The School of Transformation

The School’s particular interest in the theme of ecological transition resulted in the publication of a manifesto in 2019. It was spontaneously carried by a group of students, teachers and staff members who are all committed to the cause.

Since the transition program was implemented that same year, a dedicated work group was created to track its progress. Since 2019, a yearly seminar has gathered all members of the School around guest speakers and thematic work groups in order to co-find new ways to act on the life cycle of materials, the place of digital technology, the education and production policies, our daily life and on the issue of living together.

Each semester, over 150 courses tackle and raise awareness on environmental and social issues. The School’s dedication to environmental issues is also reflected in the criteria it uses to select the school trips, which foster an environmentally friendly policy.

In 2019, the School created “La Commode”, its recuperatheque - a collaborative store of reusable materials.  By joining the schools’ club of the Réserve des Arts, the School also supports the purpose of using circular economy and of reusing materials.

Since March 2020, the School has been assessing the environmental impact of all the products it orders, using a rating applied to materials, production, transportation and use.

Based on its 19 various technical studios, the School also published a “best practices concise guide” on the use of materials.

The École des Arts Décoratifs and all its members are strongly committed to preventing, raising awareness on and to firmly combatting any form of discrimination. They are also committed to promoting a culture of gender equality and to combating stereotypes, discrimination and violence related to one’s gender or sexual orientation. 

In 2019, the School has implemented a Charter for gender equality and the fight against discrimination related to gender or sexual orientation. It is annexed to the internal rules and regulations of the School and to a Charter for the prevention of sexual, sexist or discriminatory violence and assault.

A reference person for equality and the prevention of discrimination shall direct an action plan on the monitoring of the implementation of its provisions, and this monitoring shall be discussed annually by a technical Committee.

The École des Arts Décoratifs takes concrete measures which foster equal opportunities and diversity. For instance, the School implements awareness-raising and support programs to combat social, cultural and geographical determinism, to make top-level higher education accessible to a greater number of people and to provide the new generations of creators with various possibilities which could solve our collective issues. 

La Renverse – a one-year program created with the Ateliers Médicis and located at the Clichy-sous-Bois conservatory – provides artistic training to young creators from Seine-Saint-Denis and other neighboring departments. The aim is to help them either develop a professional project or resume their studies.

The Preparatory Class aims to prepare students in their final year of high school for the art and design schools entrance examinations. 

The School is a partner of the Equal opportunities in art and design schools program (Ministry of National Education, Ministry of Culture and Fondation Culture & Diversité), which supports high school students who come from a modest background prepare the art and design schools entrance examinations.
Since 2021, the School has been the leader of two “Cordées de la réussite”, one with schools in the 19th arrondissement of Paris and the other with schools in Aubervilliers. The aim of this label is to ensure greater social equity in access to higher studies, especially regarding selective courses. As part of this program, students from the School hold artistic workshops with middle school students, in order for them to become more familiar with art, art studies and for vocations to emerge.

Finally, with the AIMS (Artist working in schools) post-Master’s degree course, the School strives to pass on artistic knowledge to pupils of primary and middle schools who are part of the Ile-de-France priority education network.