The Chantiers d’avenir programs: Université Laval trains the next generation for the challenges of tomorrow

This text is part of the special Philanthropy section

Launched since the start of the 2020 academic year at Laval University, the Chantiers d’avenir tailor-made programs aim to respond to the major and complex challenges facing society. With the support of partners and individual donors, the University offers a framework of interdisciplinary studies related to the workplace, unprecedented in Canada.

“Our Chantiers d’avenir are an innovative laboratory in education. This tailor-made approach aims to develop the skills of our student community for the future, in order to train leaders committed to major societal challenges, ”explains Sophie d’Amours, rector of Université Laval. This year, the 76 students of the cohort are divided into three interdisciplinary projects: Intelligence and transformation, Equity, diversity and inclusion and Food security. “For each of these tailor-made master’s degrees, we collaborate with partner organizations – companies or non-profit organizations – with which the students are involved”, specifies Sehl Mellouli, assistant vice-rector for studies and student affairs at the university.

These concrete intervention projects, co-created with community partners in addition to the courses, are distinguished from an internship. “We are working with the community to determine an imminent issue for our society for which there are no existing solutions and we are contributing with our partners, and with our students, to developing solutions contributing to the resolution of this issue. Our students therefore participate concretely in the change and learn by doing ”, indicates the assistant vice-rector. An atypical learning method, to develop talents of the future.

Tailor-made programs

“Everything had to be built when we launched these programs, which for this reason we called Chantiers d’avenir,” says Julia Gaudreault-Perron, innovation advisor for Chantiers d’avenir and the Cercle des leaders de l ‘Laval University. Because no one knows exactly what the university of the future will look like. “We have given ourselves a laboratory to invent new interdisciplinary tailor-made programs, master’s degrees or others, built around major societal challenges. These are complex and require a necessary interdisciplinarity ”, explains the advisor.

The food security workcamp, which welcomes its first cohort this year, is a good example of a challenge at the crossroads between various specialties. “You need to be able to understand and intervene across the entire food production, processing, distribution and consumption chain to create fairer, more sustainable and more equitable food systems across the country. planet, ”emphasizes Julia Gaudreault-Perron. This project does not train experts in a discipline such as agriculture, agroeconomics or international development, but specialists in the global issue, covering the entire food system, trained in project management, agriculture and in nutrition. “It’s another way of looking at university education,” adds the innovation advisor.

Various horizons partners

The programs are supported by donors and by around fifty community partners who are involved in the creation of the programs and who welcome students as part of concrete projects. These are large groups, such as Desjardins and Thales, or small structures, such as the start-up OVA or the organization Les Urbainculteurs, but also large international organizations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) or the World Food Program (WFP). Donors and partners, who face the challenges on which Chantiers d’avenir are working, often place themselves in a learning position to develop the talent of their employees.

International students participate in these tailor-made training courses with the support of organizations in their community. “In the work on food security, we are working with our partner organizations here, but also in Senegal, Burkina Faso and Peru. This allows us to work on this global and international issue in conjunction with local communities to understand food security beyond a strictly Quebec point of view, ”explains Julia Gaudreault-Perron. Diversity does not only affect the skills of participants, but also their culture and background. “They are 22 to 57 years old. Some already have their own business and wish to improve it, particularly in the Intelligence and transformation project. We have many employees in post, with a disciplinary and professional background, who come looking for skills for the future, ”says the advisor.

Talents of the future

For Université Laval, the transversal skills developed on the Chantiers d’avenir, transferable from one field to another, will be a key in the world of tomorrow. “We are betting that the learning or career paths of our current students will be much more varied than the linear paths that we have known in the past, where changes of field were less frequent”, explains Julia Gaudreault-Perron, which is already seeing the emergence of this trend. “We give our students skills that they can exercise by moving, for example, from a public organization to a company, and vice versa,” explains the advisor.

New functions calling on transversal skills have already been created in certain companies, such as Cogeco, which provided financial support to the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) project and which opened a corresponding position internally. “Two or three years ago, such positions did not exist in organizations that need people with interdisciplinary background and expertise in relation to all marginalized groups,” said Mr.me Gaudreault-Perron.

These skills acquired at Chantiers d’avenir, which call on what is called “complex thinking”, are accompanied by valuable and complementary skills. “Having an interdisciplinary head allows you to open your mind to understand an issue from different angles, but also to accept the coexistence of divergent points of view”, explains Julia Gaudreault-Perron. Thanks to the innovative approach of Chantiers d’avenir, students’ skills are coupled with a great capacity for adaptation. A skill in high demand, such as skills related to emotional intelligence, communication, social engagement, creativity and the ability to solve problems, which are also at the heart of these pioneering programs.

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