The Artelia foundation is supporting 6 climate projects to the tune of €80,000

As part of its commitment to climate protection, the Artelia Foundation launched its first two calls for projects on this topic in February. The themes chosen, the protection of blue carbon ecosystems and the circular economy, resonate with the Artelia Group's business lines.

Two selection committees, made up of Group employees and external experts (BlueSeeds, Ifremer, Ikos and Plaine Commune) met in June to select six winners from over 100 projects received. In addition to the impact on the climate, the jury paid particular attention to the social and environmental benefits of the projects.

The six winners will receive financial support from the Foundation totalling €80,000, as well as, in some cases, technical assistance from Group employees.

The winners of the ‘Acting to protect blue carbon ecosystems’ call for projects:

• The ‘Restoration of the Ampakahabe and Tsimkoura mangroves with local civil society’ project, supported by the French IUCN committee with the Association Mangrove Environnement and Tsaratanana non-profit organisations, aims to restore 2 sites (15 hectares) where mangroves have been severely degraded, leading to erosion of the coastline and endangering villages in Madagascar and Mayotte. The project also aims to establish sustainable management of the two sites with the local population through training and awareness-raising initiatives.

• The aim of Œil d'Andromède's ‘REPIC: REstaurer la Posidonie Impactée par les anCres’ project is to initiate a long-term process to restore meadows of Posidonia, a species with major ecological roles that is threatened by boat anchoring. By replanting fragments of seagrass torn up by anchors at a number of sites in the south of France that have been impacted, the project is helping to boost the population and increase our knowledge of Posidonia.

•  ‘The aim of CEBioS' ‘Linda Bahari Pamoja: protect our oceans together project’ is to build local capacity to protect coral reefs and conserve and manage marine resources through ambassadors from local communities. The project is organised around 3 major themes: training in coral protection and restoration, active coastal restoration with the collection of scientific data, and raising public awareness, particularly among fishermen, whose activities have a considerable impact on the health of these ecosystems.

Winners of the ‘Circular economy and resource conservation’ call for projects

• The aim of the ‘Circular economy and plastic recycling in Lomé’ project run by Entrepreneurs du Monde is to support young women and men from disadvantaged areas of Greater Lomé in innovative entrepreneurship by setting up a plastic waste collection and recycling system. It involves stepping up the collection of plastic waste in partnership with 250 women's groups and supporting the development of a workshop for sorting and processing waste and creating new local products (furniture, building materials, etc.).

• The aim of the R4 ‘Reinsert, Repurpose, Recycle, Reuse’ project run by Ares is to create a channel for the reuse of construction materials, and to use this as a means of helping people affected by severe social and professional exclusion to find work. After running a pilot project, the non-profit organisation will soon be setting up its own site in Seine-Saint-Denis, with a view to increasing the quantities of materials processed, developing the economic activity and employing more people on integration schemes.

• Initiatives Solidaires helps to integrate the long-term unemployed by creating activities that contribute to social and environmental transition. It is one of the pioneers of solidarity-based upcycling, having created a business in 2014 that gives a second life to wood and metal. The project being supported involves setting up a new workshop for upcycling materials from sports waste in the Paris region.