2015 Activity and Sustainable Development Report6

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PROMOTING A BETTER ENERGY FUTURE

social innovation, driving the emergence of new business models responding to environmental, economic and social needs in order to accelerate the energy transition. The Platform also supports the development of mechanisms that are either innovative or not yet widespread in traditional markets.

SOCIAL IMPACT AND INNOVATION IN THE FIELD OF ENERGY The Foundation s support on the Platform focuses on the

THE JOINT SKILLS PLATFORM FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS The primary vocation of the Platform, created in 2014 by the Rexel Foundation for a better energy future, is to support social entrepreneurs during the launch of their projects or while taking major steps in their development. The Foundation not only offers them financial support, but it also gives them access to tools, skills, expert networks or new markets. The Platform is a vehicle for

following three areas of action: promoting new modes of energy production, distribution or funding, optimizing the energy efficiency of buildings and changing behavior by awareness raising and training. The promotion of renewable energies was put into practice namely by supporting the Énergie Partagée network in France, which accompanies grassroots organizations in their interaction with public bodies so that they can develop, fund and manage their own projects for the production of renewable energy. The Foundation s funding enabled them to raise awareness among 103 representatives and 300 citizens for 19 project initiators in the Provence Alpes Côte d Azur region (France). Optimizing the energy efficiency of buildings can be illustrated by the support offered to the DORéMI* initiative, whose mission is to foster widespread access to housing renovation. Its concept is to offer private owners or communities a simple framework guaranteeing efficient housing renovation and cost control thanks to training and

Social innovation to support energy efficiency

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LAUNCHED SINCE 2013