Led by Professors Nathalie Burnay (sociology) and Michel Ajzen (management) from the Faculty of Economics, Management, and Communication (EMCP) at Sciences Po, University of Namur, this interdisciplinary project aims to conceptualize the ethics of care—“taking care” in French—within organizations and the conditions for its implementation to promote sustainability in the workplace. 

“For several years now, we have been witnessing a profound transformation of work, accompanied not only by a deterioration in working conditions but also by a search for meaning. More and more workers, whether skilled or unskilled, are no longer content with just a job: they are looking for work that is meaningful and suits them. " - Nathalie Burnay, Professor at the EMCP Faculty and researcher at the Transitions Institute.

In light of this observation, the pair of researchers explores the idea of care as a driver of sustainability in the workplace—that is, the living and working conditions that enable individuals to sustainably commit to a long-term professional career.

“The ethics of care is an emerging concept in management, sometimes overused under the term ‘benevolence.’ Our goal is to take a critical and rigorous look at this concept, drawing on the literature and empirical data.” — Michel Ajzen, Professor of Organizational and Innovation Management.

The SUScare project will span five years and will be structured around several phases: 

1. A review of the scientific literature to better understand the concept of sustainable work in a changing world;
2. A quantitative assessment to measure the current state of work sustainability in Belgian companies; 
3. In-depth interviews to understand how workers and managers perceive the issue of care in the workplace;
4. A case study to examine the conditions under which care can become a pillar of sustainability at work.

To carry out this work, Nathalie Burnay and Michel Ajzen will be supported by a multidisciplinary team consisting of two doctoral students—one in sociology and the other in management—as well as a postdoctoral researcher in the social sciences. 

The results of this research will take the form of a white paper for managers and a workshop with human resources professionals.

A phenomenon that has received little attention in the scientific literature has caught the attention of Catherine Guirkinger, an economist and professor at Sciences Po’s Faculty of Economics, Management, and Communication (EMCP), and her colleagues, Pablo Alvarez-Aragon, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bologna, and Jean-Philippe Platteau, professor emeritus at UNamur: the conversion of African women to “new Christian churches.” This term encompasses new Christian-inspired religious movements such as evangelical or Pentecostal churches, which are growing rapidly on the African continent and in other regions of the world. 

“Statistical analyses show that women are much more likely to be members of these new churches than men. This imbalance is unique to these new churches and is not observed in Catholic churches or other traditional religions,” explains Catherine Guirkinger. 

To explain this trend of female conversion, Catherine Guirkinger puts forward a hypothesis centered on the support services offered by these churches, which encourage women in their economic empowerment. “In a previous research study conducted in Benin, we observed that when women gain access to new sources of income, they are more likely to convert,” explains Catherine Guirkinger. “When interviewed, they frequently mention these support services, which help them overcome the obstacles they face in accessing new economic opportunities. These services are not solely financial in nature but also include ‘spiritual protection,’ in a context where ‘successful’ women are often accused of or fall victim to witchcraft.” 

Thus, initial analyses suggest that religious conversion is correlated with the economic cycle: it is more frequent when incomes rise. “This is a rather unexpected finding,” the researcher notes. “Religious conversion is generally interpreted as a response to difficulties, particularly financial ones. Yet it would seem that economic growth, on the contrary, encourages membership in these new churches.” 

One of the gray areas Catherine Guirkinger hopes to shed light on is identifying the roles these churches play in the empowerment of these women in the face of rather conservative and patriarchal gender norms. To understand this, Catherine Guirkinger will employ a combination of methods: statistical data, qualitative surveys, econometric analyses, as well as “economic games”—role-playing exercises designed to understand individual behaviors through simulated scenarios.  

The project will run for four years, from 2026 to 2030. The project team includes a doctoral student (currently being recruited), Jean-Philippe Platteau, professor emeritus at the Defipp Institute, and Pablo Alvarez of the University of Bologna (Italy). 

Catherine Guirkinger specializes in development economics. At the Center for Economic Development Research (CRED) of the DeFIPP Institute (Development Finance & Public Policies), she conducts research on changes in family structures during development processes. Her work also focuses on the respective roles of women and men in society and on the role of public institutions in the broader sense. Catherine Guirkinger explores these issues particularly in the colonial context, drawing on archival data and historical surveys. In 2017, she received European ERC funding for this research program, and in 2024, she secured funding from the F.R.S-FNRS for a collaborative project with Bruno Schoumaker, professor of demography at UCLouvain, aimed at digitizing census data. As a professor, Catherine Guirkinger teaches courses in microeconomics and development economics. 

Process management is a key concept in business. By analyzing and monitoring how processes are carried out, a company can track its operational performance and identify opportunities for improvement. However, for many companies, this aspect of management is still too often underdeveloped.

The unique aspect of the U-BPM research project led by Malik Schinckus and supervised by Professor Anthony Simonofski (UNamur School of Management and member of the MINDIT research center) is its specific focus on the people who execute processes on the ground—namely, the employees themselves. “Most organizations still oversee operations from a distance, collaborating with their employees only through Q&A sessions or interviews. To better understand the field and find effective solutions, it is essential to optimize collaboration between the ‘management’ and the ‘domain experts,’ that is, the people responsible for executing the processes,” explains Malik Schinckus.

The goal of Malik Schinckus’s thesis is therefore to implement tools and methods that facilitate better communication between these groups and improve the flow of information, with the aim of sustainably optimizing process execution. To achieve this, generative artificial intelligence (AI) appears to be a promising avenue: “Generative AI is indeed accessible to everyone, as interactions are based on natural language,” continues Malik Schinckus.

To implement a sustainable solution tailored to the realities of Belgian businesses, Malik Schinckus is collaborating with the consulting firm Daïmo, which specializes in IT and management. This immersive research provides a step back to assess the possibilities offered by AI by comparing it with real-world applications. “At present, it is impossible to automate everything and replace an analyst for complex cognitive tasks. The analyst identifies what is implicit, contextualizes the information, and judges when understanding is sufficient. AI does not yet have these capabilities,” the researcher notes. 

The creation of innovative tools to solve complex problems encountered in the field is an approach known in academia as “Design Science Research.” 

The benefits of this methodology are already evident: reduced costs, improved service quality, and greater flexibility.

Ultimately, the data from this research will help refine this solution and, eventually, enable its deployment on a larger scale.

Starting in their bachelor’s program, students in the Management and Information and Communication Engineering track have the opportunity to tailor their degree to a specialization rooted in market needs. This is a unique feature of the Namur program that allows students to remain versatile while avoiding the pitfall of overly specialized profiles. “It’s really a matter of adding a specific focus to the bachelor’s degree, which remains the same regardless of the track chosen,” explain Anthony Simonofski and Fanny Barnabé, professors and directors of the bachelor’s programs in Management Engineering and Information and Communication, respectively.

In this context, two new tracks will be added to these two bachelor’s programs starting this fall: “Creative Technologies” in Management Engineering and “Cultural and Creative Industries” in Information and Communication.

 “For the management engineering program, we’ve traditionally had two bachelor’s tracks: one in information management, focused on IT development, and one in environmental and life sciences, focused on science and sustainability,” explains Anthony Simonofski. Created in collaboration with the Information and Communication program and the School of Computer Science, the “Creative Technologies” track enriches existing programs by offering students the opportunity to imagine and experiment with creative uses of technology in a responsible manner, within a context marked by numerous societal challenges. 

What can students expect from the courses? “Some will focus on new uses of technology, understanding the digital and sustainable transitions, and new creative technologies, such as generative AI, immersive technologies (XR), and video game technologies, among others,” says Anthony Simonofski.

As for the Bachelor’s degree in Information and Communication, the plan is to revamp the existing “Culture and Audiovisual” track, which will be renamed “Cultural and Creative Industries” starting this fall. “Alongside the more traditional tracks of ‘Journalism and News Media’ and ‘Organizational Communication,’ this overhaul aims to forge stronger ties with the cultural and creative industries (CCI) sector, which is a highly dynamic sector currently undergoing restructuring. Furthermore, the Namur ecosystem is highly stimulating, featuring events such as the KIKK festival or the FIFF, networks of stakeholders like wake!, and institutions dedicated to popularizing or mediating science and culture such as the Pavillon, the Confluent des savoirs, the Medialab, and others,” explains Fanny Barnabé. 

While the two programs differ in terms of student profiles and career opportunities, joint courses will be offered to help students integrate into this ecosystem and explore management issues in the creative industries.

The collaboration between UNamur and the cultural and creative industries sector is particularly evident through the wake! by Digital Wallonia label, which aims to bring together Walloon players in the field of digital creativity from a variety of sectors: universities, research centers, creative hubs, festivals, companies, artists, investment funds, and more. UNamur was quickly among the first to contribute to this momentum.

These new programs will also facilitate communication between the cultural industries and future professionals: “The need for academic research and training aligned with the needs of the digital creative industries sector is paramount,” explains Delphine Jenart, wake! coordinator for KIKK. “We do indeed need a new generation of experts at the intersection of communication and creative technologies who understand the sector’s challenges regarding innovation and creativity and can formulate strategies.” 

These connections can take the form of guest lectures by professionals in the classroom, as well as internship opportunities or thesis projects.