Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University offers a new European Bachelor's degree programme in Sustainability

Open for applications until May 28, the Joint Bachelor in Sustainability (BASUS) will welcome its first cohort in September 2025. Students will have the opportunity to study at three major European universities and, upon completing the three-year programme, will receive a joint degree with an international dimension.

A European programme with an ambitious curriculum

Students enrolled in the programme will spend their first year at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. During this initial year, they will follow a core curriculum introducing all specialisation tracks, enabling them to build foundational knowledge in various disciplines (economics, physics, biology, law, management, etc.) and to gain a comprehensive understanding of sustainability-related concepts.

For their second year, students will choose a specialisation path and study at one of the following degree-awarding partner universities:

• Law & Politics of Sustainability at the Jagiellonian University of Kraków (Poland)
• Environmental & Life Sciences at the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain)
• Sustainable Chemistry & Physics at the University of Helsinki (Finland)
• Economics, Management & Engineering at KU Leuven (Belgium)
• Economics & Geography at the Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University (France)
• Social Sciences & Humanities at the University of Zürich (Switzerland)

In addition to the mobility opportunities offered by this unique format, the programme, entirely taught in English, also offers language courses and classes in foreign languages, depending on the study locations.

This joint European programme aims to provide a comprehensive education on sustainability challenges on a European level through an ambitious curriculum spread across the eight involved campuses. The students enrolled in the programme will be guided toward a comprehensive understanding of sustainable development issues, fostering dialogue between disciplines such as planetary boundaries, resource management, and circular economy.

A focus on the Economics-Geography track offered at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University

Born from a desire to create a multidisciplinary academic path linked to sustainable development and to contribute to the growth of the Una Europa alliance, this joint degree includes several specialisation tracks, including one offered by Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University. Rémi Bazillier, Professor of Economics and Associate Director of the Sorbonne School of Economics (EES), and Romain Courault, Lecturer in Geography and head of the Master’s programme in Risks and Environment, were involved early in the development of the project within Una Europa’s Self-Steering Committee in sustainability.

‘What drove me to join the project was, above all, the political context—both in France and across Europe—of growing insularity amid a deep biological and climate crisis driven by human activity. What interests me is promoting sustainability on a European scale’, explains Romain Courault. ‘At the Sorbonne School of Economics, we’re actively working to internationalise our programmes, so this initiative generated a great deal of enthusiasm. Plus, thematically, sustainability challenges are well-covered at the master's level. We saw this as an opportunity to train students with strong backgrounds in economics and geography while also fostering interdisciplinary openness,’ adds his colleague Rémi Bazillier.

In the Economics & Geography track, the curriculum will be equally divided between the two disciplines. In the economics courses, students will explore the fundamentals and the specifics of economics applied to sustainable development issues, as well as methodological courses (such as statistics, econometrics etc.). In the geography courses, students will study environmental and systemic geography, and topics such as deforestation/reforestation dynamics, land artificialisation, declining quantity and quality of drinking water in diverse urban environments, desertification, and the management of natural and cultural heritage. These topics will be explored through geomatics, satellite image processing, modelling, and scenario building, as well as through field trips in urban and peri-urban environments for case studies in the Ile-De-France region, and potentially in more distant locations. Social aspects (perceptions, representations) and the integration of economic drivers (in sectors such as agriculture, forestry, tourism, and real estate) will also be addressed.

‘For the university, the key challenge is to contribute to the building of the European Research and Higher Education Area, and to take part in something unprecedented in both France and Europe,’ explains Rémi Bazillier before adding: ‘This new and unique degree format is a real asset for the university. From the students’ perspective, we see a growing demand for international programmes. Right after getting their high school diploma, students are eager to enrol in a programme abroad, and this new degree available at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne allows for international mobility.’

Nearly forty faculty members from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and partner universities are involved in bringing the Economics-Geography track to life. As a genuine symbol of European cooperation within Una Europa, this new programme opens up new academic pathways combining mobility, English as a lingua franca, and multidisciplinary approaches to sustainability. Upon graduation, students will be able to pursue a master’s programme in France, Europe, or elsewhere, opening the door to numerous career opportunities.