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.

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.

It was at an international, multidisciplinary conference organized by the University of Zaragoza (Spain), AIRSI 2025, which brings together over 200 researchers around 4.0 technologies (artificial intelligence, robotics, virtual assistants, avatars, metavers, augmented reality, big data, etc.), that Florence Nizette brilliantly received the Best Paper Award for an article from her thesis in artificial intelligence.

In her thesis, Florence Nizette looks at user confidence in AI technologies, and in particular at the notion of their "explainability" (XAI). An essential aspect in making these tools more understandable, at a time when their use is only increasing in many sectors.

The originality of Florence Nizette's work lies in the deployment of a multi-stakeholder perspective, an aspect as yet little studied in the literature yet crucial to fostering the adoption of these tools. "I interviewed various actors in sensitive sectors such as finance or insurance, where trust is key: company executives, managers, experts, developers and users with the aim of gaining a global view of how to improve the explicability of AI services. My work consisted in identifying the expectations and constraints encountered by each of the stakeholders with the aim of building bridges between these different actors and seeing how they can collaborate to improve AI-enabled services."

By reconceptualizing explicability as a human-centric challenge, Florence Nizette's study provides theoretical and practical keys to developing more transparent and trustworthy AI systems, aligned with business needs and compliant with regulations.

For this project - based on interviews conducted internationally with XAI players and stakeholders - Florence Nizette benefits from the guidance of its promoters, Professors Wafa Hammedi (UNamur), Allard Van Riel (Hasselt University) and Nadia Steils (HEC Liège). Indeed, the researcher has the particularity of conducting her research at both UNamur and Hasselt University. An advantage in her view: "It's very enriching, both from an intellectual point of view and in terms of access to resources and networks in both regions", explains Florence Nizette.

Beyond the scientific aspect, Florence emphasizes the human richness of her career. As part of the dynamic team at the NaDI-CeRCLe research center, she emphasizes the mutual support and collaboration that prevail within her group, while also having the opportunity to exchange with different teams at other universities and internationally. The guidance of her three promoters, each bringing a singular perspective to her work, has been invaluable support throughout.

According to Florence, the singularity of her career path lies in this openness: learning and progressing by helping others and receiving their advice, finding enrichment in the diversity of collaborations and points of view. "What stimulates me in a PhD is scientific discovery as much as human interaction: the discussions, the collaborations, the diversity of perspectives", she explains. An experience that is both formative and deeply human, illustrating the power of networking, sharing and international openness.

Florence has benefited from the academic anchorage offered by a community of researchers in service, both nationally and internationally. The scientific rigor, methodological rigor and quality of exchanges that characterize this community represent an invaluable opportunity for any young researcher. This environment has nurtured his scientific maturity and enabled him to raise his work to a higher level.

The research center, with its stimulating yet caring atmosphere, provides fertile ground for academic development. Added to this is the participation in or organization of events of international stature, such as Let's Talk About Service (LTAS), the benchmark conference by the American Marketing Association, held in 2023 in Namur, as well as seminars regularly hosting renowned researchers. These experiences have not only enabled her to integrate the highest standards of the discipline, but also to challenge herself in order to develop and refine her skills as a researcher.