Young volunteers and staff members of Veolia Environnement join hands for sustainable development

« Supportive of the societal approach of Unis-Cité, whose values - solidarity, commitment, tolerance - match those of Veolia Environnement, we decided to enter into a partnership with Unis-Cité Nord-Pas-de-Calais for its nationwide "MédiaTerre" project in harmony with our activities. It is important for Veolia Environnement to accompany several branches of Unis Cité during this experimental year in order to gauge the justification of widening this project to a nationwide scale. »

Jean-Claude Allard

In the PACA region, and in the Nord Pas-de-Calais district, the Veolia foundation has already aided Unis-Cité on several occasions.
This association, which offers young adults - age bracket 18 to 25 - a voluntary and full-time civil service for six to nine months, initiates many projects of general interest each year, in partnership with local municipalities and associations.
It encourages the youths to work among very fragile populations and to act in the field of environmental conservation. During this civil service, Unis-Cité also makes sure to offer them ways and means for their future professional projects.

In this context, bonds have been forged since 2006 between the association and Veolia in the Nord district. In three years, seven projects have already been completed with the staff of Dalkia, very closely sponsoring the youth projects. Faced with the highly favourable response from the youths as well as the sponsors, the experiment is being developed in a big way this time.

Encouraging sponsorships

Four conferences will therefore be organised throughout the Nord Pas-de-Calais region. They will provide the opportunity to get around 200 staff members of the group to work together with the volunteers of Unis-Cité on projects spread throughout the territory.

Devoted to sustainable development, they will also help the two populations to get to know each other better: some will expose their expertise, and others will learn about unfamiliar activities. Over and above this single encounter, the aim is also to encourage several sponsorships to help aid the youths to prepare their entry into professional life.

The aid granted by the Veolia foundation to this vast initiative will help guarantee the permanence of the actions of Unis-Cité throughout the regional territory, particularly through the purchase of equipment and vehicles, and to continue this type of mission. Four regional branches of the association already exist, and this has helped create several full-time jobs.
 

More about Mediaterre

---Unis-Cité---
Domain : Environnement et Biodiversité
Country : France
Endowment : 19/12/2012

Launching "Médiaterre" volunteers nationwide: teaching low-income families eco-civic acts to reduce their bills and their ecological footprint with the help of young volunteers.