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The Clinic: Corporate social responsability and innovation (RISE)

The Corporate Social Responsibility and Innovation (RISE) clinic programme explores the legal framework relating to corporate sustainability and its implementation by economic actors. 

In this context, different subjects will be mobilized: international relations, business law, business & human rights, etc. 

The programme is also a place for reflection and exchange bringing together stakeholders such as representatives of businesses, investors, NGOs and international organizations. Their perspectives bring a diversity of perspectives and depth of analysis to interactions with students. 

THE COURSE 

The course is structured in two semesters:

  • First semester (24 hours): theoretical and practical bases of corporate sustainability and project management methodology
  • Second semester (24 hours): practical implementation and exchanges with practitioners

The objective of the course is to equip students in the deployment of their clinical project.

THE CLINIC PROJECT

In addition to the course, students devote half a day each week to teamwork on the project entrusted to them by an external partner of the clinic (companies, investors, international organizations, NGOs, etc.). The deliverables for each project vary and can be reports, practical guides, presentations to management committees, legal prospective studies, etc. Each project benefits from supervision by the team of instructors and by a tutor who guides the students in their work and the relationship with the partner throughout the course of the year.

The programme is delivered in French by: 

  • Maxime Belingheri, lecturer and tutor
  • Pierrick Le Goff, lecturer
  • Pierre-Louis Périn, lecturer
  • Elsa Savourey, lecturer
  • Jean-Philippe Robé, lecturer of the required RISE clinic course 
  • Charlotte Marchand, teaching assistant 
  • Mélinée Aprikian, tutor
  • Louise Beuloir, tutor 
  • Elodie Bou Antoun, tutor
  • Adèle Bourgin, tutor
  • Eléna Divry, tutor
  • Cyann Starck, tutor 
  • Madeleine Tron, tutrice

The RISE clinic programme is selective and open to second year students from the Law school (Masters in Economic Law), as well as to first year students from the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA).

With more than ten years of experience, the programme has continued to develop by deepening existing partnerships or extending its discussions with new partners.

Projects 2025-2026

 

  • Partner: Regional Arbitration Centre OHADAC
  • Tutor: Adèle Bourgin 

 

  • Partner: EthiFinance 
  • Tutors: Louise Beuloir and Cyann Starck 

 

  • Partner: Zero Waste France, ClientEarth and Surfrider Foundation Europe
  • Tutor: Madeleine Tron  

 

  • Partner:   World Bank – Office of Suspension and Debarment (OSD)
  • Tutor: Elodie Bou Antoun 

 

  • Partner: WPD Onshore France
  • Tutor: Eléna Divry 

Resource Matters is a non-governmental organization that aims to promote policies and good practices to enable the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo to enjoy the benefits of the country's vast natural resources (including gold, tin, tantalum, copper, and cobalt) and reduce those that encourage corruption or other harmful practices. While commercial lithium production has not yet begun, warning signs of corruption have already been identified in the granting and revocation of certain permits. 

To this end, Resource Matters has partnered with the RISE clinic programme to analyze the anti-corruption commitments of companies active in the sector (and their supply chains) and initiate a dialogue with them. Students will first conduct an up-to-date review of due diligence and anti-corruption laws and regulations, before focusing on the commitments made by some of the identified companies and discussing how they are implementing or plan to implement these commitments to limit or mitigate risks.

  • Partner: Resource Matters
  • Tutor: Mélinée Aprikian 

Sustainable finance consists in ‘integrating environmental, social and governance considerations into investment decisions’. Since 2018, this new form of finance has emerged in the European Union as an essential means to combat climate change.

The European Commission has adopted several regulations designed to provide a framework to promote sustainable finance. This regulatory framework is particularly based on a classification system for sustainable activities, introduced by Regulation 2020/852 of 18 June 2020, known as the Taxonomy, and a framework for the publication of information by financial and non-financial companies, introduced respectively by Regulation 2019/2088 of 27 November 2019, known as the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), and by Directive 2022/2464 of 14 December 2022, known as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

Although these innovative regulations may represent a valuable means for the ecological transition, some players are pointing out their lack of clarity, their complexity and their inconsistency, which are likely to make their operational implementation tricky. For others, these new regulations have also led to over-regulation, calling for simplification, as suggested by the recent Draghi report.

In the context of an inflation of standards in the field of sustainable finance, the aim of this clinical project is to draw up a critique of current European regulations in the field of sustainable finance, with the objective of proposing concrete solutions to improve their clarity and coherence.
 

  • Partner: Bred and Lisa Fitoussi, affiliate Professor at the Sciences Po Law school 
  • Tutors: Philippine De Groote and Yassine El Gnaoui

Past Projets