Our Social and Environmental Report

    In 2020, EHL released its first social and environmental report, confirming the start of its journey towards sustainability by publishing a set of commitments approved by the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee.  The report is now released yearly, covering the actions over the course of the previous year.

    There is still a lot to be done, but we are devoted to take on the challenges of today’s society and develop our metrics for more precise reporting from year to year, to be able to set precise objectives for positive change over the short, medium and long term.

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    Our Sustainability Goals

    In 2015, the United Nations launched 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They constitute a strong framework of goals to be achieved by all organizations in order to make our society sustainable.

    EHL identified 5 United Nations SDGs where they could have the most impact. These 5 SDGs were then used as a starting point to define 4 pillars for the Contributing Beyond Education platform:

    • Education

    • People

    • Communities

    • Environment

     

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    Integrate Sustainability in Education

    Educating tomorrow’s industry leaders is at the heart of our mission. We aim to integrate sustainability into our classroom and virtual curriculum, as well as throughout the campus experience. By offering our students opportunities to learn about sustainability, both in and outside the classroom, we intend to prepare the next generation of conscious sustainability leaders. We currently offer several courses related to CSR topics in the bachelor’s degree: Fundamentals of Sustainable Business, Corporate Sustainability, Business Ethics, and Diversity and Inclusion.

    Some of our initiatives:

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    Care for our People

    EHL is committed to caring for our people, even beyond the boundaries of our campuses. With a strong emphasis on family as an overriding value, we are serious about our commitment to building a diverse and inclusive EHL community. As part of our sustainability commitments, we are taking concrete and measurable steps to ensure the health, safety and well-being of our students, alumni, staff and faculty globally.

    Some examples:

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    Contribute to our Communities

    EHL Group is present worldwide, and we are dedicated to supporting the broader communities around us. This pillar guides actions aiming at giving back to and supporting local and global communities. EHL contributes to job hiring, economic growth and provides resources and expertise to our partners.

    Find out more about:

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    Respect our Environment

    In keeping with our values, we aim to “walk the talk” about sustainability. We’re implementing concrete actions to improve our environmental impact at all EHL campuses and offices. Our current efforts focus mainly on reducing energy use and waste, minimizing water consumption, and purchasing food and beverages from local and sustainably managed sources. In 2021, the Lausanne campus switched to a 100% renewable-based energy mix, called Nativa, and the new campus buildings in Lausanne are certified with the standard Minergie-P. 

    Since 2021, we’ve been applying Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. This allows us to take responsibility for our impact, analyze it and tackle the areas in which we can do better. It also gives us more transparency and accountability. We’ve also added digital usage to the calculation of our Lausanne campus emissions, and we established baseline measures for our campuses in Singapore and Passugg. 

    Full details about these initiatives and the related GRI standards are available in the yearly report at the top of this page.

    Find out more about:

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    Energy-Saving Measures at EHL

    In addition to our Sustainability Commitments, we started a number of significant energy-saving measures this fall in response to the Swiss Federal Government’s request that all individuals and organizations reduce their energy consumption by 15%. Our actions apply to three spheres of activity, based on the target audience and location: 

    Individual Recommendations: Raising awareness and encouraging students and staff to save energy in the digital sphere, offices, classrooms, campus infrastructures, transportation, and at home. 

    Measures on EHL Campus Lausanne: Making campus-wide adjustments to the heating, lighting, and ventilation; reducing lighting and signage after hours, and eliminating lights from this year’s seasonal decorations. 

    Measures on EHL Campus Passugg: Undertaking a Peak Power Management project with external partners and implementing energy-saving measures similar to Lausanne.

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    Make the difference

    Shifting our practices to be more sustainable and discovering new solutions to sustainability issues will not happen overnight. At the same time it’s never been easier and more important for all members of the EHL Community to start contributing.

    Get involved can mean many things: looking at a daily decision through a new angle, exploring fresh ideas, connecting with new people, or making small changes at work, in the classroom, on campus or the dorm.
    Here is the starting point of your journey. What you choose to do next is up to you.

     

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