Founded in 1900 in Nantes, Audencia - formerly ESC Nantes, whose name derives from the Latin "audientia" meaning "to listen" and "audacia" meaning "audacity" - has established itself as one of Europe's leading management schools with its first EQUIS accreditation in 1998.
Audencia joins the United Nations initiative that brings together companies, labor and civil society around ten universal principles related to human rights, labor standards and the environment.
The school becomes the 1st management school in France to join the Global Compact.
Since then, Audencia has continued to develop and apply its CSR expertise, integrating it into its research, teaching and internal management.
In 2010, the school partnered with SciencesCom (a communications and media school founded in 1984) and L'École Atlantique de Commerce (undergraduate degree training created in 1981), accredited programs ranked among the best in their field.
As a result, Audencia Business School now offers management and communication programs ranging from bachelor's to doctoral degrees.Active both in France and internationally, the school has developed an Executive Education offering that designs training solutions to meet the strategic challenges and operational objectives of companies.
L'École Centrale de Nantes, Audencia and l'école nationale supérieure d'architecture de Nantes (ENSA Nantes) form a strategic alliance that builds on their complementary strengths.
This alliance combines engineering, management, architecture, and design to enrich the teaching, research, corporate relations, and international reach of the three schools.
In 2016, Audencia co-constructs, publishes and implements its 2020 development plan to serve the following ambitions:
In 2017, Audencia changed its status from that of an association to that of an EESC (consular higher education institution. Thanks to this change, Audencia, supported by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Nantes-St Nazaire, strengthens its management and decision-making autonomy in order to better meet the challenges of its development.
Audencia celebrates its anniversary with a unique digital experience! From January to December, 20 significant events of the year are illustrated by Nantes-based artist Dr Paper. 120 drawings embodying the richness and diversity of the activities carried out by the Audencia ecosystem. Discover the full feature.
Audencia becomes one of 30 schools worldwide to be included in the Positive Impact Rating. Launch of a new initiative called "Daring Together", in which students, alumni, professors-researchers, staff and partners participated in a collective reflection process that enabled the co-creation of the ECOS 2025 plan.
2020 also marks the EQUIS, AACSB and AMBA re-accreditation for the school for a maximum period of 5 years.
As a result of the "Daring Together" initiative, more than 200 people representing the Audencia ecosystem were led:
With this strategic plan, Audencia remains true to its roots, DNA and history while working for the common good of society. It does not aim to be the best school in the world, but to be a better school for the world, and to be recognized as such in the national and international scene.
The ECOS 2025 strategic plan is taking on its full force through the accomplishment of numerous flagship projects:
All these projects, and many more, allow Audencia to consolidate its status as a major player in the French, European and even global business school landscape.
