I will begin my very short speech by this question : Why is a network dealing with innovation in the teaching of Sustainable Development ? We talk about sustainable development and therefore social responsibility. So it is important to understand the challenges of the current action. So why a network about the teaching of Sustainable Development ? First of all Sustainable Development is a necessity : There are now 7 Billion human beings on earth. So humanity has to manage a limited world, with limited resources. That is « concrete » data but there are also philosophical reasons why sustainable development is a necessity. People want a world that is progressing socially, they want a world with more fairness and freedom. These two reasons explain why there is a very important «social demand» to improve the teaching of sustainable development in our societies.

This week, the I.S.L.E network has organized an international professionalisation fair and seminar with a focus on sustainable practices and innovation. I want to thank all the people involved in the seminar. I also thank all those participants in the professionalization fair held here in this beautiful hall. I am convinced that meetings and discussions that took place during these two days were beneficial to all participants. This afternoon the first topic of the seminar concerned Food Technology and procurement. The second topic concerned Trade Fair, the third one concerned Didactics. The forth topic was about « Green Jobs » and the last topic concerned Corporate and social responsability. These themes are directly related to the issue of teaching Sustainable Development and related to the Professionalization of our students. The afternoon ended with a roundtable on the subject of needs of the labour market in relation with sustainable development. With these presentations we are at the heart of the matter before us. The question now is what knowledge and what skills it is necessary to teach students in SD.

It is possible to teach sustainable development through a program of general studies, but it is also possible to teach sustainable development in the context of a vocational diploma. In this case it is necessary to determine which jobs or functions are concerned. It is essential to determine what knowledge and skills should be taught to our students. So it will be possible to adapt program degrees in our universities. As you know, this work is ongoing in the ISLE network and we will continue to deal with this topic tomorrow. I am sure that what was said yesterday and today will be very useful in our thinking. So thank you again to all participants and especially a huge thank you to the organizers of this event. Thank you to the Instituto Superior de Agronomia. The seminar is over, but the program continues !

Thank you very much !