emlyon’s 2026 intakes: taking action together to protect life on land
Under the banner of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15, “Life on Land,” emlyon business school welcomed nearly 4,000 new learners across its campuses for the 2026 intake season. Keynote conferences, Impact Days, international student welcome events, awareness-raising programs and student association activities punctuated the month of September and set the tone for a year focused on action and responsibility.
Protecting and restoring terrestrial ecosystems: the common thread running through emlyon’s academic intakes
Guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 15 dedicated to “Life on Land”, emlyon business school's 2026-2027 academic intakes were built around a commitment to protecting living ecosystems and encouraging collective action.
This goal calls for action across a wide range of challenges, including sustainable forest management, combating desertification, preserving mountain ecosystems, restoring degraded land, protecting biodiversity and fighting the trafficking of protected species.
This annual theme shaped the various highlights and integration initiatives designed to welcome nearly 4,000 new students across the Lyon, Paris and Shanghai campuses, as well as through distance learning programs. It also reflects emlyon's ambition to educate future managers capable of reconciling economic performance with environmental responsibility by integrating planetary boundaries into their decision-making.
The climate events of this summer remind us how much the preservation of terrestrial ecosystems conditions the sustainability of our societies and our organizations
(Re)live the highlights of the intake
Each program benefited from a dedicated induction pathway, including inaugural lectures for students in the Master in Manager - Grande École (MiM), the Global BBA (GBBA), and the Masters & MSc, along with program presentations and Impact days.
In parallel, September featured several unifying events: Welcome Days for all international students, student association fairs for the PGE and GBBA, the integration fortnight, awareness days on gender-based and sexual violence (GBSV), and the Responsible Engagement Program forum. These moments helped to bring first-year students together, encourage connections and exchanges, and immerse them in the spirit of emlyon from their arrival through to graduation, embedding their integration in a collective and civic-minded dynamic.
All the School's teams join me in congratulating you on your admission or progression within emlyon business school. Beyond technical and professional skills, we want to equip you intellectually and culturally, giving you the keys to understand the world, society and organizations, and ultimately transform them
Four keynote conferences to rethink our relationship with the living world
The four keynote conferences brought SDG 15 to life by giving a voice to personalities committed to ecological transition, biodiversity preservation and the evolution of economic models. They invited students to reflect on the role of organizations and future decision-makers in addressing biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation and resource scarcity.
Dominique Thillaud, CEO of Compagnie des Alpes and emlyon alumnus (MS 1992), addressed students in the Master in Management program entering via the preparatory classes track. His talk explored the future of mountain ecosystems and the challenge of leading a company whose business model depends directly on fragile natural environments.
Marie-Anne Gasnier, Executive Director of the Yves Rocher Foundation and emlyon alumna (PGE 08), spoke with students entering through the AST track. Her keynote highlighted the importance of bringing nature back to the heart of our economic and social models, drawing on the fascinating example of hedgerows while also addressing community action and women’s engagement in protecting living ecosystems.
Marion Allet, co-founder of Ecotopia, addressed Global BBA students through a conference entitled “Drawing Inspiration from the History of the Earth to Innovate and Lead.” She invited participants to rediscover the story of our planet, rethink their relationship with the living world and explore new forms of purpose-driven entrepreneurship.
Christine Rodwell, Founder and President of VIVAE, delivered a conference for Master’s and MSc students. Her intervention focused on how organizations can integrate social and environmental challenges into strategic decision-making and turn biodiversity into a driver of shared value creation.
Discover interviews with the speakers:
These keynote moments helped anchor the new academic year in a shared reflection on biodiversity, the protection of living ecosystems and the responsibility of organizations in responding to major environmental challenges.
Local impact missions tackling SDG 15 challenges
emlyon’s distinctive pedagogy is characterized by the close link it weaves between reflection and action. True to this model and to its status as a Mission-driven company, the School co-designed a unique experience for its new students: Impact days. These integration experiences encouraged first-year students from all programs to engage locally and concretely in support of societal and environmental causes from the very start of the academic year. Working in teams of seven to eight students, participants took on around twenty challenges, workshops and field activities co-created with a network of partner organizations.
Among the proposed activities were:
cooking a vegetarian meal;
making reusable tawashi sponges from upcycled clothing;
creating and dispersing seed bombs;
calculating their forest footprint;
taking part in clean-up walks;
observing local flora and fauna;
contributing to community gardens and planting initiatives;
exploring the environmental impacts of artificial intelligence;
examining the links between fashion, deforestation and biodiversity;
discussing climate migration and the legal rights of nature;
supporting organizations committed to protecting ecosystems.
These impact days fully embody our Mission-driven company status. They remind us that joining emlyon is not simply about discovering a campus. It is part of a broader ambition to educate not only high-performing managers, but also conscious leaders capable of generating positive impact.
The “Protect and Prevent” pathway: raising awareness from day one
Integration at emlyon also includes awareness-raising and prevention initiatives.
Rolled out during the first weeks of the academic year for all incoming students, the Protect and Prevent pathway offers a comprehensive approach to key aspects of student life.
Through conferences, workshops and interactive formats, the program addresses three major themes:
mental health, alcohol and substance use, and risk-related behaviors;
discrimination and inclusion, helping students better understand and challenge exclusion mechanisms;
violence prevention, including sexist and sexual violence, with a focus on recognizing situations, understanding consent and knowing how to act or seek support.
By providing practical tools and reference points from the moment students arrive, the pathway contributes to building a study environment centred on health, safety, respect and inclusion for all.
At the heart of emlyon’s intakes
For the first time, a three-episode web series, filmed alongside students, explores the major highlights and key themes shaping the emlyon intake experience.
