Caroline Verzat is a Professor in the Sustainability Department at ESCP Business School. Her research focuses on action research, which closely combines practical exploration and theoretical research for sustainability education. Her favourite research questions include: How can we educate future leaders to become responsible managers or entrepreneurs, giving priority to caring for the living world over profit maximisation? What are the characteristics of an emancipating educational environment? What is the impact of emotions on learning and on changing mindsets and behaviour fostering sustainability? How can actors be enabled to cope with hidden facets of learning and innovation (failure, hangers-on, conflicts, and the necessary time for long-term changes)? How can artistic techniques help students, managers and teachers reflect on unconscious or embarrassing questions that contribute to climate inaction and the neglect of critical ecological issues?

She is an alumna of École Normale Supérieure and ESSEC. She also holds a PhD in the sociology of Organisations (University Paris IX-Dauphine) and an HDR (Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches) in Entrepreneurship. She began her career as a consultant in management and organisation, and became a Lecturer in Management at École Centrale de Lille. In 2009, she joined Advancia, the first French school specialised in entrepreneurship, and she joined ESCP Business School in 2017. She is also a member of the Campus de la Transition, a training and research centre for social and ecological transition, and she is an artist specialised in collage-techniques.