MSc Public Policy, CSR & Transitions

On completion of this MSc, you’ll be able to decipher environmental constraints and help institutions and companies move towards sustainable models.

The course is designed to enable you to acquire 6 major skills:

• Analyze and evaluate environmental and social public policies using advanced quantitative and qualitative methods. You will master statistical tools and field survey methods to measure the environmental or social impact of a public policy before, during and after its deployment.
• Design, manage and audit CSR strategies in line with current regulatory requirements (CSRD, SFDR, Duty of Vigilance Act). You will transform legal constraints into a competitive advantage for your organization, by knowing how to build an ambitious CSR strategy that can be defended against auditors, investors and regulators.
• Master the legal, economic and institutional frameworks of ecological transitions at national, European and international levels. From the Paris Agreement to European taxonomy and national legislation, you’ll become the essential reference for navigating the complexity of the major texts shaping global transition.
• Greening a supply chain, deploying a decarbonized urban mobility plan or structuring a carbon offset program: you’ll be trained to lead complex transition projects in organizations of all kinds, managing resources, stakeholders and deadlines.
• Providing advice, expertise and advocacy in the fields of sustainability, climate justice and responsible governance: changing business models requires conviction and legitimacy. You’ll be able to advise senior management, elected representatives and boards of directors, and conduct structured advocacy with public decision-makers and international organizations.
• Develop ethical leadership skills and the ability to manage change in complex institutional environments: the human factor is at the heart of any successful transition. This course will develop your ability to involve all stakeholders – employees, citizens, partners, financiers – in a sustainable transformation, reconciling the need for results with responsibility towards future generations.

The “Manager of Institutions and Public Affairs” diploma is structured around 4 essential blocks to validate the acquisition of your professional skills (legal reproduction):

Block 1 – Design a public policy or public affairs project

• To identify qualitative and quantitative data needs, set up a strategic, legal and forward-looking intelligence system, choosing appropriate digital data collection tools (including AI).
• Analyze the data collected by choosing an appropriate data analysis method to assess the needs and opportunities of an area, the expectations of users/citizens and the potential shortcomings and gaps in an existing public system.
• Synthesize information by structuring it and presenting the results in a usable way in order to inform the decision or orientations of a policy or public affairs project, including societal, economic and environmental aspects.
• Carry out a precise field diagnosis based on an in-depth strategic, legal and prospective analysis of the current situation, taking into account the various factors likely to influence the project, as well as societal and environmental issues.
• Map stakeholders (institutional and non-institutional), identifying their role and interests in the project, taking into account local, national and European institutional functioning, with a view to mobilizing them.
• Draw up an appropriate impact study using appropriate tools, such as cost/benefit analyses, comparative elements or life-cycle analyses, to anticipate the expected effects and facilitate monitoring and evaluation.
• With a view to designing a public policy or public affairs project, define strategic objectives based on the identification of the human and material resources required and the main milestones (timetable) with a view to consolidating a scorecard for achieving objectives.
• Clearly define each of the steps required to implement the project, ensuring the feasibility and coherence of the proposed actions.
• Based on the mapping of players and partners, identify the links between players and their responsibilities in order to promote synergies, complementarity and efficiency.
• Identify the levers of participatory democracy that can be deployed and how they can be implemented using the various public participation tools, particularly in the environmental field, to ensure that users and citizens adhere to the public policy project in an ethical manner.

Evaluation: Individual case study

Block 2 – Managing and evaluating a public policy or public affairs project

• To ensure effective operational management of the project, set up a project team, clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of each member, and taking into account any disabilities.
• Activate go/no go alert systems and tools by developing dashboards adapted to project management and reporting.
• Integrate project evaluation mechanisms by using monitoring and control tools and evaluation techniques; defining performance indicators, including for the achievement of societal, economic and environmental objectives; and effectiveness indicators to measure progress and adjust ongoing actions.
• Apply change management techniques adapted to the specificities of the public policy or public affairs project through a transformation plan prioritizing the axes and stages to ensure visibility, acceptance and dissemination of the change
• Design effective mobilization strategies to encourage buy-in, commitment and active participation from stakeholders involved in the public policy project.
• Ensure cross-functional project management by collaborating and negotiating with players from different levels and backgrounds, both in the public and private spheres.
• Mobilize local, national and European funding, taking into account the legal and financial framework of the various partners and the European economic dynamics that may influence the project and, depending on the case, convince elected officials of the budget line to be maintained.

Evaluation: Individual case study

Block 3 – Managing a team in a public institution

• Apply the main rules of human resources management in the public sector in order to be able to implement them in appropriate contexts and build HR dashboards to monitor the workforce and the main management operations.
• Implement an efficient recruitment process by applying the main principles and rules of recruitment in the public sector, drawing up precise and explicit job descriptions defining the objectives, roles and responsibilities of each position.
• Support the development of skills among public-sector employees by anticipating needs in terms of skills and training (including training in CSR issues) through the mobilization of various techniques for forward-looking management of jobs and skills, and the development of training plans that take into account any possible situation of disability.
• Draw up a budget process applying the main principles and rules of public finance at national or local level
• Implement and control the established budget using budgetary and financial documents
• With a view to awarding or responding to public procurement contracts, apply public procurement procedures by keeping abreast of the rules applicable to public procurement, by making the most appropriate use of the procedures for awarding and responding to public procurement contracts, by drafting the appropriate legal documents, and by analysing and selecting bids on the basis of objective criteria.
• Ensure the monitoring and control of public contracts, using public contract monitoring and evaluation techniques to guarantee their compliance and effectiveness.

Evaluation: Professional situation

Block 4 – Managing public communications and public affairs

• Draw up an internal and external communications plan based on defined objectives (including sustainability objectives), organizational and target needs, key messages, communications channels (including social networks, digital platforms and AI) and implementation schedule.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the communication strategy by measuring the impact of the plan through studies and indicators of spin-offs, and the development of feedback or opinion surveys to adjust the communication plan.
• To ensure effective communication management in times of crisis, use appropriate communication tools to organize, draft and disseminate appropriate information to internal target players and external audiences.
• Draw up a crisis communications plan based on an analysis of the media environment, opinion trends and the potential risks to the organization and its representatives, so as to limit any damage to reputation.
• Develop lobbying and influence strategies by mapping stakeholders and taking into account political and institutional dynamics at national and European Union level.
• Define an action plan to influence public decisions in favor of the organization, using various lobbying and influence tools and techniques.
• Manage relations between interest representatives and public officials, applying ethical principles and current regulations

Assessment: Work experience

Training is obtained by validating and capitalizing on all four blocks.

Our teaching methods are based on action and anticipation. You’ll take part in foresight workshops to build transition scenarios for 2050, as well as simulations and role-playing that reproduce today’s ethical and economic dilemmas. Throughout the program, you can take advantage of seminars with senior executives, CSR experts and public decision-makers.

Employability is at the heart of the program: you’ll work on real-life case studies commissioned by partner organizations and interdisciplinary group projects on issues in the field, complemented by long-term professional immersion: a 5-month internship in M1 and a 6-month internship or work-study program in M2 within a public institution, a committed company, an NGO or a local authority.

Because we train experts who are called upon to report on the impact of their actions to demanding organizations, the evaluation of this MSc goes far beyond the restitution of knowledge. Each test confronts you with a real-life problem in the field, with deliverables expected at a professional level.

Validation of the diploma is based on four types of test:

• Applied analysis: case studies and role-playing simulating the transition issues faced by your future employers.
• Written expertise: written dossiers with oral defense, based on real data and advanced methodologies.
• Feedback: internship report with oral presentation (initial program) or work-study report with oral presentation (work-study program), to demonstrate your ability to analyze and valorize your professional experience.
• The dissertation: CSR/Transition themed dissertation with defense, the centerpiece of your diploma, testifying to your high-level expertise on a chosen sustainability issue.

This pace is ideal if you want to devote yourself fully to developing your skills while discovering a variety of environments – committed companies, NGOs, local authorities, public institutions – in France or abroad.

• The pace: Intensive semester-long courses at the school, followed by long-term professional immersion.
• Work experience: An internship of at least 110 days per year is compulsory to validate your year – 5 months in M1 and 6 months in M2 within a structure of your choice.
• Financing: Tuition is €10,350 per year. You are responsible for your own financing (student loans, private grants, family assistance or internship bonuses).

This pace is ideal if you want to build up long-term experience within a committed organization – the CSR department of a major corporation, a sustainability consultancy, a government agency or an international NGO – while earning a salary as soon as you start work.

• Pattern: 2-year work-study contract, 2 weeks on the job / 1 week in training.
• Professional experience: a minimum of 110 days in a company per year, with increasingly responsible assignments enabling you to contribute directly to your host organization’s CSR or transition projects.
• Financing and remuneration:Tuition fees of €10,950 per year are fully covered by your company and/or the OPCO – no remaining costs for the student. At the same time, you will receive a monthly salary based on a percentage of the minimum wage.