This article is taken from the "The day when" section of Omalius magazine for December 2024.

Four major teaching and research disciplines have marked the Faculty's development and become its pillars over the years: economics and political and social sciences first, then management and communication. "In its early days, the Faculty of Economic, Social and Management Sciences, created by Father Camille-Jean Joset, was united around social sciences and economics," recalls Pietro Zidda, Dean of the EMCP Faculty. "Then, the various fields developed. Management took off, enrolments in political science and communications soared. We were careful to maintain a spirit of collaboration between each of our programs". Far from the usual silos, the Faculty today makes it a point of honor for its chosen disciplines to collaborate, question and nurture each other in order to develop the skills of students and researchers so that together they can contribute to the challenges of a society in transition.

The EMCP Faculty is committed to three major missions. The first is to train responsible experts and decision-makers, through rigorous, hands-on teaching that stimulates critical thinking and openness to the world. It also aims to conduct ambitious, interdisciplinary research with a strong scientific impact, feeding into teaching and innovation. Finally, the EMCP Faculty wishes to act as a responsible player in societal development, sharing knowledge and contributing to informed decisions at regional, national and international levels.

It is therefore quite natural that the FSESG has become the EMCP Faculty, a name now incorporating communication and political sciences and reflecting the importance they have acquired in recent years. Four disciplines united to prepare students and researchers in a transdisciplinary way for the challenges of tomorrow.

The spirit of collaboration is firmly rooted at the heart of the Faculty, which strives to develop transdisciplinary approaches to meet the complex challenges of a society in transition. "To meet these challenges, a solution from a single discipline is no longer enough. We need to think more broadly, with an approach that transcends disciplines," explains Anne-Sophie Collard, Vice-Dean of the EMCP Faculty. A sentiment shared by Zora Gilet, a management engineering student: "This new name above all brings coherence to the Faculty's image and visibility for all the courses on offer. It also represents the intra-faculty diversity that we wish to promote at all levels."

This vision is also accompanied by an internal reorganization, with the creation of four thematic schools or schools: UNamur School of Economics (NSE), UNamur School of Management (UNSM), UNamur School of Social Sciences, Politics and Communication and UNamur School of Evening Studies in Economics and Management. These schools aim to strengthen synergy between disciplines, while promoting a pedagogy that integrates cross-disciplinary skills and innovative working methods. Soft skills, for example, are now systematically integrated into projects, to prepare students to respond to societal challenges in a collaborative and creative way. "I think this change helps to concretize and recognize all the large-scale projects that have been set up in recent years," explains Zora. It's an expression of a desire to develop and innovate, which is more than positive today. I consider myself lucky to be able to witness this change and proud to be part of this community."

"EMCP aims to be the catalyst lever for a future where walls are broken down and barriers between disciplines abolished as much as possible, to provide strong solutions to societal problems," concludes Pietro Zidda. This new name therefore goes beyond mere naming: it symbolizes a renewed commitment to transforming the way graduates are trained, giving them the tools they need to provide strong, coherent solutions to major contemporary challenges.

Within the Faculty, various projects and teaching experiments illustrate this EMCP vision. Examples?

Learning by doing: an approach that offers immersion in concrete projects from the first year, combining knowledge and cross-disciplinary skills to respond to real-life challenges.

Regards croisés: this project invites students and teachers to explore a topical issue from a variety of disciplinary angles, enriched by exchanges with experts in the field at a major final conference.

A little wink, the Dean of Faculty wondered how this fresco would be perceived by an outside audience: "This work is quite original compared to what we usually do. So I asked the artificial intelligence to give me its interpretation. And then, surprise, the answer was bluffing! ChatGPT perfectly identified the meaning and intentions of the project, as if it had read our initial brief", laughs the dean.

Students have also been involved in this transformation, notably through their circles. Thus, the Cercle €co became the Cercle EMCP. "We were contacted by the Dean, who suggested that our Circle should bear the same name as the Faculty, and this seemed to us to be a perfectly natural move. We had many discussions with the dean and the vice-presidents of the Cercle. We put a lot of effort into the name change, but it was an extremely rewarding experience," explains Matthieu Dupuis, President of the Cercle EMCP. "The change may have come as a surprise to some students, but this new name enriches the Faculty's image by enhancing the value of all its courses of study. It embodies strong values and, in my opinion, represents our Faculty better than the old one."

The Data Analytics course is an applied course implementing a pedagogy inspired by Service Learning and Learning by Doing. Divided into different teams, the students explored important challenges for the social profit sector and the sustainable development of our society, such as the care offered to the elderly or the match between the training offer and the work sector. These analyses were based, among other things, on data from the Social Profit Data Trust, a platform created by the King Baudouin Foundation in collaboration with representatives of the social profit sector: UNIPSO, Verso, Unisoc, BRUXEO and ConcertES. An immersive setting that enabled students to develop their data analysis skills while reflecting on the positive impacts that their talents in this practice could bring to society.

"The aim of this assignment is to enable students to put themselves in the shoes of real data analysts: analyzing data, proposing concrete solutions and communicating their results in a clear and impactful way, explains Claire Deventer, teacher of the course. "More than technical skills, data analysis also requires managerial, human and ethical skills. Students were coached to think about the impact their data analysis could have on society, and ways of making it as ethical as possible."

Inspired by the Service Learning philosophy where students learn by putting their skills at the service of society, the project spearheaded by Claire Deventer benefited from invaluable pedagogical support from Maxime Giegas, specialist in education for global citizenship and solidarity at the FUCID, Charlotte Sine, technopedagogue at the Faculty of Education and Training Sciences (FaSEF) as well as Benito Giunta, assistant at the Faculty EMCP.

The students explored three key themes for the social profit sector: an aging society, the changing labor market and the development of the social profit sector.

On December 12, 2024, after nearly three months of reflection and work on their theme, the students were able to deliver their analyses and best proposals for solutions. It was at the Namur Stock Exchange that the six student teams presented their work to the project partners, present to debate these important themes:

• Tine Holvoet, policy advisor, entrepreneurship and innovation at Verso
Mathieu de Poorter, economic advisor at UnipsoQuentin Pivont, economic advisor at Unipso
• Emilien Leurquin, economic advisor at Unisoc

By highlighting concrete solutions for the social profit sector, this project illustrates how data analytics skills can contribute to and respond to societal and sustainability issues. "Seeing engineering students take an interest in social economy issues is not only inspiring, but essential for building bridges between the academic and professional worlds," enthuses Quentin Pivont.

"The aim of the project was to analyze data to produce a study, a model and come up with concrete solutions", explain Tanguy and Lénaïc, students in management engineering. "We were very challenged, but the teachers supervised us very well." For Ambre and Inès, also management engineering students, this project was a revelation: "This work enabled us to combine our knowledge of programming and analysis with direct feedback from professionals. It enabled us to refine our interests and better define what we like to do. It was a fairly substantial piece of work, but we're really proud of what we're going to propose."

This innovative pedagogical project demonstrates how data analysis can be a powerful lever for tackling societal challenges and promoting sustainable development. By collaborating with key players in the social profit sector, students not only developed technical and managerial skills, but also became aware of the importance of their role as committed future professionals. This type of initiative perfectly illustrates the University's potential to connect academic knowledge, societal needs and concrete innovations to build a more equitable and sustainable future.

Nitin Bharti is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Economics Program of the Division of Social Sciences at New York University Abu Dhabi. He is also coordinator of the World Inequality Lab for South and Southeast Asia. He received his PhD in economics from the Paris School of Economics (PSE) and the University of Namur in September 2022 under the supervision of his promoters, Thomas Piketty (PSE) and Guilhem Cassan (UNamur).

His doctoral thesis at UNamur studied different dimensions of inequality in India:

• Inequality of access to education (covered by the article in the Economist),
• Inequality of income and wealth,
• Inequality of treatment in the face of justice.

For each of these projects, he conducted extraordinary data collection work, searching for new data in historical archives, or using new website data-mining methods to collect large-scale contemporary administrative data. He then exploited this data via cutting-edge econometric methods.

More about Dr Nitin Bharti

These topics are also at the heart of the themes developed at UNamur, for both teaching and research.

In fact, the DeFiPP Institute has recognized expertise in development economics and environmental economics. Its researchers are very active internationally. Some of DeFiPP's members, for example, have Jim Robinson, Nobel Prize 2024 for his research on the role of institutions in economic development, as a co-author on their articles.

These issues are also at the heart of many of the Economics Department's courses, at both bachelor and master levels. The Department of Economics is keen to offer its students an education that enables them to gain a better understanding of major contemporary societal issues. The Department also has a very long tradition of teaching issues related to the management of environmental resources, inequalities and sustainable development in general.

At the beginning of the 20th century, less than 10% of Indian and Chinese children attended school; today, almost all do. But the path to universal education has been remarkably different, and has had profound effects on the development of both countries' economies.

After 100 years of teaching medicine, the University of Namur is offering students the opportunity to specialize in general medicine.

A unique opportunity for master's students to continue their curriculum at a faculty that makes proximity and quality of teaching its watchwords.

This three-year program includes assistantship preparation courses, internships in general practices and/or hospital wards, accompanied practice seminars and mentoring.

Some strengths of the training

• Quality teaching and expertise

Codiploma by the University of Namur and UCLouvain, this program unites the strengths and expertise of both universities through training, mentoring, simulation-based learning, communication expertise, but also the organization, supervision and monitoring of internships.

• A special focus on rural medicine

The Master of Specialization raises awareness of the benefits and challenges of rural practice identified by the University of Namur's newly established University Observatory in Rural Medicine.

• An innovative approach to training for the digital evolution of the profession

The training reinforces digital mastery on several aspects: the use of interfaces for patient care; computer security and the risk of hacking, in collaboration with numerous experts; legislation in the medical field: medical law, medical secrecy, in collaboration with the CRIDS (Centre de Recherche, Information, Droits et Société) of the University of Namur.

• A modern, innovative simulation training center

A front-line simulation center immerses students in simulated situations, as close as possible to practical reality. An emphasis is also placed on interprofessional simulation.

• A strong regional base for the organization of internships

In addition to the national network of internship masters approved by the Federal Public Health Service, collaborations are proposed with field actors in the Namur region for the organization of paid internships and accompanied practice seminars.

In a global context marked by biodiversity degradation and climate disruption, the University of Namur is offering a new Master of Specialization in Management and Economics of Sustainable Development. This one-year program, organized in the evening (staggered timetable), offers a unique opportunity to rethink public policies, corporate strategies, as well as modes of collaboration, production and consumption, in the light of today's environmental and societal challenges.

The program of this specialized Master's degree focuses on the economic, managerial and entrepreneurial transformations linked to the ecological transition. Students will benefit from the expertise of academics and professionals in the field.

Some strengths of the course

• Quality university teaching: Organized on the UNamur site, this program offers a unique learning experience, backed by UNamur's international reputation in economics and management, particularly in the fields of sustainable development.
• Partnership with Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale: This partnership enables students to benefit from long experience in teaching sustainable development and specific support, via distance learning sessions.
• Grounding in the real world: The program fosters close interaction with the economic and corporate world, through seminars, real-life case studies and project dissertations based on concrete issues.
• Horaire Adapté à la Vie Active : Classes are held in the evening and/or on Saturday mornings, enabling professionals to reconcile training and professional activity thanks to hybrid teaching.

Professional opportunities

Professional opportunities for graduates are vast and varied, ranging from project management to finance, human resources, procurement and the production of goods and services. Graduates will be able to join research structures, national and international decision-making centers, or even companies and NGOs, acting as drivers of change in the service of our planet and our community.

• "Artificial intelligence: challenges and opportunities": this new course will be offered to all Block 3 students, across all disciplines. The aim is to enable students to grasp the field of artificial intelligence in its technical, historical and human dimensions, to adopt a critical vision in order to use AI wisely, reflexively and responsibly, adopt a scientific and reasoned vision of AI (benefits and risks) and be able to defend or oppose the use of AI in an organization or in society
• Les journées de l'éducation au Développement durable et à la transition écologique (JEDDT): two days of suspended classes for all Block 3 students, on a voluntary basis, to take a cross-disciplinary approach to the issues and questions of sustainable development and transition.
• In the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Science: "One Health". This new course is designed to train future doctors, pharmacists, veterinarians and biomedical scientists in the holistic approach to common health: human health/environmental health/animal health.
• In the Faculty of Law, inclusion as a common thread. The aim is to address this theme across the board, within the course programs (practical work, assignments, etc.) but also through conferences, activities, meetings with legal professionals, plays, films, debates, etc.

In September 2024, two new certificates coordinated by UNamur are also on offer:

• The certificate in Psychotherapy: systemic brief therapy according to the Palo Alto Model enriched with conversational hypnosis
• The certificate in Language Awareness in a Cultural Approach

UNamur is also a partner in other certificates coordinated by higher education institutions:

• The Certificate in Integration of the Playful Dimension in Training (HEAJ)
• The Certificate in Health simulation teaching and pedagogy (UCLouvain)
• The certificate in Sustainable healthcare: Acting to transform (UCLouvain)