The Cité solidaire awards ceremony held on Tuesday 21 February at Grand Bouillon cultural café in Aubervilliers attracted a big crowd. Representatives of 16 local organisations met with Meriem Derkaoui, the local mayor, Thierry Vandevelde, the Veolia Foundation’s CEO, and Christian Caye, the Vinci Foundation’s director for cities. The Cité solidaire programme winners received cheques for their projects in the presence of their Veolia and Vinci Group project sponsors.
Cité solidaire, a neighbourhood support programme set up by the Vinci Foundation and supported in Aubervilliers by the Veolia Foundation, was launched last autumn. The initiative has three key component parts: a given town, community organisations and committed employees. A call for projects is made working in tandem with the local town council, followed by teams from both foundations examining the submitted projects, and then an appeal is made to employees from both companies to become project sponsors. The final step involves a selection committee choosing the winning projects.
Cité Solidaire forges a new bond between the corporate world and community stakeholders by linking the skills of Veolia and Vinci employees with local social and inclusion initiatives.
The award-winning projects
- Education workshops, learning support, digital literacy, and literacy skills: Association Solidarité Emploi d’Aubervilliers, Association d’aide culturelle et sociale de la Seine-Saint-Denis, De L’Autre Côté.
- Education and cultural events, sport and culture-based inclusion: Atelier Kuso, Aubercail, Culture, Art, Société Production, École des Actes, Société de l’Histoire et de la Vie d’Aubervilliers, Totof Muay Thai.
- Environment, solidarity and social links: Épicéas, Landykadi, Rires d’enfants, Maïda pour tous, Une Oasis dans la ville – Autour de vous.