Smart Neighbors: Awareness campaign on water consumption management and facilities maintenance
Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.
Spread Strategies: Moving forward, what are the main strategies for scaling impact?
Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?
Team
Veolia Eau d'Île-de-France
89094
Olivier
Gilbert
Former Delegate on Social Innovations
France
2012
, J93, Aulnay-Sous-Bois
New products & services: Entries in this category develop and offer essentials product and services that address needs currently unmet, Last mile distribution: Entries in this category focus on solutions that enable the physical delivery of life-changing services to people with restricted mobility or restricted access (senior people, people with disability, remote or difficult areas, etc.).
2011 : Sustainable innovation ; 2012 : Social innovation ; Social economy ; Daily life and sociability
VoisinMalin
Social
VoisinMalin employs local citizens with leadership skills to be community builders and go door-to-door in their neighborhood to provide educational information.
By working on water issues, VoisinMalin aims at empowering local people and bettering their economic situation, and at developing the Neighbors’skills and the organization’s area of expertise.
VoisinMalin brings its knowledge of low-income areas populations to adapt the communication and educational methods on water issues. Nine Neighbors then go door-to-door to provide this information to inhabitants.
Veolia Eau d'Île-de-France
Business
VEDIF’s missions are wastewater treatment, drinking water production and distribution, production of industrial water and industrial wastewater treatment, and customer relations management for the Ile-de-France.
The mission, sponsored by VEDIF, aims at giving people a better understanding of their water system so they eventually reduce their consumption, save money and avoid outstanding debts.
VEDIF finances the mission which means the salary of the Neighbors and part of the manager’s. It also provides the awareness material and leads the first training of both the manager and the Neighbors.
An evaluation was led after the first passage of the Neighbors to analyze the impact of the awareness campaign led the previous months, through a questionnaire covering the topics first addressed. The objective was to measure memories from the first talk and changes of use since, and understand the barriers to change. This evaluation concluded that 86% of the people remembered the venue of VoisinMalin and 92% found it helpful. 61% remembered that tap water is drinkable and thus economies were made. Essential eco-gestures were remembered, even though the implementation is sometimes difficult. Also, 43% of the people checked their installation after the Neighbor's visit and found leaks. Inhabitants were able to express themselves and insisted on the importance of understanding the different terms (index, liters, m3) and of informing the whole family to achieve changing habits.
Businesses.
The awareness campaign on water is totally paid by VEDIF and is thus sustainable. This campaign is part of Aulnay-Sous-Bois’ assignments and participate in the sustainability of the site. VoisinMalin is based on the multiplication of the unitary model of a site, which reaches maturity in 5 years with ¾ of its resources produced by the sale of services, according to the following model:
1 site = 20 000 low-income area inhabitants = 1 manager + 20 employed Neighbors = 200 Neighbors friends (volunteers)
Annual sales: 90K€ (40K€ companies, 30K€ social housing, 20K€ local and regional authorities) and Annual grants: 30K€ (20K€ local and regional governments, 10K€ philanthropy). 15% of which goes to the headquarters to finance the central positions.
During its first three years of existence, a site counts 5 to 12 neighbors, the products are between 40K€ and 100K€, half of it being sales.
When Anne Charpy funded VoisinMalin, she got very interested in measuring social impact and heard of Veolia's work with Esther Duflo's randomisation method. She thus approached Olivier Gilbert who had followed the evaluation for Veolia. Both of them had a reverse development approach, valuing examples from Southern countries and adapting it to French communities. They also valued the impact for companies of working with local leaders and of designing its products in partnership with local communities. So when VoisinMalin became operational, Olivier Gilbert starting building this project.
The principal barrier has been preconceived ideas such as the opinion of a few local councillors regarding paying the Neighbors being considered as marchandizing citizenship when it is actually a way to value local skills. In addition, some inhabitants were quite distrustful towards Veolia and big companies in general. VoisinMalin had then to explain how it is a neutral local NGO that creates a link between inhabitants and Veolia through providing information from Veolia and comments from local inhabitants to report to Veolia.
VoisinMalin and Veolia relationship is a contractual relationship. It started with a one year contract and now continues as a three year contract. The first year built trust between both parts and the second contract is not as descriptive and strict as the first one.
Much more listening and consideration has been attested since our first partnership. In results, we have now gained much more trust capital from Veolia which let us room for manoeuvre, freedom in our decisional part.
VoisinMalin invites public utility companies and local authorities to build new relationships with inhabitants. Veolia and other partner institutions not only benefit from better use of their services, but also receive valuable feedback to adapt their services and communication to inhabitants of marginalized, isolated or low-income communities. For example, a unique annual event brings together local officials, public utility representatives, Neighbors and inhabitants. All these stakeholders experience a unique, facilitated conversation and are treated as peers, whereas they would otherwise never have met. This creates a new situation of accountability and dialogue, and dramatically changes their perspective on each other. For VoisinMalin, working with a big company as Veolia facilitated the replication on other territories, even though the local building of the project is still the main
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