ALICE AUDOUIN
Alice Audouin is a trailblazer with 20 years of experience in sustainability, responsible communication, and bridging the worlds of art and the environment.
As a consultant, expert, curator, speaker, author, and association president, Alice Audouin champions diverse perspectives to address the complexities of sustainability challenges.
Her career in sustainability began in 2000 at Caisse des Dépôts Group with Novethic, the first media and expertise center on socially responsible investment (SRI) and corporate social responsibility (CSR). As a founding member, she led marketing and communications (2000–2005), pioneering thought on the role of artists in sustainability. In 2004, she organized the first international symposium on this topic with UNESCO, titled The Artist as a Stakeholder.
In 2005, she became the first sustainability director in the communications sector at Havas Group and later served as an expert at Bolloré Group (2005–2013). As a pioneer of responsible communication, she spearheaded impact measurement initiatives for media and advertising (collaborating with LVMH, ADEME, PwC, and Carbone 4), chaired the UDECAM Sustainable Development Committee, contributed to the AdWiser collective, and co-authored the reference book La Communication Responsable. She also co-founded the College of Sustainable Development Directors (C3D) in 2007 and published a CSR-focused novel, Ecolocash, the same year.
Parallel to her corporate roles, Alice continued innovating in art and the environment. In 2008, she co-founded and became president of COAL, France’s first association dedicated to contemporary art and the environment. She launched the COAL Prize, a European network of engaged actors, and organized numerous pioneering events.
In 2013, Alice shifted her focus, leaving Havas Group and COAL in 2014 to establish a new international initiative, Art of Change 21. Founded in 2014 and presided over by Alice, the organization, supported by artist Olafur Eliasson, has become a global reference for dialogue between contemporary art and the environment. Its activities include a media platform, artistic awards such as the Eco-Design Art Prize, and flagship artistic actions during COP Climate events.
Alice’s specialization in art and the environment expanded further in 2015 with her work as a curator of contemporary art exhibitions on environmental themes, collaborating with prominent artists like Tomás Saraceno, Julian Charrière, and Otobong Nkanga. Among her curated exhibitions are Crude Gratitude (2024, New York), Melting Point (2023, Dubai), Novacene (2022, Lille, co-curated with Jean-Max Colard), Vita Extremis (2022, Brussels), Biocenosis (2021, Marseille), Warmingland (2018, Paris, co-curated with Marguerite Courtel), and Post-carbon (2015, Paris, co-curated with Vanessa Vancutsem).
In 2016, she founded Audouin Consulting, a firm uniquely positioned at the intersection of CSR expertise and cultural foresight. Today, the firm advises clients in luxury, industry, and culture sectors.
Alice has delivered over 100 lectures and presentations at venues including the European Parliament, UNESCO, Centre Pompidou, and TEDx.
She has authored six publications: Biocenosis. Art & Biodiversity (FR/EN) and Novacene. Art & Climate Crisis (FR/EN) in 2023 (Editions Lord Byron), On entend dire que… l’écologie c’est fini in 2013 (Eyrolles/Les Echos), La Communication Responsable (with Anne Courtois and Agnès Rambaud, Eyrolles, 2009, reissued 2010), and the novel Ecolocash (Anabet, 2007).
Alice has also taught at university level, previously as an associate lecturer at the University of Cergy-Pontoise and as a lecturer at the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, where she created the course Art and Sustainability in the Department of Plastic Arts and Art Sciences.
Alice holds two Master’s degrees (Philosophy and Economics) from Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, a Bachelor’s degree in Art History, and a diploma in Transdisciplinary Studies from CETEC (Paris-Dauphine University). She later completed the MAVI Master’s program (Master in Arts & Vision) under Yann Toma at Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne in 2018.
Alice Audouin is a Knight of the French National Order of Merit and the Order of Arts and Letters.