Discover Noise ESSEC, a student association dedicated to sustainable development

Recognizing the imperative of prioritizing ecological engagement, ESSEC Business School launched the ESSEC Together initiative in 2020, putting the school’s vision into practice through various aspects such as integrating courses on environmental challenges and ecological transitions into all programs, as well as implementing environmentally-friendly processes across its global campuses.

This commitment to ecological engagement is also well entrenched in the student body, through various student associations including Noise ESSEC, which promotes sustainable development and social innovations on campus.

Let's discover the Noise ESSEC association in this article!

Noise ESSEC is the ESSEC branch of the Noise association, which is a member of a network of 10 grandes écoles in France with about 80 members in total.

The association was founded at the initiative of students in a bid to become actors of societal change in terms of the ecological and social transition. "Being part of a committed association and being able to be concretely invested in causes is very important to me," says Helena Teknetzian, Head of the Noise ESSEC Journalism wing.

Throughout the year, the association organizes different projects to raise awareness and encourage a more ecologically responsible lifestyle, as well as various concrete actions. "The association proposes a wide range of initiatives that can reach many people" adds Helena. Among other things, it organizes conferences and round tables on different themes related to the environment such as responsible fashion, weekly organic food baskets and bulk sales on campus. Each year, a catalog of eco-responsible Christmas products and cosmetics is also produced by the association. 

Over the past few years, the association has organized a Transition Week, which aims to highlight societal and environmental issues on campus. This year's activities included a "clean walk", a traveling thrift shop, insect tasting, a career forum on impactful jobs, as well as partnerships with numerous ESSEC associations.

The association also supports entrepreneurs through the EKKO cluster, which is also a partner of the GoodPlanet association on the GoodPME program, which supports companies in working towards a greener business plan.

"Our ambition is to have as much weight as any other association within ESSEC, because we can no longer do without an association that promotes both ecological and social transitions," explains Arthur Gillet, the other Head of the Noise ESSEC Journalism wing.

Simultaneously, the association is working with ESSEC’s administration as part of the Together strategic approach, to reduce the school's carbon footprint, particularly in terms of waste sorting and food. "This is one of the aspects of the association that carries the most weight and is the most likely to change things on a large scale on campus," says Helena, "Often, when the administration wants to develop a project or invite sustainability-related thought leaders on campus, they ask us if we want to do it. It's mostly requests that they pass on to us or ideas that they want to exchange on with us. However, it can sometimes be us who contacts the administration with an idea or initiative; it goes both ways," Arthur concludes.

More information on the Noise ESSEC association (in french)