This year, the Governing Ecological Transitions in Cities (GETIC) is opening to apprenticeship for the first time. This is a new opportunity for students, who can now combine academic studies with professional experience. We met with Coline Regembal, an apprentice at the OuiACT consultancy, and its founder, Charles Lévêque. 

Coline Regembal is a student in the Master Governing Ecological Transition in Cities and is doing a work-study programme at OuiACT, within the local government division, on adaptation and decarbonisation issues. 

What does your day-to-day work at OuiACT involve?

I mainly work on adaptation projects, as well as on green budgeting and carbon footprint assessments, with a focus on mitigation, though not exclusively. Within the adaptation projects, I mainly work on vulnerability assessments, primarily with local authorities —cities, municipalities, and urban areas. It's pretty varied. 

What do you like most about this experience?

What I like most about this experience at the firm is the opportunity to work more specifically on a topic that interests me —adaptation —while also touching on other subjects such as mitigation and green budgeting. What I like about learning is gaining more concrete professional experience while taking courses. Researchers and professionals teach my classes. This year in particular, I can connect some of the things they discuss to my professional experience, which I find particularly enriching. 

Does the apprenticeship help you to better define your career plans?

The work-study programme is helping me to figure out what I want to do in the future. The issues of adapting to climate change and risk are something I had already identified, and I am fortunate to be able to explore them through my experience and realise that this is indeed what I want to do. I also want to work in the public sector and have a public policy dimension to my work. 

Charles Lévêque is the founder of OuiACT, a mission-driven company that supports local authorities and businesses in defining and implementing their low-carbon strategies.

Why did you choose to take on an apprentice from the Urban School?

Our work involves both a highly technical, mathematical approach, with modelling and tools (part of the team has an engineering background), and a political dimension. The fight against climate change is not just a matter of mathematics, so we also work on issues such as governance, social justice, and political prioritisation. That's why having students from programmes such as Sciences Po and the Urban School is so valuable to us. 

What does a profile from Sciences Po's Urban School bring you?

It piques our curiosity: we have a complicated job that is becoming increasingly complex, with a set of players that can sometimes be difficult to understand. Above all, I am looking for curious people with a strong climate culture who can convey ideas and convince our interlocutors. It is not enough to have completed a very rigorous study or report; you also have to be able to present it to a client, to convince them, to get your ideas across. All the Sciences Po students we have had have brought us this ability.

Sciences Po students also have a European outlook and an openness to the world. Our business is very French: we work with French local authorities and companies. For us, it's important to have students who bring a comparative perspective and an ability to look beyond the French-speaking world. 

In your opinion, why is an apprenticeship an interesting model for your sector?

Apprenticeships are an asset for a young company like ours. We have been in business for 4.5 years. We have grown significantly, from three people to around 30 today, with 25 on permanent contracts and two apprentices. Every year since OuiACT was founded, we have taken on one or two apprentices, most of whom we have subsequently recruited, proving that the apprenticeship system and gradual entry into company life work. Apprenticeships are also a demanding model for students, as they must study and work simultaneously. At OuiACT, we are aware that this is not easy, and we support our student employees in making a smooth transition into the world of work.