During Climate Week NYC 2026, the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) and HEC Montréal announce the UN's first partnership in Canada dedicated to executive education. This collaboration will initially take the form of an intensive five-day program leading to a Certificate in Sustainable Leadership for senior executives and organizational leaders.
Organizations face global challenges of growing scale and complexity. Understanding these issues is no longer enough. Leaders must grasp their interconnections, balance competing priorities, and make informed decisions in uncertain environments. Executive education plays a key role in developing this capacity for analysis, reflection, and action.
By combining the expertise of the United Nations University in science and global issues with HEC Montréal's expertise in executive education, the two institutions aim to strengthen leaders' ability to translate a deeper understanding of the world into informed decisions and meaningful action.
"Today's leaders must make decisions in an environment where transformations are accelerating and intersecting. Executive education provides the space to step back, renew perspectives, and turn knowledge into decisions. With UNU-INWEH, we are bringing together leading-edge science, international perspectives, and management realities to better prepare leaders to act amid uncertainty and lead change."
Dominique Anglade, Executive Director, Executive Education HEC Montréal
From Knowledge to Decision
At the heart of this collaboration is a simple ambition: to bridge scientific knowledge about major global transformations with the real decisions organizations must make.
This approach aligns with the work of Professor Kaveh Madani, Director of UNU-INWEH and recipient of the 2026 Stockholm Water Prize. His research is recognized for its examination of the interactions between human and environmental systems and for connecting science, policy, and decision-making.
"The major challenges of our time do not occur in isolation. They are deeply interconnected and require decision-makers to make difficult choices, often under conditions of uncertainty. Science can inform these choices, provided it is understood, contextualized, and connected to action. By bringing scientific knowledge closer to leadership development, through our work together with HEC Montreal, we seek to strengthen leaders' ability to make sound, sustainable decisions that are fit for the pressing challenges of our world."
Professor Kaveh Madani, Director, UNU-INWEH
A Certificate Rooted in Leaders' Realities
The program will bring together experts from academia, the United Nations, and the business community. Topics will include major environmental and economic transitions, resource management, polarization dynamics, foresight, and decision-making under uncertainty.
Participants will be encouraged to connect these transformations to their own leadership responsibilities, assess implications for their organizations, and strengthen their capacity to prioritize, decide, and mobilize. The certificate will be awarded upon successful completion of a rigorous learning and assessment process demonstrating achievement of the program's learning objectives and academic requirements.
Discover the program: Certification in Sustainable Leadership
