At ISAE-SUPAERO, we train our students to meet the challenge of the energy transition. By supporting them in their systems approach, their ability to master complex systems and their commitment to public debate, we give them the keys to inventing the world of tomorrow.
ECTS awarded on "sustainable development" subjects in 2021 (generalist engineer Ingénieur ISAE-SUPAERO, MSc)
Projected "sustainable development" ECTS in 2026 (generalist engineer Ingénieur ISAE-SUPAERO, MSc)
Details of elected representatives
Our "Sustainable Development" Courses
Our ISAE-SUPAERO General Engineering curriculum
1st year
Core Curriculum
Back to School with a Climate Theme (Climate Fresk): a fun and creative workshop on climate change. The aim is to challenge, raise awareness and get students to interact in a situation of collective intelligence.
Transition, Environment and Society" Block (TES ): helps students identify current and future environmental and social challenges, understand the links between the sciences and the need for a systemic approach to the world. It's an opportunity to develop the critical thinking needed to tackle these issues.
The TES Project: a project that puts students in the shoes of consultants tasked with thinking about technology and its uses in a societal context, on technologies such as AI, energy, the environment, transport, space, etc.
Current Elective Modules
- Aviation and climate
- Ecodesign,
- The energy transition: what role for the engineer,
- Physics of orders of magnitude for a world in transition,
- Wind propulsion.
2nd year
Core Curriculum
Introduction to Environmental Issues : the aim of this course is to help train engineers who are aware of their role in the ecological transformation of our society to put it on a sustainable path. To achieve this, the course aims to :
- provide the factual elements needed to understand the current environmental situation and the mechanisms that have led to it;
- encourage students to take up these issues.
“Transition, Environment, and Society” Block: Following on from the 1st year core curriculum, students will be trained in environmental engineering tools and levers for transition, in order to be able to identify the relevant tools and levers to become a player in the transition as an engineer.
Current Elective Modules
- Circular economy,
- Climate impact of aviation: current situation and outlook,
- Sustainable Development Goals.
3rd year
Areas of Application
- Energy, Transport, and the Environment. Over the next thirty years, energy demand associated with transport is set to grow the most. Against this backdrop, there are huge challenges to be met if energy production, consumption, and transport development are to be brought into line with the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Hybrid and non-conventional technologies are emerging as effective solutions to these challenges, but they have to fit into a sometimes complex economic, regulatory and social environment. It includes courses on energy and climate and economics and ecology.
- Aircraft Design and Operation: with the Air Transport System Transition pathway. This pathway focuses on assessing the environmental impact of aircraft and the air transport system, estimating the effects of technological solutions (energy carriers, new aircraft and operations, etc.) and non-technological solutions (economic, carbon offsetting, sobriety, etc.) making it possible to reduce the environmental impact of aviation, on air transport, stakeholders, and society in order to simulate transition scenarios for air transport and estimate their viability.
Generally Speaking
Other modules are available to choose from in 1st and 2nd year:
- nature, man, ecology,
- life, the living and living in a time of biological crises,
- environmental ethics.
Design and analysis of transition scenarios for the air transport sector.
The course is an introduction to eco-design: choosing materials with the environment in mind. Faced with current and future ecological and economic issues, directives, and the demands of society, it is necessary to minimize the impact on the environment from the design phase of products, whether goods, services, etc.
The aim of this course is, on the one hand, to present the issues, the different approaches and the tools for eco-design and, on the other hand, to study energies and identify those that are renewable with their exploitation or transformation.
The aim of this module is to extend our students' know-how to an area of fluid mechanics that is a source of innovation: wind propulsion. This field is currently the focus of developments aimed at performance and/or sustainability. Competition sailboats made up of a rigid wing and foils fly at the water/air interface. This extremely high-performance mode of travel gives rise to problems of dynamic stability, which are a natural extension of the aeronautical field. These new developments are also being applied to merchant ships with hybrid propulsion to meet the challenge of the increasing scarcity of fossil fuels through wind propulsion.
Since the industrial revolution and the massive exploitation of fossil fuels, the economy has been free of the physical limits of the earth. The depletion of resources and climate change are forcing us to reintegrate these limits to enable the emergence of a sustainable society (17 UN objectives). Engineers have a key role to play in raising awareness of this issue, spreading it throughout society, and contributing to the developments needed to change society's trajectory. This course provides the practical tools needed to design the transition to a sustainable world: estimation techniques, physics of orders of magnitude, critical thinking (reasoning, prototyping, modelling, integrating the limits of models).
The aim of this module is to extend our students' know-how to an area of fluid mechanics that is a source of innovation: wind propulsion. This field is currently the focus of developments aimed at performance and/or sustainability. Competition sailboats made up of a rigid wing and foils fly at the water/air interface. This extremely high-performance mode of travel gives rise to problems of dynamic stability, which are a natural extension of the field of aeronautics.
Acquire a holistic vision of the solutions for reducing the environmental impact of the 3 areas of the circular economy, and discover the methods and tools for reducing the impact of the 7 pillars.
Today, we know that industry and engineers in particular have a vital role to play in the energy and environmental transition!
Laurent Michel Head of programme General engineer 'Ingénieur ISAE-SUPAERO' (MSc)Our Specialized Industrial Engineering for Aeronautics and Space Curriculum - Ingénieur ISAE-SUPAERO by Apprenticeship Programme
1st year
- Core curriculum
- Sustainable development and CSR
Corporate social responsibility, also known as corporate social responsibility (CSR), is the way in which companies take account of environmental, social and ethical issues in their activities.
2nd year
- The fabric of the future: challenges and issues
The aim of this course is to make students aware of the importance of the challenges facing industrial systems in the context of the fourth industrial revolution. These include the digitization of the factory, factory flexibility and production configurability, new logistics tools and new simulation tools. The aim is to design a factory that saves energy and raw materials.
3rd year
- Avionics and embedded systems option
- Energy Systems and Materials option
More generally, the issues of eco-responsibility and energy efficiency in the aerospace sector are addressed in various technical courses throughout the course through the concepts of eco-design, optimisation, life-cycle analysis, recycling and recyclability of materials, etc.
The Climate Fresk and Collective Intelligence
The tone is set every autumn: our 1st year students are invited to take part in a fun and creative workshop on the environment. The aim is to find and explain the links between cause and effect in order to build a real 'fresk' of climate change.
Created by Cédric Ringenbach, a passionate engineer who teaches energy-climate issues in higher education, the Climate Fresk is an educational tool that articulates the IPCC's conclusions to provide a better understanding of the components of climate disruption and its systemic dimension.
Learn moreRelated Content
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Our alumni have their say: Meeting with Nathanaël Lecompte (S2021)Nathanaël is a recent graduate of ISAE-SUPAERO with a degree in engineering. Of all the opportunities available to him, he chose to pursue a career in renewable energy. He explains his motivations and his career path!
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Understanding the Issues via our Aviation and Climate Reference FrameworkCan we characterise the impact of aviation on the climate? What are the aviation and climate issues? Can we compare CO2 and non-CO2 effects? What technological solutions are being studied to make aviation sustainable? Can we link the rate of growth in air traffic to the proportion of the carbon budget devoted to aviation? Can we assess the energy resources available?
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Electric aircraft flights to raise awareness of carbon-free aviationIn June, twenty-four students and staff members from ISAE-SUPAERO had the opportunity to fly on the Velis Electro, the world's first certified 100% electric aircraft.
Aeronautics
Decarbonization
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Exploring, Sharing, TransformingCreating open discussion forums to facilitate exchanges on the challenges of transition in the aerospace sector, contributing to innovation, sharing our expertise and making it accessible, crossing viewpoints, promoting inclusion and openness around these subjects: we are acting collectively for transition on an international scale.
Horizons
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ISAE-SUPAERO participates in the Futurs Proches festivalISAE-SUPAERO, in partnership with the University of Toulouse, invites you to join us on Thursday, 3 October for the Futurs Proches Festival, a festival celebrating campuses in transition. Naturalist walks, escape games focusing on disability, presentation of the Aviation Climate Reference Framework, and more. Discover our campus programme!
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The SOLAR BOOST project helps address the problem of urban transportDecarbonization
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Institute for Sustainable AviationCreated in 2021 on the initiative of internationally renowned academic institutions with longstanding academic expertise in aeronautics and air transport, the ISA is an institute dedicated to the challenges of aviation's transition to sustainability.
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Aviation
Decarbonization
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OSE L'ISAE-SUPAERO: a long-term commitmentDiversity program
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Aviation and Climate: an assessment of transition scenarios for sustainable aviation compatible with the Paris AgreementIn 2021, ISAE-SUPAERO researchers Scott Delbecq, Jérôme Fontane, Nicolas Gourdain, Florian Simatos and Thomas Planès published the ‘Aviation and Climate’ report, summarising international scientific publications in order to provide the scientific information needed to understand the challenges of decarbonising air transport.
Aeronautics
DCAS
Decarbonization
News
Decarbonisation of aviation: ISAE-SUPAERO launches training programme for professionals with GIFASThis one-day training course aims to help employees in the aeronautics sector play an active and informed role in the decarbonisation of the sector. The first two sessions will be held on Thursday 3 April 2025 in Toulouse and Thursday 10 April 2025 in Paris.
Aeronautics
Decarbonization
Programme
Videos
Energy efficiency at ISAE-SUPAEROISAE-SUPAERO is fully committed to reducing its environmental footprint, particularly its energy consumption and dependence on fossil fuels. Since 2019, our campus has been evolving to improve the energy performance of our buildings. Let's find out together how this progress is being translated, the actions that have been put in place and our objectives for the future. To find out more: https://www.isae-supaero.fr/fr/horizons-186/vivre-un-campus-bas-carbone/vivre-un-campus-bas-carbone/
Corporate responsibility
Horizons
Sustainability
News
Nicolas Cruaud, Engineer at ISAE-SUPAERO and co-founder of the start-up NéolitheMeeting
Presentation
Startup
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Making a Lasting Commitment to New HorizonsOur world is facing major technological, health and environmental challenges. Although they are diverse in nature, they all share one thing in common: their great complexity, which combines scientific and social dimensions. It is the job of engineers to build bridges between science and society, using science to take concrete action in society. To address the complexity of these challenges, engineers have a voice to speak with and solutions to propose.
Horizons
Sustainability
News
ISAE-SUPAERO is officially a Pro-Vélo Employer!Championed by the Fédération des Usagers de la Bicyclette (FUB) and supported by ADEME, the Employeur Pro-Vélo label recognizes employer sites that implement ambitious pro-bike initiatives. ISAE-SUPAERO is proud to announce its Silver level certification.
Corporate responsibility
Label
Sustainability
Pages
Meeting Environmental ChallengesCrossing the Atlantic in an aeroplane or sending a human being to the Moon: for a century, aerospace research has never ceased to achieve what many thought impossible. At ISAE-SUPAERO, we are mobilising to meet this challenge and respond to the environmental and societal issues we face. 35% of internal and collaborative research projects are directly aimed at decarbonisation or are linked to the transition to sustainable aerospace by 2024.
Horizons
Sustainability
News
Thales and ISAE-SUPAERO strengthen ties to work towards a more sustainable air transport systemThe French high-tech group supports the Institute through a research chair. The prize: a thesis on an integrated approach to air transport and eleven scholarships of excellence to support high-achieving European students.
Aeronautics
Decarbonization
Partnership
Pages
Job offersAeronautics
Aerospace
AI
News
The Institute is involved in the ecological transition of the aerospace ecosystemAerospace
Meeting
Sustainability
News
AeroSCOPE, the first open-source database for exploring CO2 emissions from air transportA doctoral student at ISAE-SUPAERO, Antoine Salgas has produced a photograph of CO2 emissions from air transport by country and by region. This unique work feeds into AeroMAPS, an open reference platform aimed at exploring scenarios for decarbonising air transport.
Aeronautics
Decarbonization
Sustainability
News
Work on decarbonising aviation recognised by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)Paul Saves, a doctoral student at ISAE-SUPAERO/ONERA, has won the 2022 Best Paper Award from the AIAA for his work in Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO).
Decarbonization
Sustainability
News
ISAE-SUPAERO Environmental Engineering Certificate: training engineers in the challenges of environmental and energy transitionsAeronautics
Certification
Sustainability
Testimonials
Testimony from Nathanaël Lecompte, 2021 alumni of the ISAE-SUPAERO engineering programmeAlumni
Sustainability
Testimonial
News
World Engineer Day 2020: a young alumni puts his engineering skills to work for the climateOn the occasion of ‘World Engineer Day 2020,’ which focuses on the theme of sustainable development, we present the profile of Maxime Efoui Hess.
Alumni
Portrait
Presentation
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Horizon Europe Pathfinder, the European IPROP projectEnvironmental issues are central to the strategy of ISAE-SUPAERO's Department of Research and Pedagogical Resources. This commitment is reflected in its participation in IPROP, Ionic Propulsion in Atmosphere, one of the European research projects on decarbonisation in aviation.
Decarbonization
Sustainability
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Our partners are going green!Partner
Sustainability
Videos
AeroMAPS: an ISAE-SUPAERO reference tool for exploring the possible futures of aviationThe AeroMAPS tool, developed by two ISAE-SUPAERO researchers, Scott Delbecq and Thomas Planès, can be used to assess the environmental impacts of air transport and the effectiveness or limitations of levers to decarbonize the sector! Initially designed for research and training purposes, the tool is now a multidisciplinary, open-source platform, accessible to experts as well as institutional, industrial and associative decision-makers. Its development has been integrated into the work of the Institute for Sustainable Aviation (ISA), an interdisciplinary research institute headed by Laurent Joly, whose aim is to address the issue of #aviation's ecological transition in all its complexity. By playing on the sector's transition levers, AeroMAPS users can define the scenarios whose impacts they wish to analyze. For example, the introduction of new aircraft types, the use of new fuels or the rate of growth in air traffic. AeroMAPS is the first air transport scenario exploration platform built on an open-source scientific methodology. It was initially designed and developed to enable researchers to explore air transport transition scenarios in detail. It was then rapidly integrated into training programs: first in the ISAE-SUPAERO engineering curriculum, then in continuing education programs. To facilitate use of the tool, a partnership was formed with Sopra Steria. This major tech player built the platform's new web interface to enhance the user experience and make it accessible to decision-makers. Research work recently took on a socio-economic dimension with a PhD prepared by Antoine Salgas, in partnership with TBS Education. Antoine Salgas has also created a traffic and emissions inventory in collaboration with the Dutch Delft University of Technology. These two aspects of his thesis gave rise to an AeroMAPS “satellite” tool, called AeroSCOPE, which enables analyses to be partitioned and regionalized. Today, the comprehensive, multi-disciplinary aspect of AeroMAPS is a decision-making aid for the entire #aeronautics ecosystem. Through its scientific expertise, ISAE-SUPAERO contributes to the debate and to the future of aviation.
DCAS
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Our alumni have their say: Vinh Ly, co-founder of KyanosAlumni
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Let's make together a durable commitment to new horizonsAeronautics
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Testimony from Alice Fabre, 2021 graduate of the TAS AERO Advanced MasterAeronautics
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ISAE-SUPAERO awarded Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility (SD&CSR) labelThe Institute has been awarded the label "Développement Durable et Responsabilité Sociétale" (DD&RS), official recognition of its environmental and societal strategy. By obtaining this label, our school confirms its determination to make the ecological and social transition a lever for innovation in training, the transformation of industrial sectors and the evolution of practices in everyday life on campus.
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Social responsibility
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Clean Aviation – the European HERA projectEnvironmental issues are central to the strategy of ISAE-SUPAERO's Department of Research and Pedagogical Resources. This commitment is reflected in its participation in HERA, Hybrid Electric Regional Aircraft, one of the European research projects on decarbonising aviation.
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Carbon neutrality: What strategy should ISAE-SUPAERO adopt?Sustainability
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ISAE-SUPAERO develops a methodology to quantify the environmental impact of its research projectsThe Research Department has introduced a metric to assess the ambition of ISAE-SUPAERO's research activities in the transition to a sustainable society. The assessment reveals that more than a third (35%) of the research projects carried out at the Institute aim to have a significant impact on the environment.
Horizons
Sustainability
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ISAE-SUPAERO launches “Horizons”, its new Sustainable Development strategyISAE Group
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News
AeroMAPS: a tool for assessing the environmental impacts of the aviation sector's transitionISAE-SUPAERO has released AeroMAPS, an open-source tool for modelling transition scenarios for the aviation sector. The result of three years of research at the Institute, it enables users to accurately assess the effectiveness of different impact reduction strategies in relation to international commitments to combat climate change.
Decarbonization
Sustainability
News
ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) Congress: Laurent Joly, Deputy Director of Research at ISAE-SUPAERO, talks about the Institute's commitmentsEvent
Sustainability
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AeroMAPS: the go-to tool for exploring the possible futures of aviationThe AeroMAPS tool, developed by researchers at ISAE-SUPAERO, makes it possible to assess the environmental impacts of air transport and the effectiveness or limitations of levers for decarbonising the sector.
Aeronautics
DCAS
Decarbonization
News
ISAE-SUPAERO publishes an aviation and climate reportSustainability
Teacher researcher
News
Investing and committing to training and research to meet the challenges of the energy transitionISAE-SUPAERO and the ISAE-SUPAERO Foundation work together and take their share of responsibility for addressing these major challenges facing our society. Actions include raising awareness and training future aeronautical engineers, and setting up research programmes to better address energy and climate issues.
Aerospace
Sustainability
Videos
HORIZONS, ISAE-SUPAERO's renewed sustainable development strategyAt ISAE-SUPAERO, environmental issues are at the heart of our commitment. We are therefore mobilizing our teaching skills and scientific expertise to help build the aeronautical and space components of this sustainable society, and in particular to invent the low-carbon air transport of tomorrow.
Horizons
Sustainability
Pages
Our online post master degree in Sustainable AviationOur TRANSITIONS project aims to implement the master's degree program entitled "Online post master's degree in Sustainable Aviation" offered 100% online and essentially asynchronously.
Advanced Master
Aeronautics
Pedagogic innovation
News
Decarbonised aviation: first successful flight test for the hydrogen-powered Mermoz droneIn January, the first ‘Drone Mermoz’ demonstrator carrying hydrogen gas, developed by ISAE-SUPAERO in partnership with H3 DYNAMICS, successfully completed its first radio-controlled flight on the runway of the Muret model aircraft club in the Toulouse region (31).
Decarbonization
Sustainability
News
The project for an unmanned, zero-emission aircraft to cross the South AtlanticInnovation
Researcher
Sustainability
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Clean Aviation – The European CONCERTO projectEnvironmental issues are central to the strategy of ISAE-SUPAERO's Department of Research and Pedagogical Resources. This commitment is reflected in its participation in CONCERTO (Construction Of Novel CERTification MethOds and Means of Compliance for Disruptive Technologies), one of the European research projects on decarbonisation in aviation.
Decarbonization
Sustainability
News
ISAE-SUPAERO ranked among the top three institutions most committed to ecological and societal transition!Ranking
Sustainability
Pages
Our Challenge for the Environmental TransitionAt ISAE-SUPAERO, we are committed to a sustainable society through “Horizons” in the field of environmental transition. Supported by a manifesto and a carbon footprint, our strategy mobilizes researchers, teachers, staff, and students to accelerate the transition and design the low-carbon aeronautics of tomorrow.
Horizons
Sustainability
News
Corentin Lefloch, an engineering student, wins first prize at the USAIRE STUDENT AWARDS for his ideas on the future of aviationPrize
Sustainability
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ISAE-SUPAERO publishes its carbon footprint assessmentThe average French person emits 9 tonnes of CO2e per year. In order to comply with the Paris Agreement and limit global warming to +1.5°C, the carbon footprint must be reduced to 2 tonnes of CO2e per person per year by 2050.
Sustainability
News
COP2 Student: ISAE-SUPAERO affirms its commitment to ecological transition by signing the Grenoble AgreementSustainability
Pages
Innovating in a World of Transition - SafranThe challenges facing the aerospace industry (energy transition, New Space, digitalization) are driving a growing need for professionals with the ability to innovate. Against this backdrop, Safran and ISAE-SUPAERO are creating the Innovating in a World in Transition Chair.
Aeronautics
Aerospace
Chair
News
ISAE-SUPAERO and ENAC are collaborating on the design of a 100% digital degree programme in English on the subject of aviation transitions!ISAE-SUPAERO and ENAC train engineers with a high level of scientific expertise, humanistic values and innovative skills to master the complex challenges of tomorrow's world in the fields of aerospace and air transport.
Decarbonization
Sustainability
News
ISAE-SUPAERO is broadcasting the webinar "Air transport in crisis and the climate challenge: towards new paradigms" on campus!Aerospace
Event
Sustainability
News
Ranking of the top schools most committed to ecological transition: ISAE-SUPAERO in 2nd place!Ranking
Sustainability
Pages
Living a Low-carbon CampusOne of the main thrusts of our ‘Horizons’ strategy is based on our actions to promote our campus. A sustainable campus that exemplifies our commitment to setting an example. This means implementing a low-carbon strategy aimed at reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, adapting our campus to future environmental impacts and reducing other environmental impacts (notably biodiversity and resources).
Horizons
Sustainability
News
ISAE-SUPAERO expands its collaboration with TU Delft on sustainable aviationDuring President Macron's state visit to the Netherlands, five agreements were signed to strengthen collaboration between the two countries in the field of science and technology. Among them, an agreement between TU Delft and France provides for close collaboration between ISAE-SUPAERO and TU Delft in the field of sustainable aviation.
Decarbonization
Partnership
Sustainability