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Centrale Lyon welcomes the first class of the CHELS "Grandes Transitions" Inter-Etablissement Diploma

Institutionnel, Alliances, Formation, Grandes transitions
Published on Sep. 29 2025
Ten students from a wide range of backgrounds - engineering, biology, IT, political science... - began their new academic year on Monday September 29 on the Lyon-Écully campus. They are inaugurating the Diplôme Inter-Établissement (DIE) "Grandes Transitions: mesurer et comprendre pour agir", a new course offered by the Collège des Hautes Études Lyon Sciences (CHELS).

A unique degree for thinking and acting in the face of global change

Created in 2018, the CHELS brings together eight institutions from the University of Lyon: Centrale Lyon, ENS de Lyon, Mines Saint-Étienne, Sciences Po Lyon, VetAgro Sup, emlyon business school, the Université Jean-Moulin Lyon 3 and the CNSMD de Lyon. Its ambition is to decompartmentalize disciplines and train professionals capable of providing systemic responses to major contemporary challenges.
This new degree leads students, in one year, to measure impacts, understand major transitions - energy, demographic, digital, food, urban - then act to change through collective projects and an internship.

A first week at Centrale Lyon: the scientific approach to engineering

The new school year takes place over five days of immersion around the theme "The scientific approach to engineering". Lectures, practical work and interactive workshops address the engineer's role in the face of planetary limits, life cycle analysis and carbon footprint. Concrete experiments are proposed on water depollution, polymer recycling and raw earth construction. The week also emphasizes the importance of critical thinking in the face of scientific controversy.
This stage is part of a journey that will lead students to explore major transitions at all CHELS: demographic, economic, energy, mobility, urban, food and digital transitions.

Towards concrete solutions

Starting in December, students will conduct a multidisciplinary external project in partnership with public or private players, prior to a four-month internship related to the major transitions. These experiences aim to transform the knowledge acquired into levers for action.

Diplôme Inter-Établissements Grandes Transitions

This degree, accessible from a BAC+3, aims to address in a transdisciplinary and complementary way the issues linked to the major transitions generated by climate change and to meet future challenges.

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