ESCP Business School launches ESCP4U training programme for Ukrainian refugees

Paris, 4 March 2022 - A pioneer of lifelong learning, ESCP is committed to helping Ukrainian refugees by offering them a tuition-free certificate programme on its European campuses in Berlin, London, Madrid, Paris, Turin and Warsaw.

With its new programme ESCP4U (ESCP for Ukraine), ESCP will support and train 50 refugees on each campus, i.e. 300.

ESCP will leverage its core business, education, and its unique European model to offer Ukrainian refugees, students or young professionals, the ability to further develop their skills, knowledge and understanding of how to navigate in their new environments.

In concrete terms, programme participants will be trained in European management, cultures and languages by ESCP professors, and will be coached by professors, alumni and student volunteers.

A European-level task force composed of professors, staff, alumni and students has been set up to implement the project and will continue to be expanded. All ESCP campus Deans are particularly involved in this project.

Who is it for?

This programme is aimed at higher education students to prepare them for their studies and at professionals to enable them to work or set up a business in their host countries. The recruitment of students and participants will be done in collaboration with the UNHCR and the local authorities of the countries where ESCP is located.

These projects are co-financed by ESCP Business School and the ESCP Foundation.

In addition, ESCP will provide as of now 10 scholarships (for an amount of approximately €200K) to allow Ukrainian students to join one of the school's programmes, subject to admission: 5 in Bachelor and 5 in MIM or MSc. The ESCP Foundation will raise specific funds in order to offer more scholarships in the future.

How does the ESCP4U programme work?

3 blocks adding up to approximately 100 hours of training:
Courses in local cultures and languages
Distance learning and face-to-face courses in a range of specialities
Mentoring by our professors, students and alumni

When?
Language and culture courses and coaching will start in April 2022, with speciality courses to follow shortly after.

According to Professor Frank Bournois, Dean of ESCP: "Regardless of its near future, Ukraine will need to develop and maintain links with leaders trained in different European countries. In launching ESCP4U, ESCP is thus faithful to its model and its values: its academic excellence and the power of its network in the service of its humanist tradition and its European convictions.”

"No one knows how long the war in Ukraine will keep these refugees away from their country. Whether they stay in our European countries for several years or are able to return home quickly, the acquisition of new skills and knowledge will allow them to remain competitive in the employment market," adds Professor Léon Laulusa, EVP & Dean for Academic & International Affairs and ESCP4U project leader.

This institutional initiative is complemented by the spontaneous and coordinated mobilisation of many ESCP students, professors and employees whose projects will be progressively shared on the escp.eu/ukraine page.

/ENDS
For more information, or to speak to ESCP Business School, contact Luke Kerin at BlueSky PR on luke@bluesky-pr.com or call +44 (0)1582 790 706.