Exploring and designing sustainable management by applying and embedding creative and playful modelling methodologies in a cross cultural context

In the following we report about an interdisciplinary project between arts, engineering and business students, which acronym is called ARTEM (ARTEngineeringManagement) workshop. This ARTEM workshop initiates undergraduate students to Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), by way of the ISO 26000 guidelines. It is built on a partnership with a regionallybased Small or Medium Enterprise (SME) which manufactures and exports "Made in France" top-ofthe range cookware worldwide. It takes place in English thus attracting business, engineering and arts students from different cultural backgrounds keen on improving their organizational CSR strategy design and implementation as well as language skills. Students actively engage in developing CSR analyses and solutions for the SME which, without external support, would not be able to address such an ambitious program. Teaming host and international visiting students together foster cross-cultural comparisons of views, interpretations and solution finding. Students are encouraged to move from the abstract to the concrete through a playful modelling approach (tool-kit based serious game), reflecting results with the company. This live case workshop responds to the search for a unique experiential learning seminar by the participating institutions of the ARTEM collaboration in Nancy (under the leadership of ICN Business School) and Western University in London, Ontario. The authors see the contribution of this paper by introducing the methodological approach and particularly the focus of embedding creative methodology in a curriculum which includes a direct interaction as a cross cultural team in professional practice. They also provide some first explorative results of the application of the methodology. The innovation of this ARTEM workshop is the unique combination of learning techniques that allow students to learn Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). By having access to an ongoing real company situation, embracing a team teaching approach, promoting students` cultural diversity through teamwork, and using metaphorical modelling methods and playful interaction through tool-kit based modelling, this session promoted student engagement and co-learning.