HEC Montréal
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

Being a business school, HEC Montréal plays an important role in encouraging its student community to develop projects related to social or community service business. These initiatives are supported by the IDEOS Hub. IDEOS mission is to develop various projects, including fellowships, mentorship and resources to encourage initiatives that are improving social and community business governance and management. Through its different programs and activities, IDEOS aims to raise awareness, document knowledge, adapt conventional business tools to social business, and develop training and fellowship programs that will help local business. It is a place where students can think about how their social management competences can be shared with the society, while promoting research projects which have a positive impact on people.
Another hub, Pôle e3 – Expertise in energy and environment, promote research and collaboration in SD. Students who want to pursue graduate studies in energy or environment can find support, scholarship and mentoring at the Pole.

HEC Montréal is strongly encouraging its faculty members to conduct research in sustainable development; in its strategic research strategy, the third axis of research and knowledge sharing is dedicated specifically to social, economic and politic business’s environment. Faculty members are encouraged to propose research projects related to sustainability in business management. HEC’s hub (Ideos, E3) purpose is to allow a wider variety of faculty to obtain support to conduct their research without having to compete against each other for a chair or grant. Thereof, faculties are an important part of the IDEOS Hub and E3 Hub. They can offer mentoring and fellowships to students, but also get tools and support to promote and disseminate their research projects.

Also, HEC Montréal’s “Plan stratégique de recherche et de transfert 2015-2020” defines the three axes of research promoted by the school. The third axis is specifically devoted to research on social, economic and political business’s environment. This axis includes project and research related to sustainable development, corporate social responsibility and the role and impact of public policies. By having this subject listed in the strategic plan make it easier for faculty and students to propose projects related to sustainability, and obtain full support from the school.

The library has an entire section dedicated to sustainability. One of the librarians, Daphné Bélizaire, is specialized in sustainability and supports students and faculty members. The library sustainability section content is based on UN sustainability development goals. Moreover, the librarian specialized in sustainability facilitates a workshop on sustainability research with students enrolled in sustainable development graduate programs during their first course.