Life Cycle Management

Life Cycle Assessment & Ecodesign

See in English

Sustainable Business Models : a Serious Game

The ChocoMission V2 serious game offers students an immersive, systemic, and reflective learning experience centered on the sustainable transformation of business models.

Based on a scenario inspired by a real-world case, it engages participants in a collaborative simulation involving strategic, ethical, and operational dilemmas faced by a Belgian SME in the cocoa sector committed to sustainability.

 

The pedagogical objectives are to:

 

• Stimulate experiential learning: enable students to explore real sustainability challenges through decision-making, resource exploration, and team discussions
• Expose the complexity of global value chains: integrate North-South tensions, climate crises, governance issues, and social justice concerns
• Raise awareness of systemic trade-offs: every decision impacts both the dynamic Donut (representing planetary boundaries and social foundations) and the company's cash flow (costs, risks, profitability)
• Experiment with alternative governance and financing models: allow students to embody different roles (guardian, observer, strategist) and assess the consequences of decisions from each perspective
• Leverage immersive tools : field testimonies, animated avatars, and 360° videos in regenerative cocoa plantations, to deepen emotional engagement and critical thinking
• Strengthen collaborative skills: work in cross-functional teams, use double materiality matrices, receive dynamic feedback, and track performance via a score based on impact, cash flow, and cooperation

Life Cycle Assessment & Ecodesign

see in English

Sustainable Business Models : a Serious Game

Understanding of Sustainability Concepts

• Acquire a robust understanding of sustainability principles across planetary boundaries and social foundations
• Explore how these principles guide strategic choices and reshape business models in the context of global value chains

• Develop the ability to navigate trade-offs between People, Planet, and Profit under real-world constraints
• Learn to make decisions that are ethically robust, financially viable, and environmentally responsible

• Apply learnings from courses (e.g. Sustainable Finance, Life Cycle Management, ESG Reporting) to a complex simulation
• Translate theoretical sustainability frameworks into concrete business strategies and multi-stakeholder decisions

• Address wicked problems and crisis scenarios using systemic thinking
• Confront ethical dilemmas such as greenwashing, inequality, or environmental degradation with evidence-based reasoning

• Deepen your understanding of stakeholder expectations and power dynamics in sustainability transitions
• Experiment with governance models (cooperative, sociocratic, multi-stakeholder, etc.) and assess their impact

• Assess the double impact of business decisions: both on the Donut (ecological/social indicators) and on cash flow
• Understand how to manage for positive financial balance without maximizing surplus-aligning purpose and performance

• Strengthen collaborative decision-making through role-based gameplay (strategist, observer, guardian)
• Improve your capacity to defend and communicate decisions under time pressure and uncertainty

• Learn to adapt strategies in response to external shocks (flooding, climate risk, reputational crises)
• Develop resilience capabilities by iterating and rebalancing decisions throughout the simulation

Life Cycle Assessment & Ecodesign

Formation scientifique de niveau bachelier.

Sustainable Business Models : a Serious Game

This course is part of the competency development pathway in sustainability organized by HEC Liège. It follows the completion of a thematic course and provides a space to apply acquired knowledge in a practical, immersive setting.

During the first block of the master's program, students are required to choose and complete one of the following thematic courses, all of which are taught concurrently:

• Sustainable Finance - Ethics and Sustainability in Finance
• Reporting and Metrics for Sustainability - Sustainability Reporting and Strategy
• Life Cycle Management - Life Cycle Assessment and Ecodesign

Life Cycle Assessment & Ecodesign

See in English

Sustainable Business Models : a Serious Game

The course includes a serious game designed to simulate the challenges of transforming a company's business model toward sustainability. The simulation is played live, in teams of 3 students, over a single 3 to 4-hour session.

Each student plays a distinct role (e.g., controller, observer, guardian) and accesses role-specific resources via an interactive digital interface.

Throughout the game, students are invited to:

• Explore multimedia content (videos, avatars, documents)
• Complete individual and team-based quizzes
• Make decisions individually and collectively across a series of missions and crisis scenarios

Life Cycle Assessment & Ecodesign

Cours donné exclusivement en présentiel


Informations complémentaires:

See in English

Sustainable Business Models : a Serious Game

Combinaison d'activités d'apprentissage en présentiel et en distanciel


Informations complémentaires:

The serious game is currently (september 25) in version 2 (V2) development.

It is played live, in person, during a single 3 to 4-hour session, using a dedicated digital interface.

Students participate in teams of 3, each with a specific role.

The game unfolds in real time, blending interactive decision-making, resource exploration, and team collaboration, all supported by a dynamic and gamified interface.

Life Cycle Assessment & Ecodesign

Plate-forme(s) utilisée(s) pour les supports de cours :
- eCampus
- LOL@


Informations complémentaires:

See in English

Life Cycle Assessment & Ecodesign

Examen(s) en session

Toutes sessions confondues

- En présentiel

évaluation écrite ( QCM )


Informations complémentaires:

See in English

Sustainable Business Models : a Serious Game

Autre : Simulation integrated assessment


Informations complémentaires:

Assessment for this course is based on multiple components linked to the serious game experience:

• Active engagement during the simulation
• Completion of missions and individual/team activities
• Sustainability performance, measured through team results (Donut positioning, financial balance)
• Teamwork and collaboration, including a peer evaluation

• Part A (15 points): the thematic course selected in block 1 (e.g., Sustainable Finance, Reporting, or Life Cycle Management)
• Part B (5 points): the serious game "Sustainable Business Models"

Life Cycle Assessment & Ecodesign

///

Sustainable Business Models : a Serious Game

Students will be informed of the detailed arrangements a few weeks before the serious game takes place.

A remote information session is scheduled to explain the practicalities of the simulation: March 30, 2026 18:00-19:00 (online)

The serious game itself will be played in-person, during one of three available 3-hour sessions:

• April 15, 2026
• April 17, 2026
• May 6, 2026

Life Cycle Assessment & Ecodesign

Prof. Angélique LEONARD
A.Leonard@uliege.be

Dpt of Chemical Engineering
PEPs - Products, Environment, Processes

Quartier Agora
Institut de Physique, B5a, Bureau 1/51 et 1/53

 

Dr. Andrea Di Maria
Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech - Université de Liège
TERRA Teaching and Research Centre : Biosystems Dynamics and Exchanges
Avenue de la Faculté d'Agronomie 8
5030 Gembloux, Belgium
andrea.dimaria@uliege.be

Sustainable Business Models : a Serious Game

Professor Virginie Xhauflair, v.xhauflair@uliege.be

 

Teaching Assistant : Youssra El Midaoui, Youssra.ElMidaoui@uliege.be

 

For any organizational or practical questions related to the serious game, please contact Youssra El Midaoui and include "ChocoMission" in the subject line of your email.