ESSEC IRENE

The Institute for research and education on negotiation (IRÉNÉ), founded at ESSEC Business school in 1996 (non-profit organization), has three main goals. The first one, at an academic level, seeks to develop a theoretical and practical research process in negotiation and mediation. The second one, educational, aims at spreading operational concepts through interactive trainings based on negotiation cases and simulations; for companies, the European Commission since 2004, and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The third one consists in leading field missions in order to bring peace in fragile states, by strengthening the capacities of the relevant local actors, promoting dialogue, and enhancing trust between parties. In order to support these missions, IRÉNÉ launched in 2002 its “Negotiators of the World” programme, and has been involved in 54 countries so far. ESSEC IRÉNÉ is the only French member organization of EPLO (European Peacebuilding Liaison Office), which is a European platform that gathers 28 of the most famous NGOs working on conflict prevention.