produce two million batteries by 2030, creating 20,000 jobs. This ambitious figure includes expected recruitment by chemical manufacturers, suppliers of components of all kinds and recyclers. However, these projections are coming up against unforeseen circumstances, in a sector weighed down by the sluggishness of the automotive sector. The project dreamed up by Suez and Eramet in Dunkirk has come up against the withdrawal of the latter, while the Canadian company Li-Cycle is putting off confirming the installation of its reprocessing plant near Harnes, in the Pas-de-Calais region. Here again, 2025 will be crucial.
HOW AIR FRANCE INDUSTRIES IS TRANSFORMING ITSELF
Maintenance of existing fleets, new aircraft models, geopolitical uncertainties... Faced with the many challenges it faces, the civil aviation sector is constantly transforming itself, explains Corinne Michel, Director of Transformation, Innovation and Sustainable Development at Air France Industries.
WHAT ROLE DOES AIR FRANCE INDUSTRIES PLAY WITHIN AIR FRANCE?
Our mission is to maintain the six mediumand long-haul aircraft (Airbus and Boeing) that operate for Air France. This involves repairing engines and equipment and managing the supply chain, a cross-functional activity that includes managing the stocks needed for operations. Our 7,500 employees don’t just work for Air France: half of our maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO*) activities, particularly engines and equipment, are for external customers.
THIS PUTS YOU AT THE CENTRE OF A VAST GALAXY OF PARTNERS, SUPPLIERS AND COMPETITORS... HOW IS THIS ECOSYSTEM EVOLVING?
Air France Industries works with a wide range of players in the aeronautical world: aircraft manufacturers, engine manufacturers, equipment manufacturers, etc. Our relationships oscillate between sometimes intense competition and increasingly advanced partnerships. To take a concrete example, aircraft manufacturers have a relatively small presence in the after-sales market. They therefore depend on the airlines to obtain data on the ageing and reliability of their models, creating a highly interwoven and interdependent ecosystem. The profound changes taking place in air transport mean that this cooperation is becoming increasingly crucial to meeting the challenges of environmental transition, for example.
HOW DO YOU INNOVATE IN YOUR FIELD?
Innovation must enable us to reduce our maintenance times and costs, but also to support the environmental transition in the aviation sector. It must therefore serve the objectives of responsiveness, competitiveness, sustainability and improved operational performance. This includes, in particular, the use of virtual reality to develop the skills of mechanics and technicians, or 3D printing of polymer parts mainly intended for cabin equipment, obviously after certification - including soap dishes... This enables us to respond to tensions in the global supply chain for certain parts. We don’t have a dedicated R&D department, but we do work with prestigious institutions such as the École polytechnique féminine, IPSA, ISAESUPAERO and Arts et Métiers on subjects such as soft mobility and waste recovery. We also rely on a network of startups in fields such as virtual reality and green technologies.
THE IMPRESSION WE GET IS OF AN ONGOING QUEST FOR SMALL GAINS RATHER THAN A MAJOR BREAK WITH THE PAST...
Air France Industries is indeed distinguished by a culture of constant adaptation, which is logical: we manage both older fleets and more recent models. This means that we need to adapt constantly without radically changing our model. This incremental approach therefore favours continuous improvement rather than disruptive change. Air France Industries can also draw on a participative innovation approach initiated 30 years ago, which enables employees to be included. This culture of adaptation can only benefit us as the challenges of environmental transition take hold.
“The profound changes taking place in air transport mean that this cooperation is becoming increasingly crucial to meeting the challenges of environmental transition.”
*Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul.
Corinne MICHEL, director of Transformation, Innovation and Sustainable Development at Air France Industries.
DIGITAL MARKETING: A NEW ERA?
Marketing may have changed since the dawn of the digital age, but the explosion of generative AI seems to mark a new stage in the history of a field that is constantly reshaping itself. Laetitia Sergent, a webmarketing expert and member of the committed collective Kokoï, argues for a responsible approach.
WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL WEB MARKETING CAMPAIGN TODAY?
Changes in Internet user behaviour and platform algorithms mean that growth through web marketing is less accessible to companies than it was 5-6 years ago. Generally speaking, online advertising increasingly requires carefully crafted content, with high-quality video, editorial and graphic work. It also requires a multi-channel approach, combining public relations, influencer marketing, search engine optimisation, etc. It’s a constraint, but it’s not unaffordable. While highend brands have every interest in going through a production agency, there is still room for more reasonable budgets. Some companies, for example, can entrust this work to young employees who know the codes and will be able to create authentic content.
THE DEMANDS ARE MULTIPLYING. HOW DO YOU STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD?
The war for attention is intensifying because the digital world is increasingly saturated. Ten years ago, only a small proportion of companies embarked on digital marketing campaigns. Today, everyone is asking the question, including B2B companies. Having a showcase on the web is a necessity, but attention levels are automatically falling; knowing how to catch people’s eye is becoming essential across all media (website, social networks, advertising, influence, etc.).
Laetitia SERGENT, web marketing expert and member of the committed collective Kokoï (IÉSEG 2014).
MARKETING IS ESSENTIALLY A CREATIVE FUNCTION. WHAT CHANGES DOES THE ARRIVAL OF AI BRING ABOUT?
AI is having a real impact on certain functions, such as translation. They are also making it possible to automate part of the management of web campaigns and to increase the speed of content, although they are not (yet) replacing creative work. That said, their emergence raises questions that are all the more fundamental given that the world of web marketing is less regulated than that of traditional advertising. AI makes it easy to produce misleading advertising without the consumers knowledge, which raises fundamental, ethical and legal questions.
BUT THE GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION LAW DOES PROVIDE A FRAMEWORK... Europe was right to set limits on the amount of data that the major global players (Google, Meta...) can collect. Unfortunately, many sites are still in breach. What’s more, the major advertising platforms (Google or Meta) have introduced new tracking parameters that make up for this loss of data (while still complying with the RGPD). Since this law came into force, it has become more difficult for companies that comply with it to measure the performance of a campaign, because a large proportion of Internet users refuse to give up their data via cookies.
SO ARE INTERNET USERS MORE SUSPICIOUS THAN IN THE PAST?
Let’s say that they are seeking to regain a form of trust. Responsible marketing involves taking account of these new expectations by reassuring consumers. For example, I think it’s important to devote part of your website to explaining your production process in a transparent way, to restore a sense of closeness between the brand and its customers.
IS MANAGEMENT A JOB
THAT NO LONGER APPEALS?
Long seen as a key career step, management is becoming less attractive, particularly among younger employees. Why is this, and how can we change this?
Are you a company director looking to select the ideal manager for a key team?
Good luck with that. According to APEC, in 2023 only 56% of managers under 35 were planning to manage a team one day, seven points less than the previous year. Is this cause for concern? Yes and no, according to Élodie Gentina, professor of marketing at IÉSEG and a specialist in generation Z, the generation that is now applying for managerial positions - or not. “Of course, there are still young people ready to take on responsibilities, but it all depends on the type of management that prevails in the company. The most rigid models are less attractive because these often very hierarchical schemes no longer correspond to a vision of the world built on the notion of network and community.” The bad news is that France appears to be lagging behind its neighbours in this respect, according to the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (IGAS). In a recent report devoted to managerial practices in four leading economic sectors (the automotive, hotel and catering, digital and insurance industries), the body notes that
‘managerial practices appear to be more vertical than those of our neighbours, recognition at work is weaker and manager training is more academic’. This is the exact opposite of the expectations of a generation that favours dialogue and explanation... More than a management crisis as such, it is a transformation in the very perception of what a manager should be, to which companies must adapt.
CHANGING THE RULES OF THE GAME
Another point to bear in mind is that the traditional “privileges” associated with the job - recognition, salary - are no longer enough to attract people, explains Élodie Gentina: ‘A study by the recruitment firm Robert Walters showed that around 70% of young people feel that middle management positions are very stressful jobs, with unsatisfactory pay in relation to the responsibilities they have to take on’. If salary isn’t everything, how do you win people back? One way is simply to listen to the expectations of young managers, says Élodie Gentina: “This generation no longer operates around the idea of a career plan, with methodical progression from step to step. What’s important to them is to occupy interesting positions, to learn on a daily basis and to undergo constant training. So what does that mean? Yes, salary is now a necessary condition, but not a sufficient one. To attract young people, companies will have to offer greater flexibility (teleworking, working hours, etc.), provide better support when they take up a new post, and clarify the role, which should no longer alienate young
Élodie GENTINA, marketing professor at IÉSEG and specialist in Generation Z.
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managers from the field. Whether they are managers or not, ‘young workers want to be constantly fed, without retreating into traditional management roles’, says Élodie Gentina, who warns that this trend is anything but a passing fad, and companies will have no choice. Transforming their practices is an imperative: ‘If their managers don’t find their work interesting, they’ll leave’.
GENDER EQUALITY: (VERY) SMALL STEPS TOWARDS TRANSFORMATION
Although it has been enshrined in law since 1946, gender equality is still struggling to make inroads in the world of work. Why is this?
The figures are stubborn. At global level, the International Labour Organisation noted that when a man earned a dollar in 2004, a woman received just 47 cents. Twenty years later, she receives... 51.8 cents. As for France, equal pay has still not been achieved: in 2022, INSEE reported a net pay gap of 13.9% for an FTE. Yet the pay issue is only a symptom of a systemic problem. On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2025, two IÉSEG professors, Gouri Mohan and Maja Korica, led a webinar in which Emma Jacobs of the Financial Times took part, dedicated to a phenomenon that is all the more worrying in that a form of backlash already seems to be underway, as Maja Korica explained: “the progress made over the last decade in terms of inclusion and diversity is under threat; this raises doubts about the sincerity of certain companies that have gone back on their commitments in this area. “
As the two researchers point out, beyond the rhetoric, prejudice and structural obstacles persist, from doubts about the professional credibility of young women to ageism and the balance between family life and professional life.
THREE KEY POINTS
Designed as a forum for open discussion, the webinar highlighted three key points. Perhaps counter-intuitively, Dr Bobbi Thomason pointed out that resistance to women’s rights is paradoxically a sign of progress, while stressing the essential role of women’s networks in enabling women to overcome systemic challenges at work, particularly through the sharing of experiences and collective action. For her part, Dr Heejung Chung returned to a criticism often levelled at DCI policies for being less economically beneficial than expected, by reversing the burden of proof: where is the evidence to suggest that a world run by men would be the most effective model? For Maja Korica, “this reformulation is crucial: systems of inequality force
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marginalised groups to prove their worth, which diverts their energy away from real progress. In many cases, those who question efforts to promote diversity are not looking to be convinced; they want to distract you.” Thirdly and finally, Dr Heejung Chung pointed to the idea that feminism is a zero-sum game - in other words, that the gains made by women come at the expense of their male colleagues. Nothing could be further from the truth, emphasised the researcher, who pointed out that the progress made affects everyone, not just women - the case of flexible working policies being the best example of this. The organisations that are most active in terms of flexibility attract and retain the best talent, of all genders, and can
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therefore count on stronger, more resilient teams. The webinar concluded with a central statement: the debate about women’s careers is not just about women. It requires collective action, structural change and new strategic approaches.
Gouri MOHAN, professor of human resources at IÉSEG.
Maja KORICA, professor of strategic management at IÉSEG
THE FOUR CHALLENGES FACING EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE
Agriculture may “represent” only 1.4% of the EU’s GDP, but crises have served to remind us of its vital importance at a time when sometimes paradoxical injunctions are weighing on an entire sector. An overview of a sometimes painful transformation.
GENERATING A DECENT INCOME FOR
INCREASINGLY OLDER PROFESSIONALS
Although there are major disparities from one sector and region to another, the average income of a European farmer does not exceed 28,800 euros net per year - a crucial issue in an ageing sector which is struggling to attract new generations. The challenge is particularly acute in France, where 200,000 of the 450,000 farmers will reach retirement age in the next ten years.
RECONCILING AGRICULTURE AND ECOLOGY
Pesticides, resilience to climatic events, megabasins... Environmental issues, which are particularly explosive, regularly cause havoc in the public debate around a sector that accounts for 12% of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe, but which is above all faced with a complex challenge: improving yields to guarantee the continent’s food independence, while reducing the most harmful inputs. The
vagueness of the regulations does not help to clarify matters: while the latest version of the CAP made the payment of aid conditional on stricter environmental practices from 2023 onwards, the growing number of angry farmers has led the EU to slow down on certain points. Yet the majority of farmers say they are in favour of a transition that they know is essential, given the climate change they are witnessing first-hand.
FEEDING THE POPULATION, BUT AT WHAT PRICE?
Covid, the war in Ukraine and soaring energy costs have had a clear impact on food prices. Reconciling fair remuneration for producers with the purchasing power of consumers - especially the most vulnerable - is like squaring a circle. This is all the more true given that the most sustainable products are the first to be affected, as shown by the decline in organic produce: between
2020 and 2023, sales of organic products fell by 12% in supermarkets. While the market has stabilised in France (€12 billion in 2024), volumes are down by 7%.
THE LIMITS OF THE FREE MARKET
Recent geopolitical events - the rise in wheat prices since Russia’s aggression in Ukraine is a case in point - have served as a reminder of the importance of food sovereignty. There are also issues of undistorted competition, with the farming world constantly pointing to the threat of foreign products, sometimes produced at unbeatable prices in regions of the world that are not subject to the same health and environmental standards. This is what the ratification of the EU-Mercosur agreement is all about.
IN THE AISNE REGION, PAYZAN RETHINKS THE APERITIF
Created in 2023 in the Aisne region of France, Payzan now offers a wide range of aperitif products. Its aim is to transform the aperitif market in France with products made from locallygrown organic soya. A family story that also reflects the changes in the world of agriculture.
Payzan is the story of a trio who have settled on the land of the family farm, which has been in operation since the 19th century. Along with his brother and his brother’s partner, Tristan Ferté represents the fifth generation of this farming family. Together, the three thirty-somethings came up with the idea of using the farm’s produce to promote local, organic and responsible production. The idea was to come up with tasty, healthy products sold at the right price,” explains Tristan Ferté. We thought there was something to be done with spreadable products, hummus and small toasted seeds, all things you might associate with an aperitif, in an epicurean and gourmet way”. The business approach is clear: ‘The operators are entrepreneurs in their own right’, insists Tristan Ferté. A graduate of IÉSEG, he points out the importance of integrating marketing concepts into the agricultural world in general and for Payzan in particular: “Our target is a public that wants to find meaning in the products they taste. Producing the products we use in our recipes on the farm is important if we are to appeal to a more urban clientele”. Now listed in 150 outlets between Lille, Paris and Reims, Payzan is already profitable, and is aiming for 300 outlets within the next two years. It is also developing a range of products for businesses, including gift sets, private sales, aperitifs at the
A NEW ERA FOR THE PALAIS RAMEAU
A landmark of Lille and the Vauban district, the Palais Rameau has been enjoying a new lease of life since it reopened in March after three years of renovation.
Owned by the city of Lille, the building, inaugurated in 1881 and historically dedicated to horticultural exhibitions, has been entrusted for 25 years to Junia, the engineering school that financed its renovation and which includes the ISA, the Lille Higher Institute of Agriculture. Having fallen into a state of disrepair since the 1960s, the site has benefited from a major restoration that has transformed the face of this monumental building (25 m high, 4,000 m2 of floor space, 6,000 m2 of grounds). It’s a rejuvenation and a return to its roots: over time, the site had lost its original vocation and was used as an examination centre, a flea market, a polling station, a sales room and even a... billiards room. Urban agriculture, short circuits, sustainable farming, working on flavours... Today, the site is dedicated to innovations affecting the agriculture and food of tomorrow,” explains Corinne Statnik, head of the Business Management department at the École Centrale Paris. The site, its state-of-the-art laboratories and classrooms create an environment conducive to research.” But that’s not all: to ensure its financial equilibrium, the site now hosts a wide range of events, in a magnificent location right in the heart of Lille. The calendar is already set to run for several months...
Tristan FERTÉ (IÉSEG 2022) (to the left) with his two associates.
BUSINESS AND RESEARCH
WHEN THE ENERGY SECTOR EMBRACES THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY
As we debate the energy mix and the advantages and disadvantages of renewable energies, we tend to forget that the energy sector also raises issues of infrastructure and equipment. A graduate of the École Centrale de Lille and a specialist in innovation and digital solutions at Cegelec* Nord, Camille Thiriez manages, among other things, the Circable project. The aim is to provide building professionals with solutions for reusing electrical cables, an effective way of reducing the carbon footprint of their worksites.
WHAT IS THE CIRCABLE PROJECT?
The circular economy is a major trend in the world of energy and electricity networks. The aim is to rely more on what already exists rather than on new products. Circable is an electrical cable re-use scheme that involves recovering end-of-life cables and reprocessing them for reinstallation in renovated or new buildings.
IN PRACTICAL TERMS, HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT THIS?
We buy back the cables recovered by the deconstruction professionals who come into play when a building is restructured or demolished. At our Lesquin site, workers on integration schemes check the condition of each cable and recondition it, which essentially involves cutting them
to standard lengths and putting them in coils for resale to specialist equipment manufacturers, mainly within the Vinci group.
WHY DO CABLES LEND THEMSELVES TO THIS KIND OF RE-USE?
The barriers are not technical: we obviously need to put in place the right protocols, but these are products that age very well, with very little loss of performance. Instead, we are faced with operational and economic performance challenges. It’s counter-intuitive, but for the time being it’s no cheaper to reuse cables than to buy new ones.
WHY IS THIS?
Reuse involves depositing products, transporting them and reprocessing them, all with high standards of product
quality... The energy and construction industries are sectors in which each family of trades has industrialised its processes, with products offered at very competitive prices. By comparison, the recovery of cables and the process that enables them to be reused are still relatively traditional. On the other hand, they do add environmental value to the buildings they are used to equip. The building industry has to decarbonise its construction in order to comply with maximum carbon thresholds per square metre built. These re-used cables can help them to do this, as part of a comprehensive approach.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THIS?
One of the characteristics of the circular economy is that it involves rethinking the entire value chain, and therefore the
FINANCE DEPARTMENTS:
THE TRANSFORMATION OF A CRUCIAL FUNCTION
Inaugurated in 2023 with the support of the DFCG* and Axys, IÉSEG’s “CFO and Sustainable Transformation” research chair is dedicated to the study of corporate finance departments. This is a function that has undergone profound change,” explains Marie Redon, Professor of Accounting and Doctor of Management Sciences.
way in which the players interact with each other. We have to invent an efficient logistics chain in order to recover our cables from deconstructors in the best possible way, before reprocessing them. On a construction site, installing reused cables is not quite the same as using new cables. Every stage in the chain must be optimised to industrialise this solution, make it competitive and achieve a triple performance: economic, environmental and social.
*A subsidiary of Vinci Énergies.
ONE KM OF REUSED CABLE MEANS...
• 3 TONS LESS OF EQUIVALENT OF C02
• 56 KILOS OF COPPER EXTRACTION AVOIDED
• 69 M3 OF WATER CONSUMPTION SAVE
• 10 HOURS OF WORK EXPERIENCE GAINED
Marie Redon’s research into the evolution of finance departments has led her to delve into the history of a function that has been constantly reshaped since the 1980s. After analysing around a thousand CVs and conducting around a hundred interviews, the researcher has identified three main changes: “Forty years ago, the CFO was primarily responsible for producing financial statements that complied with regulations. Often coming from external audit or accounting backgrounds, these profiles were distinguished by their strong technical expertise”. At the beginning of the 90s, the role was broadened to make the CFO a business partner: the function became a link between general management and operational departments.
A MULTI-FACETED TRANSFORMATION
Since the 2010s, explains Marie Redon, “the CFO function has become more complex with the intensification of financialisation, which has led to a splitting of CFO roles. The Compliance CFO focuses on producing financial statements that comply with increasingly strict accounting and financial regulations in the wake of scandals such as Enron. The Cash Manager CFO focuses on cost optimisation issues, and sometimes has to manage sensitive structural adjustment measures such as site closures or redundancies”. But the most significant development in the function is moving towards Risk
Management. “In this highly strategic position between the shareholders and the Chairman and CEO, the CFO is primarily responsible for minimising the volatility of the share price by controlling all the risks, whether organisational, political, environmental or other. This role gives considerable power to the CFO”. The future of the function promises to be just as complex. Technological developments - the emergence of AI in particular - are opening up new prospects for CFOs, who will need to master new tools. The other major change stems from the climate emergency: “Accounting and financial regulations are evolving to incorporate nonfinancial performance into the balance sheet. The CFO is called upon to play a more global role, linked to society as a whole”. Faced with these multiple transformations, the CFO is now called upon to embrace new challenges in order to reinvent his function and seize the opportunity to rise even higher. These issues are the subject of research conducted by the CFO & Sustainable Transformation Chair (in partnership with the DFCG and Axys: axys-consultants.com). If you would like to testify or contribute, please contact: m.redon@ieseg.fr
*National Association of Financial and Management Control Directors
Camille THIRIEZ, specialist in innovation and digital solutions at Cegelec Nord
TRAINING AND CHANGE
New subjects, new formats, new expectations, new responses: like the rest of society, the world of training is changing, explains Antoine Decouvelaere, Deputy Director of Executive Development & Innovation at IÉSEG.
CONTINUING TRAINING FOR MANAGERS IS LOGICALLY ADAPTING TO THE CHANGING EXPECTATIONS OF COMPANIES. WHAT HAS CHANGED IN RECENT YEARS?
Some of the fundamentals have not changed, particularly when it comes to the core of managerial and management skills. On the other hand, we are seeing the emergence of new subjects, such as decision-making in the face of uncertainty, multi-generational management, the integration of artificial intelligence into business lines and strategy, and sustainability. But the main challenge is to change what companies expect from training programmes.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THIS?
Companies now see it as a means of transforming and accelerating their development. Previously, training was seen mainly as a means of developing
employees’ skills in order to build loyalty, improve performance and promote personal fulfilment. Faced with multiple challenges, companies today have to evolve more rapidly in an increasingly uncertain world. Many companies are counting on training to facilitate these transitions at a collective level, thus going beyond the sum of individual progress to improve their overall performance.
HOW IS THIS REFLECTED IN YOUR PROGRAMMES?
This dual perspective, individual and collective, is leading us to further integrate strategic projects into our training programmes. Since 2022, for example, IÉSEG has been working with Vertbaudet to develop a comprehensive training programme, the Vertbaudet Leadership Programme. The one-year programme is designed to meet the company’s strategic, transformational and human
challenges. In the first year, the programme was built around a complete overhaul of the management model, with around twenty leaders involved. The second year focused on growth drivers, a challenge more directly linked to business, while the third year will work on projects with a strong social, societal and environmental impact... In each case, the programme combines training modules on self-knowledge and strategic management, team projects, visits to inspiring companies and individual coaching...
ISN’T THE WORK SIMILAR TO
THAT OF A CONSULTANCY?
Not really. IÉSEG acts more as a transformation coach. Our added value lies in the fact that we can combine all the school’s strengths: its teacher-researchers, but also its students who sometimes take part in our Executive programmes, our network of partner companies, our partner universities around the world, and our centre for educational innovation. Thanks to this 360° approach, continuing education is a tool that facilitates this transformation. This new trend is also leading us to imagine other ways of designing training, with a broader, more impact-oriented focus.
DO YOU HAVE ANY EXAMPLES?
In a number of courses, we now offer participants the opportunity to work on corporate strategies from the world of social economy. In particular, we work with
AlterEos on the strategic challenges it faces. In this way, training becomes a means of mobilising intellectual resources for the benefit of companies that need them, with a strong social dimension. The aim is to nurture not only the individual, but also the organisation and society as a whole. Training enables ideas to mature and be disseminated widely. It strengthens the alignment of trainees with
Antoine DECOUVELAERE, deputy director of Executive Development & Innovation at IÉSEG (IÉSEG 2007).
values and a management style, while taking them beyond the boundaries of their professional environment to serve society at large.
ARE
THESE
DEVELOPMENTS
TRANSFORMING THE WAY IN WHICH YOU DESIGN APPRENTICESHIPS AND TRAINING COURSES?
Our teaching methods are necessarily evolving to meet these new challenges. But what’s also changing is the approach of our in-house teams at IÉSEG and our teacher-researchers, who undertake a lot of preparation of the modules to meet our customers’ needs. Offering tailor-made formats means relying on expert profiles and teachers who are able to listen, understand and challenge. As part of our commitment to being partners in the transformation process, we are developing interdisciplinary approaches, combining our strengths with engineering schools and networks of industry experts. For example, we have built a partnership with Ponts Formation Conseil, the further education arm of the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, to offer a new certificate: ‘Dirigeants de PME à l’ère de la transition’ (‘Managers of SMEs in the era of transition’) for SME managers who are confronted with the issues of ecological transition. A similar project is underway with the Cité de l’AI, with whom we have developed a training programme for Data/ IA Leaders, as well as a collaboration with the Cyber Campus at EuraTechnologies, to support cybersecurity managers.
ACALY : GROWING IDEAS
A graduate of ICAM, Tristan Clay founded the engineering consultancy ACALY in 2015. His aim is to support companies throughout the process of transforming a problem or idea into a product or operational solution.
Faced with rapidly evolving technologies, many companies are confronted with specific technical problems that they cannot always solve in-house, and which do not always justify employing one or more persons. Hence the use of expert consultants for specific needs, explains Tristan Clay: “Our customers want to be able to get started quickly on projects that require specific skills. Decathlon, for example, called on us to develop a specific test bench for two of its brands, a skill they didn’t possess in-house at the time.” A tricky equation to be solved: how to quickly immerse oneself in the habits of a company with its own processes, habits and expectations…
UNDERSTANDING THE CUSTOMER’S EXPECTATIONS
How do you find the alchemy that enables you to provide rapid, effective support to customers who are all different? “We support them by clearly defining their needs and drawing up precise specifications. Our role is to identify the right people, with the right skills and the right feeling, to respond to a need that must be precisely defined - it’s even crucial: what is the need, what is the deliverable? For our commitment-based projects, we always start with an audit, immersing one of our staff in the customer’s premises to fully understand their expectations and constraints. We then organise our services into batches, with regular deliverables and control plans”, explains Tristan Clay. With offices in Lille, Brussels, Lyon, Nantes and Lausanne, ACALY currently employs 400 chameleon-like engineers, capable of adapting to very different contexts and needs. You can’t help a customer turn an idea into reality and you can’t meet their needs if you can’t adapt yourself,” insists Tristan Clay. Expertise is one thing, agility is another, and it’s intimately complementary. All the more so in businesses where technology is evolving at breakneck speed, explains the head of a company that devotes considerable time and resources to training its teams.
Tristan CLAY, founder of ACALY.
MAGIC BOX
Both a symbol and a vector of globalisation, the container celebrates its 70th anniversary next year. A look back at an invention that changed the face of logistics.
From Greek amphorae to jute sacks and crates of all kinds, the history of trade is one of long reflection: how can goods be transported easily and at the lowest cost? After some trial and error, it was American entrepreneur Malcolm McLean who developed the modern containera metal “box” 20 feet long, 8 feet wide and 8.5 feet high, hence its official acronym of TEU (20-foot equivalent unit). The TEU is used as a benchmark to assess the capacity of major international ports: Shanghai, the largest, will handle 49 million TEUs in 2023.
INTERMODAL AT ITS FINEST
“McLean was obsessed with cost control,” explains Verena Ehrler, Academic Director at IÉSEG and a supply chain specialist. The results were impressive: in a short space of time, McLean was already able to offer transport rates that were 25% cheaper.” As a result of standardisation, handling costs have fallen phenomenally. For companies, this is an opportunity to move their warehouses away from port areas to more accessible sites closer to consumer areas. Although other formats (30 and 40 feet) have been developed since 1956, the container retains its primary advantage: intermodal par excellence, it passes easily from liners to trains and from trains to lorries. The icing on
the cake is that the container can carry every conceivable type of goods, with a few modifications, such as refrigerated models, and is increasingly traceable thanks to RFID chips and blockchain.
SYMBOL OF GLOBALISATION
Today, 250 million containers pass through the world every year,” emphasises Verena Ehrler, stressing the remarkable reliability of a chain that loses barely 2 to 600 TEUs each year. “That’s an even smaller proportion than the largest container ships, which can carry up to 24,000 TEUs, sometimes rough seas. From time to time singled out as the emblem of the excesses of globalisation and the consumer society, the container is far from being the most impactful mode of transport, the researcher points out. “Most of the world’s traffic transits in containers, but air transport, which is the most carbon-intensive, is on the rise. It responds to a need for immediacy that questions our consumer behaviour more than the chosen mode of transport.
DON’T CONFUSE CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES
The fact that the overwhelming majority of world trade goes through TEUs raises another crucial question, at a time when Donald Trump is stepping up the pressure
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS EXPERT’S ANALYSIS, OUTLOOK AND RESEARCH ON IÉSEG’S INSIGHTS
Verena EHRLER, academic director at IÉSEG and supply chain specialist.
GREY GROWTH
France is ageing - and fast. As a logical consequence of the baby boom and longer life expectancy, the profile of its population is only just beginning a process of transformation that is accelerating: in 2023, 26% of France’s population will already be over 60, and in ten years’ time, there will be 18 million pensioners (aged 65 and over) for every 12 million under the age of 25.
The consequences for our model of society are obvious: a shortage of manpower, an explosion in dependency and healthcare costs, the transformation of housing for the elderly, the blocking of savings which the next generation will inherit later and later... Already, certain scandals such as the one involving retirement homes are sounding a warning: is France, where more diapers are sold every day for senior citizens than for infants, ready to face this challenge that concerns all rich countries, and in particular Japan and South Korea.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
CONTAINER SHIPS CARRY
1 BILLION
TONS OF GOODS EVERY YEAR.
on Suez and Panama. This is worrying, given that the closure of the Suez Canal for six days in 2021 resulted in an interminable queue of 422 ships... Are we too dependent on the famous boxes? Here again, Verena Ehrler warns against confusing cause and effect: “The logistics issue is merely the consequence of a wider system. If containers are essential, it’s because global production has become fragmented, and no country can produce the goods it needs on its own territory”.
The very subject of dependency leaves us circumspect: while the average age of loss of autonomy is around 83, every year some 20,000 more people will need to be accommodated in specialised establishments, cared for, surrounded and supported. As for the pension bill, it is inexorable: estimated at 340 billion euros today, it will reach 427 billion in 2040 - more than twice the volume of health spending. It’s inevitable that France will age. Whether it ages well is another matter, and it boils down to a number of questions that remain largely unanswered: how do we fill the vacancies left by young retirees? How can we finance the costs associated with old age? How can we make the care professions more attractive?
MOUNTAINS: THE FEAR OF HEIGHTS
A seasoned sportsman, Guillaume Koudlansky de Lustrac, a consultant in ecological transition, was no novice when he embarked on a rather crazy challenge in 2024: to link all 300 French ski resorts by bike. 9,500 km and 200,000 m of positive altitude difference later, the 30-year-old has returned more determined than ever to find a way of reconciling the protection of a fragile environment with the activities
WHERE DOES YOUR COMMITMENT TO THE ENVIRONMENT ORIGINATE?
I lived in Isère for several years, but as a child I spent four years in Brazil. Environmental issues were addressed there even in primary school, where we were made aware of the deforestation of the Amazon and the protection of endangered species... Around the age of 20, I became aware of the fact that our consumption patterns were leading to deforestation, particularly through our consumption of meat. I realised that I was part of the problem. I turned to veganism, but I also began to question my lifestyle more
broadly. After Covid, I came back to the Vercors to settle down. It’s a mountain range where the lack of snow is already affecting the resorts: every year, the question arises as to whether some of them will be able to open. But the problem is that half the population make a living from tourism. Ten million French people live near the mountains. What will happen to these people? This is a time bomb that threatens entire economies. We need to act, and we need to act fast.
HENCE THE IDEA OF TOURING THE FRENCH RESORTS...
To get a feel for what’s going on, I thought the best way to do it was simply to go and meet the people involved in the mountains. The question is quite simple: what can we do? The answer, on the other hand... I felt this visceral need to go and talk to people to understand what can be put in place, what models are possible, what levers need to be unlocked, what obstacles need to be removed to avoid a tragedy like the one experienced by the coalfields. As I’m not an expert in territorial policies, I turned towards specialists during three months, going from resort to resort. They are all experts in mountainous areas: elected representatives, managers of skiable areas, representatives of local associations, citizens’ groups, etc. The result of these interviews is a podcast, Nouvelles Pistes, which outlines potential solutions.
YOU’RE NO STRANGER TO SPORTING FEATS*, BUT YOUR APPROACH IS BASED ON AN
EXTRAORDINARY PHYSICAL CHALLENGE. WHY THIS CHOICE?
It was clearly the most difficult challenge I set myself. This type of initiative is also an opportunity to draw the attention of the general public to causes that I feel are essential. If we don’t change, no one will do it for us. It’s a way of doing my bit. Sport is a powerful lever in that it allows us to reach people who are not yet aware of these issues.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ON THIS JOURNEY?
I started from a rather naive position: I don’t know anything, I want to find out. What is certain is that the media who are already predicting the end of skiing are wrong: you will still be able to ski in some resorts in 2050. The difference is that an activity that today involves 300 resorts will now involve only a minority - the best exposed, the highest... The consequence is clear: skiing will be more expensive and so all resorts will have to change.
Guillaume KOUDLANSKY DE LUSTRAC, seasoned sportsman and consultant in ecological transition.
“What is certain is that the media who are already announcing the end of skiing are wrong: it will still be possible to ski in certain resorts in 2050. The difference is that an activity that today involves 300 resorts will now involve only a minoritythe best exposed, the highest...”.
WHEN THE WHITE GOLD STARTS TO RUN OUT
Climate change means that the mountains are changing rapidly. And with good reason, mountain environments are warming up twice as fast as other ecosystems: in the Alps and Pyrenees, average temperatures rose by 2°C in the 20th century, compared with 1.4°C for the rest of the country. Spectacular in terms of the glaciers, which are shrinking to nothing, this upheaval is also having an impact on the snow cover, which has been steadily declining since the 1970s. Less and more variable, it is a direct threat to the ski economy, especially for low-altitude resorts: according to the IPCC*, the average depth of snow in winter is set to fall by between 10% and 40% between 2031 and 2050. This is a colossal challenge for France: with 53.9 million ski days, France ranks second in the world for winter tourism, just behind the United States.
*Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
IN WHAT WAY?
There is no standard solution because every resort is different. Diversification of activities is of course essential, but it’s not enough, because they don’t bring in much money compared with skiing, and not all resorts offer the same possibilities: offering mountain biking trails in Val d’Isère, for example, would not be easy because the slopes are particularly steep at the end of the resort and less compatible with a less sporty clientele. It’s easier in Loudenvielle, which is banking on the development of cycling and year-round access to thermal baths... The transformation of a winter tourist area into a place that can be visited all year round requires systemic approaches that vary from one area to another. Bourg-Saint-Maurice, for
example, is developing an Alpine campus to train people who no longer need to travel to Lyon, Annecy, Grenoble or Paris... In general, we need to think beyond the resort, work with the whole mountain range, and develop complementary offers to attract a wide range of visitors. Working together is essential.
*Guillaume Koudlansky de Lustrac, the world record holder for running a marathon backwards (in 3 hours 25 minutes), has also made a name for himself by tracing the largest GPS drawing ever made on a bicycle - the Olympic rings - over a distance of 2,196 kilometers.
