Crise Campus: the first crisis management summer school for businesses and professionals

Backed by its ecosystem of experts, the ESEQ of the Faculty of Law and Political Science and the University of Montpellier's continuing education department (SFC-UM) in charge of professional training, are bringing their project together. The first Crisis Management Summer School is scheduled for Tuesday June 6 to Friday June 9, 2023 at the UM Richter campus.

Crise Campus is a dense, multi-disciplinary training program that enables seasoned professionals and beginners alike to enrich their visions, strengthen their skills and compare their experiences through contact with national and international experts recognized in their fields. It's also an opportunity for participants to share best practices with colleagues from all walks of life who face similar challenges. Professionals have until May 15, 2023, to register.

Highlights of this first Summer University

Seven workshops on key issues: organization, human factors and communication

  1. Decision-making in crisis management: resources for understanding, resources for action
    In times of stress and urgency, decision-making becomes complex in the face of the sometimes major stakes that individuals may be confronted with. In this workshop, you will be able to experiment with structured team decision-making using the FOR-DEC model.
  2. Before, during and after a crisis: what can communications do?
    When to communicate? When to delay? How to prepare for the aftermath? Far from communication clichés, how to avoid the wrong objective and align communication actions with the company's real challenges.
  3. Leadership in a crisis: how to keep a firm grip on cell management?
    While collective functioning is a bulwark against expert error, it is also a source of error and dysfunction in situations requiring reactivity and relevance. When emotion, panic and mistrust arise, how can we maintain leadership to get the group out of the crisis?
  4. Media: long live the crisis! The crisis, seen from the other side of the camera
    Epidemics, purchasing power, pollution, security, governance - these are just a few of the day-to-day crises that keep the media busy, but which also overshadow deeper crises linked to climate, energy and resources. How do the media define their priorities? How can we better understand their expectations so as to manage them more effectively?
  5. Crisis management plans, Rex, PCA. Beyond plans, principles and implementation of organizational reliability, for corporate robustness and resilience...
    If it were enough to have plans, no company would suffer the consequences of a poorly prepared/managed crisis. Beyond procedures and ready-made solutions, what postures can we borrow from research into organizational reliability?
  6. Media-training: preparing yourself or your spokesperson for the interview
    The interview is a delicate communications exercise, but also an opportunity for the company involved in a crisis situation. And this is true regardless of responsibility for the event. How do you prepare for this exercise?
  7. Spotting weak signals: monitoring approaches and tools to detect the precursory effects of a crisis before it breaks out
    When a crisis occurs, it's time to react, quickly and "as best we can". There's no question of finding out who's responsible, or of tracing its origins. Since "war is won in peacetime", how can we organize ourselves to identify the weak signals that could be the precursors of a crisis situation?

Case studies for an experiential approach

Role-playing exercises put participants in an operational training situation to learn how to cope with pressure and immediate challenges.

  1. What to do in the event of a cyber attack
    What are the first steps to take? What should be avoided? The exercise simulates a cyber attack and lists the "do's and don'ts" that the expert passes on, drawing on his many years of operational experience.
  2. How to manage media pressure
    Participants are put in a media pressure situation during a crisis. How do you deal with the media in addition to the crisis that impacts the company's organization, and how do you manage the pressure and impact of information on stakeholders? A role-playing exercise that allows participants to take stock of their tools and methods.
  3. Know how to negotiate in the face of threats, blackmail and aggression
    In this exercise, participants learn to adopt the right frame of mind and behavior in situations of high emotional tension, where managing the human factor and relational intelligence are key.

Three conferences to gain perspective and prepare for the future

  • Tuesday June 6: Transform with enthusiasm! How to "turn a crisis around" by leveraging human capital
    Pierre Moorkens is an expert in neuro-cognitive and behavioral analysis, founder of some fifteen companies and founder of INC Brussels. How to turn a crisis situation into a development opportunity by involving the people who are affected by it: this is the surprising and hopeful leitmotiv drawn from the very real experience of an entrepreneur who is anything but a dreamer. Pierre Moorkens delivers the keys to "transforming with enthusiasm".
  • Wednesday June 7: From the special forces to the company, useful lessons for people management
    Pascal Broquard is a former special forces negotiator and human factors expert who shares his experiences and approaches to people management in crisis situations. Based on his latest book, "Des forces spéciales à l'entreprise", he will share the lessons he has learned from 20 years of operational interventions and training within the French army, and highlight possible links with the corporate world.
  • Friday June 9: The century of cascading crises? Welcome to the 21st century...
    Bettina Laville is Honorary State Councillor, Founder and Honorary President of Comité 21, President of the Institut d'Études Avancées de Paris, and Director of the "Vraiment Durable" magazine. Despite numerous warning signals (the Brundtland Report in 87, the creation of the IPCC in 88, the first COP in 95, the Rio Conference in 92 and the Kyoto Conference in 97), world leaders have failed to come up with effective responses. Climate, water, agriculture, energy and other crises are all interconnected and foreshadow others. We need to prepare for them and try to mitigate them. This is possible, provided we stop wasting time and accept the immense efforts that will have consequences for economic activity, wealth creation and incomes.

A visit to Hérault-based companies experienced in risk management

To showcase the region and its special features, ESEQ is organizing an afternoon of behind-the-scenes visits and discussions with managers in charge of safety, prevention and the management of complex situations at companies in the Hérault region. Thanks to its summer popularity and quality of life, the Hérault region and its seaside attract large numbers of people every year. The region is home to a number of high-performance businesses that operate year-round, with major challenges in terms of public safety, environmental protection and image. From industrial and yachting harbors to tourist and leisure facilities, the visit will provide an opportunity to discuss risk and crisis management policies and resources, and share best practices.

From special forces to neurocognitive sciences, 8 experts meet for the first time

In its quest for multidisciplinarity, Crise campus brings these 8 experts together for the first time in a single program.

  • Pierre Moorkens. Expert in Neuro-Cognitive and Behavioral Analysis, founder of INC Brussels, humanist and efficient serial entrepreneur.
  • Bettina Laville. Honorary State Councillor, Founder and Honorary President of Comité 21, Director of the "Vraiment Durable" magazine. 
  • Pascal Broquard. Former Special Forces negotiator, expert in Human Factor management, author of the book "Des forces spéciales à l'entreprise".
  • Eric Petiot. Air France pilot and instructor, expert in Organizational and Human Factors.
  • Ludovic Pinganaud. Managing Director in charge of development at ATRISC, former lieutenant-colonel in the professional fire department, former coordinator of the Ministry of the Interior's Interministerial Crisis Unit, crisis consultant for BFM and LCI.
  • Jean-Louis Caffier. Journalist who has worked for France 3, France Info, LCI and BFM. Climate and energy specialist, co-founder with Jean-Marc Jancovici of Entretiens de Combloux, member of the Innovation 2030 Commission chaired by Anne Lauvergeon.
  • Léo Gonzalès. Cyber security expert, co-founder of Devensys. 
  • Patrice Heintz. Expert in sensitive communications, crisis management and human factor management.

Practical information