The winners of the Veolia Foundation's 2024 Student Solidarity Prize highlighted eloquence as a means of reintegration, the need to promote ecological farming practices, and the effectiveness of commitment when it is long-term.
Run in conjunction with the Group's Human Resources Department, this annual event promotes student initiatives in the public interest. For this 16th edition of the Prize, 46 applications were received and 10 associations were invited to present their projects to the jury.
Student Solidarity Prize
On Tuesday 11 June, the 16th Veolia Foundation Student Solidarity Prize was awarded to A Travers les Murs by Jean-François Nogrette, Director of Veolia's France and Special Waste Europe area.
The aim of this association of law students from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne is to help participants regain their self-confidence by breaking the cycle of recidivism and improving relations between prisoners and the prison administration within the establishments.
Pascale Audran-Abdelli, Director of Corporate and Securities Law at Veolia, is the project's sponsor.
Student Solidarity Jury Prize
Justine Mora, the Group's Director of Talent and Executive Development, presented the Student Solidarity Jury Prize to the Projet Solidaire d'Échange et de Partage au Sénégal (PSEPS).
The PSEPS organisers, who are engineering students at ICAM, are continuing a collaboration with a women's economic interest group in the Senegalese town of Tambacounda, to promote ecological farming practices. A market-gardening plot, acquired and developed since 2002, will benefit from new equipment and facilities: solar irrigation system, low-tech grain mill, henhouse, etc.
Thierry Vandevelde, a member of the Veolia Foundation Board of Directors and former Executive Officer, is the project's sponsor.
Student Solidarity Public Prize
In several Nepalese villages, Solidarité France-Népal is working to improve access to drinking water and sanitation. For its 2024 projects, it won the 2024 Public Prize for Student Solidarity. David Poinard, Managing Director of the Veolia Foundation, presented them with the trophy.
The association plans to intervene in Kalphaldanda, a village located 1h30 from Kathmandu, to repair the drinking water supply system, and in Chaughadapour to rehabilitate sanitary installations. Four other villages could benefit from the renovation of their school buildings.
Laurent Besson, Managing Director APAC / South East Asia / Veolia Services Indonesia, is the project sponsor.
Find out more about the Veolia Foundation Student Solidarity Prize and the winners of previous editions.