Sustainable campus management

TBS Education’s carbon strategy

TBS Education conducts a carbon footprint assessment every two years to monitor and steer its carbon reduction pathway. To ensure the most accurate measurement possible, all six emissions categories are assessed: direct greenhouse gas emissions, indirect emissions from energy use, from transport, from purchased goods and services, from sold products, and other indirect emissions. TBS Education aims to achieve its first measurable decarbonization outcomes by 2031, through an emissions reduction and avoidance plan.

Discover TBS Education’s 2024–2025 Carbon Footprint Assessment

TBS Education’s carbon footprint assessment is conducted every two years. It provides the foundation for any robust decarbonization strategy. The assessment is structured around three scopes:

Scope 1 – Direct emissions
Emissions generated directly by the organization and its activities, such as fossil fuel use or refrigerant gases.

Scope 2 – Energy-related indirect emissions
Indirect emissions associated with energy consumption, including electricity and heating.

Scope 3 – Other indirect emissions
All other indirect emissions occurring upstream or downstream in the organization’s value chain, including purchases, travel and waste.

Scope of the assessment: Toulouse and Paris campuses, from September 2024 to August 2025.

TBS Education’s Decarbonization Strategy

In response to the growing climate emergency and the transformations it requires, TBS Education has joined the ACT’Sup initiative to structure its decarbonization strategy and achieve its climate objectives.

Led by CIRSES in partnership with TOOVALU and VERACY, ACT’Sup brings together 12 higher education institutions — including KEDGE, HEC and Sorbonne University — committed to defining and implementing their emissions reduction pathways.

The initiative combines collective working sessions with individual support.

Collective working sessions

The collective sessions are designed to identify and remove barriers through shared solutions, draw inspiration from best practices implemented by other institutions, highlight progress, and build on collective achievements.

Individual support

In parallel, individual support helps each institution move forward at its own pace, while remaining aligned with the overall objectives of the initiative.

The ACT Methodology — Accelerate Climate Transition

Developed by ADEME and recognized by the United Nations, ACT is an international initiative designed to help organizations develop credible climate strategies. It supports actors in reducing their carbon footprint through five key steps:

1. Current situation
Assess each institution’s level of maturity and identify the main priorities of its climate strategy.

2. Issues and challenges
Define carbon performance indicators tailored to the institution’s activities, and assess the risks and opportunities associated with climate change.

3. Vision
Explore each institution’s role in a low-carbon world through a forward-looking workshop.

4. New strategy
Build a transition pathway based on the carbon performance indicators defined in step 2, aligned with the vision developed in step 3, and define strategic pillars consistent with the institution’s place in a low-carbon world.

5. Action plan
Develop a quantified action plan aligned with the objectives set.

In 2018, TBS Education drew up its Corporate Mobility Plan with the help of the Public Transport Authority (SMTC) and Tisséo. An action plan was then put in place to promote alternative, active and public modes of transport:
• 25 new spaces have been created to park bikes
• a mileage-based travel allowance has been set up for bikes
• a carpooling platform is available for employees
• 50% of the price of a public transport subscription is reimbursed

TBS Education includes SD-CSR criteria in the School’s calls for tenders, when relevant. The School also encourages its staff and students to prioritize the purchase of eco-friendly materials/products on a day-today basis, or when organizing events.

Since 2017, two green rooftop terraces have been planted at TBS Education, based on an overall eco-design plan: use of local partners, choice of plants with low watering needs, furniture made by Recyclo’Bat from reused wood. All students and employees have access to these two areas.

Since 2016, the Entiore campus has been home to four beehives. To guarantee the bees remain healthy, TBS Education has chosen a bee-keepers union to manage the hives. TBS Education has designated “beehive officers” and provided them with training to develop their bee-keeping skills. They also take part in the life of the hives; they open them with the bee-keeper, familiarise themselves with the different moments in the life of the swarm and learn about bees and their ecosystem.

The best waste is no waste!

TBS Education aims to reduce its ecological impact by reducing waste at the source thanks to initiatives such as:

• the use of eco-friendly cups
• the installation of water fountains
• the organisation of zero-waste workshops
• the withdrawal of straws from the cafeteria
• the sale of portable cutlery sets to reduce the number of disposable knives and forks used during meals
• the provision of boxes with deposits for packing students’ meals
• mug-detection systems in vending machines
• the “office car-boot sale” which gives TBS Education staff the opportunity to buy computer equipment and furniture before it gets thrown away.

A low-carbon menu: the doubly good menu (2foisbon)

This nationwide programme involves creating a low-carbon menu that is good and healthy for consumers but also environmentally friendly. The 2fois bon menu is available every Tuesday in the TBS Education cafeterias.

Selective waste sorting

TBS Education has implemented selective waste sorting by installing 350 voluntary drop-off points on its Toulouse campuses. The project was designed from an overall perspective, meaning the containers were produced using wood from sustainably managed forests – manufactured by Symbiosphere, a cooperative and participatory company (SCOP) located a few kilometres from TBS Education – and the waste collection and recycling are managed by Greenburo, a SCOP which promotes professional integration through the employment of people in difficulty.

Today, paper/cardboard, cans/bottles and plastic cups are sorted and recycled. The quantities of waste recycled at TBS Education increased significantly between 2017 and 2018: 4 times more cardboard, 5 times more cups, 21 times more bottles, 18 times more paper.

Zero waste workshops are open to students and employees at TBS Education:

• During the ANEDD, which organises a series of practical workshops: how to make cosmetics and household products, or repair broken/damaged objects/clothing. These workshops are coordinated by associations/companies such as Zéro waste ToulouseElemen’terre and Naturel Factory.
• During the “Down with straws” day, when a workshop is organised to learn about the zero waste alternatives of Zéro waste Toulouse.
• During the “No Impact Week”, with a workshop on how to make reusable packaging from cotton and beeswax, organised by Zéro waste Toulouse
• Eight workshops are regularly proposed to TBS Education staff by the association “à croquer”. Half of these are devoted to promoting biodiversity and half are devoted to reducing waste (DIY cosmetics, DIY household products, DIY soft drinks).

A day dedicated to promoting alternative transport modes: Allons-y à vélo (AYAV) or Let’s go by bike! The programme includes:

• test stands where people can try out electric bikes
• a BMX demonstration
• a road-safety stand and workshops
• a food-truck bike

The No Impact Week takes place at TBS Education in May. Based on a concept invented by Thomas Parouty (TBS Education alumnus 1995), it aims to remove obstacles and create incentives that will encourage everyone to adopt eco-friendly habits at work; these are good for the individual involved as well as for the environment.

The principle involves organising a week of positive actions in local companies, where TBS Education staff set up workshops and/or challenges addressing a subject related to office life. Each subject provides an opportunity to explain and promote some of the actions already in place at TBS Education and around the region to the companies’ employees, in addition to sharing easy-to-implement tips.

The Ecosia on Campus Initiative was designed by TBS Education’s B3D student association for Sustainable Development! The Ecosia search engine is installed by default on our campus computers.

The goal is to plant as many trees as possible thanks to the searches made using Ecosia at TBS Education. Since October 2019, over 20,000 searches have been made on our campuses using Ecosia. This has resulted in more than 300 trees being planted in critical biodiversity areas and in areas where people need them.