European Leadership for Safety Education (ELSE)

Description

1. Name of the coordinator of the grant contract: Université Côte d'Azur (UniCA)
2. Name and title of the contact person: Catherine Thomas, Professor & Virginie Oddo, Director of International Development Services
3. Name of beneficiary(ies) and affiliated entity(ies) in the action: European Nuclear Education Network (ENEN)
4. Title of the action: European Leadership for Safety Education (ELSE)
5. Contract number: INSC/2019/401-273
6. Start date and end date of the reporting period: 01/09/2019 – 31/12/2024
7. Target country(ies) or region(s): countries members of the INSC
8. Final beneficiaries &/or target groups[1] (if different) (including numbers of women and men):
   • Middle-career managers from the nuclear actors (regulators and operators) from countries members of the INSC will be the initial target group of the Project.
   • University students considering a potential career in nuclear industry or in regulatory public authorities, with a specialisation in risk-related management domains will be the second target of ELSE.
9. Country(ies) in which the activities take place (if different from 1.7): France and Belgium.
    

[1] ‘Target groups’ are the groups/entities who will be directly positively affected by the project at the project purpose level, and ‘final beneficiaries’” are those who will benefit from the project in the long term at the level of the society or sector at large

Background

The ELSE (European Leadership for Safety Education) project is co-funded under the European Union’s Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation (INSC), which supports the promotion of a high level of nuclear safety, radiation protection and effective regulatory frameworks in partner countries worldwide. In line with the EU’s external action objectives, the project contributes to strengthening institutional capacity and enhancing human competences as a cornerstone of sustainable nuclear governance.

The safe operation of nuclear installations depends not only on technological robustness and regulatory compliance, but fundamentally on the quality of leadership for safety and organisational culture. International frameworks, notably those developed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), consistently emphasise leadership for safety and safety culture as essential pillars of nuclear safety. 

The effective implementation of safety management therefore relies on specific leadership and managerial competences to foster safety culture, ensure accountability and achieve clearly defined safety objectives.

Despite a strong and well-established international policy framework, its implications have yet to be fully translated into higher education and professional training. To date, no dedicated academic diploma in Europe—or globally—focuses specifically on safety leadership in highly regulated industries such as the nuclear sector. 

This gap highlights the urgent need for structured, research-based education in leadership for safety. The ELSE project responds directly to this challenge by bringing together European management schools and nuclear experts to design and implement an innovative, interdisciplinary and sustainable academic framework for safety leadership education, fully aligned with INSC priorities and international safety standards.

Objectives

The overall objective of the ELSE project is to develop and implement a sustainable European academic framework in the field of leadership for safety education, leading to a certified university diploma and integration within Master’s degree programmes, in alignment with INSC priorities and international nuclear safety standards.

To achieve this overall objective, the project pursues three interrelated specific objectives:

1. Development of a certified university diploma in Leadership for Safety
    
2. Validation through pilot implementation with young professionals
    
3. Establishment of a sustainable and scalable educational ecosystem
   To ensure long-term sustainability and international outreach