Sustainability literacy is essential for shaping responsible leaders, and Aurélien Decamps, co-founder of Sulitest, is at the forefront of this movement. Together with Jean-Christophe Carteron, he created Sulitest to develop science-based tools—like TASK™—that strengthen and scale sustainability education worldwide.

Aurélien is a social entrepreneur in the field of sustainable development education, with a doctorate in economics. He is actively involved in global academic and professional networks such as UN HESI, SDSN, and PRME. In this interview, he shares how Sulitest supports business schools in embedding sustainability for a better world.

Building a science-based framework for sustainability education

Aurélien, could you start by sharing a bit about your professional journey? What led you to co-found Sulitest, and how has your experience shaped your vision for sustainability literacy in business education?

My professional life has been mainly developed as an academic for about 15 years in several institutions, including 10 years as a professor at Kedge Business School in France. I have been active in national and international networks (such as the UN HESI) to leverage my academic position in encouraging sustainability to be embedded into all dimensions of higher education: pedagogy, curriculum, research, partnerships, quality assurance, etc.

During my professional journey, I developed two strong convictions:

1. Assessment is often the blind spot of sustainability in higher education. Assessing the outcome of learning is key. If sustainability is more and more visible in the agenda, it is relatively invisible in defining the learning objectives and competency goals driving higher education practices.
2. Addressing the systemic, sometimes wicked, challenges of sustainability requires a common language for all professionals. We need to go beyond specific courses or programmes to sharing a common understanding of sustainability so all current and future decision makers are able to cooperate in building a sustainable future.

This is why I made a career shift, leaving my academic position to become a social entrepreneur, co-piloting Sulitest whose purpose is to mainstream sustainability literacy.

Why the SDGs, Doughnut Economics, and Planetary boundaries matter

TASK™ by Sulitest is built on a strong methodological foundation. Can you tell us more about the frameworks and models that uphold this tool, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or the Doughnut Model? Why did you choose these particular concepts?

While curriculum and pedagogical transformation takes multiple forms, TASK™ fills an important gap by measuring one’s level of knowledge situated within a holistic, integrated, systemic, and interdisciplinary structure.

Indeed, defining sustainability knowledge required engaging with relevant science-based literature and existing methodologies and frameworks. To this end, Sulitest created a “Task Force” of academics and sustainability professionals supported by an assembly of stakeholders – the “Fellows” – to document and ensure consistency in the selection and use of foundational concepts and resources.

Our vision of sustainability knowledge recognises that social and economic systems are embedded into Earth’s natural systems, that many levers of action and opportunity make sustainability possible, and that everything is connected!

Among many sources of inspiration:

• The 17 SDGs embrace this systemic nature of sustainability via their multiple interlinkages, synergies, co-benefits, trickle-down effects, and feedback loops, but also potential conflicts and trade-offs.
• Earth natural systems are captured through the planetary boundaries framework documented by the Stockholm Resilience Institute, defining a safe operating space for humanity.
• The Kate Raworth Model of “Doughnut Economics” holds that humanity might thrive beyond the 21st century by requiring that meeting human needs (the social foundation) remains subject to the ability of Earth systems to provide for such needs (the ecological ceiling).
• The UN Global Sustainable Development Report provides science-based analysis to identify 4 main levers for transformation: Governance, Economy and Finance, Science and Technology, and Individual and Collective Action.

Combining these sources of inspiration with the existing literature in the fields of sustainability and education, we defined a common base of knowledge for triggering transformative action and systemic change.

How TASK™ drives curriculum transformation and student learning

Sustainability and impact measurement have become key priorities for business schools worldwide. How does Sulitest/TASK help business schools integrate sustainability into their teaching and institutional strategy? What unique value does TASK provide for students?

Many of us are familiar with W. Edwards Deming’s famous quote, ‘You can’t manage what you don’t measure.’ Indeed, sustainability and impact measurement are becoming key priorities for business schools worldwide.

While assessing the footprint of a campus is important, the core mission of business schools remains teaching and upskilling future leaders. This is where their impact lies. So, the challenge is: how do we measure outcomes and not only means (more courses, more activities…)? And how do we ensure this is an actionable and measurable pillar of an institution’s strategy?

TASK™ provides key indicators of whether students are truly developing the knowledge needed for a sustainable future. When used as an entry- and exit-assessment, TASK™ allows schools to meet learners where they are, identify gaps and track progress. It gives them actionable insights to refine their curriculum and develop the best learning experience while fully embedding sustainability with their competency goals.

For students, TASK™ serves as a compass for learning, helping them understand their strengths and areas for growth in sustainability knowledge and guiding them along their lifelong learning journey. The TASK™ digital certificate allows them to demonstrate their capabilities and to boost their employability.

Using TASK™ data to shape strategy and showcase societal impact

Business schools are increasingly expected to demonstrate their societal impact. How can Sulitest/TASK support schools in meeting their strategic objectives related to sustainability and communicating their success?

TASK™ provides tangible, reliable and comparable data to map cohorts, track progress and demonstrate whether students are meeting the sustainability learning objectives and competency goals set by the schools. In fact, several schools already use TASK™ as part of their assurance of learning.

Building on 12 years of experience working with higher education institutions in more than 20 countries and international networks such as the UN HESI, Sulitest develops guidelines on how to best use these data to inform the school’s strategy, how to leverage them for continuous improvement and how to communicate successes. On our blog and resource hub, specific guidelines include how to frame the data for your report to international rankings and accreditations, how to navigate TASK™ subjects to connect to your syllabi with our navigational charts, and how to align to the main sustainability competency frameworks such as the UNESCO key competencies, the European Green Comp or the CDEFM framework for French management schools.

Additionally, TASK™ fosters a common language around sustainability, which is essential for building a strong sustainability culture within an institution. When faculty, students, and leadership share a foundational understanding, it becomes easier to align strategy, communicate successes, and drive meaningful change.

Complementary tools for comprehensive impact assessment

The Business School Impact System (BSIS) helps institutions assess and communicate their impact. Do you see synergies between BSIS and Sulitest/TASK? How can these tools complement each other?

BSIS is a comprehensive impact assessment across seven dimensions, which provides schools with an in-depth understanding of how they operate and what they contribute, valuing peer-to-peer feedback for continuous improvement. TASK™ is a specific assessment designed to provide schools with data-driven insights on the impact of the learning experience on their student’s sustainability knowledge. TASK™ enables schools with reliable indicators to tailor their strategy and impact journey based on their ability to train future leaders for a sustainable future. It is especially relevant to strengthen their educational impact and societal impact within the BSIS framework.

Both initiatives complement each other perfectly, as TASK™ can be leveraged for strengthening the impact of business schools answering to BSIS and be identified as a good practice providing reliable data during the peer audit.

BSIS and TASK™ both aim to build an impact-driven culture in business schools and both value the power of assessment for continuous improvement.

Real examples of TASK™ sparking change in business education

TASK is positioned as a global sustainability literacy assessment. Can you share your favourite success stories or examples of institutions that have used TASK to spark positive change?

Our Change Leader community brings together institutions who are using TASK™ among most of their programmes. As such, they reach a large number of students. Yet it is interesting to see how institutions are integrating TASK™ within activities that allow students to connect it to personal interests and aspirations. ESCP Business School, for example, uses TASK™ as a baseline assessment and invites students to lead roundtables on the subjects they scored best on – a great example of how standardised assessments can inform personalised learning and fit into peer-to-peer learning and other active pedagogy practices.

Moreover, at an institutional level, TASK™ has encouraged curriculum revisions and reflections. A Programme Director at Kedge, another school in our community, shared with us that “the characteristically scientific nature of TASK™ is not familiar vocabulary for a business school, and while this can be seen as a problem, it pushed us to change the curriculum,” further discussing how this enabled the school to better prepare students for the job market with competencies needed to address the challenges of the 21st century.

Preparing leaders for a sustainable 21st century

Looking ahead, how do you see the role of business schools unfolding in shaping a more sustainable future, and what role do you envisage for Sulitest in this transformation?

Business schools play a pivotal role in developing the capabilities needed to address the 21st-century challenges. It is especially important for business graduates to be able to connect the expertise they acquired in business schools to sustainability challenges in their professional context. To this aim, business schools need to go beyond offering a niche sustainability programme and continue to teach “business as usual.” Instead, sustainability must become a common language embedded across all disciplines – finance, marketing, strategy – so that all decision-makers can use their professional skills to build a sustainable future.

Another crucial role for business schools is fostering critical thinking in an era of misinformation. Students need the ability to identify root causes, challenge assumptions, and rely on evidence-based and science-backed knowledge if they are to take informed decisions. Critical thinking, as well as system thinking, are core sustainability competencies and at the roots of the definition of TASK™’s domain of knowledge.

Sulitest’s role in this transformation is to enable higher education institutions and organisations with tools and data to build this common language of sustainability supported by science. We are equipping business schools to mainstream sustainability literacy and to cultivate the mindset that “being the best in the world now means being the best for the world.”

Finally, what would you say to business school leaders who are considering adopting Sulitest/TASK but have not yet taken the step?

There is no better moment to act for sustainability than NOW.

Embedding sustainability and impact in your business school is a journey; it will take time, and there is no “one size fits all.” But this is what it takes for cultivating and developing the competencies for business professionals fitting with the future.

Assessment is critical in this journey, and TASK™ is a useful compass. Do not wait to have developed the perfect courses or learning experience to start assessing its impact on your students’ sustainability literacy. The data you gather now, even if it reveals gaps, is your best asset for continuous improvement in your impact journey.

Join our Change Leaders community and learn from your peers walking the same path–institutions dedicated to fostering meaningful change, putting sustainability at the core of their learning experience and building a strong sustainability-driven culture for their students, faculty, staff and stakeholders.

For more insights on advancing sustainability literacy in higher education, visit Sulitest/TASK™. To explore how business schools can assess and enhance their societal impact, discover more about BSIS.

For additional insights, announcements and perspectives about other aspects of Business Education, visit the conversation here.