Go Green in the City 2012, by Schneider Electric Building together cities of tomorrow

Transcription

1 Press kit, by Building together cities of tomorrow Monday, June 25, 2012, Rueil-Malmaison, France Encouraged by the success of Go Green in the City first edition, Schneider Electric decided once again in 2012, to give the opportunity to students from all over the world to participate in this exciting competition focused on devising innovative energy solutions for cities. confirms the success of this original concept: we attracted more than 550 teams and 1100 students from Germany, France, Turkey, Poland, USA, India, China, Russia and Brazil were motivated to take part in this second edition of the competition. This success confirms the global attractiveness of to a young and increasingly female audience, and their growing interest in energy issues all over the world. Karen FERGUSON, Executive Vice President, Global Human Resources, Press Contact Véronique Roquet-Montegon Phone: +33 (0) veronique.roquet-montegon@schneider-electric.com Press Contact Sophie Souquet Phone: +33 (0) sophie.souquet@schneider-electric.com Contact presse EuroRSCG C&O Julien Sanson Phone. : +33 (0) julien.sanson@eurorscg.fr

2 I. Go Green in the City principles Involve generations in energy management in cities, through the emergence of innovative ideas Working into teams of two, including at least one woman, students needs to devise viable solutions for energy management sectors critical to the city, such as: home, university, retail, water and hospital. The best proposals should reconcile increased demand for energy, social progress and environmental protection. The 2012 competition is open to more than 90 universities selected from 9 countries worldwide (Germany, France, Turkey, Poland, USA, India, China, Russia, Brazil). Main stages of the 2012 competition March April May June Evaluation and ranking of the 570 cases Assigning a mentor to the 100 selected teams presentation of the case study by the teams End of preparation time - all teams must give their presentation Selection of finalists (25 teams) Finalists prepare their business case and presentation Final in Paris First phase: From January to March From the 570 records entered this year, 100 teams were selected on the basis of a score allocated by the jury, according to the English level and the geographical distribution. Second phase: From April to May The 200 chosen students then had five weeks to develop their idea with the mentor assigned to them. These mentors helped them to develop their initial idea in order to make it achievable. Third phase: From May to June After a final selection process, the 50 student finalists (56% of whom were women) once again had 5 weeks to finalize their idea. 's tutors continued to help them prepare for their final presentation, in which they had to present their innovative and commercially-viable urban solution to a jury consisting of managers during a grand final in Paris, on June 21 and 22, On this occasion, each participant was interviewed for an internship, which if granted, can result in a permanent employment offer. The two laureates won a trip around the world during which they will visit Group facilities and will network with employees and high-level managers. Furthermore, the two winners will be offered a job. Distribution of 100 teams selected among the 9 targeted countries 25/06/2012 2

3 II. Why Go Green in the City? Build a strong bond with the young and emerging talents throughout the world, next core players of the energy market This competition embodies 's desire to raise awareness in younger generations of the challenges facing the energy sector. By encouraging interaction between students and Group employees, mainly through the assignment of mentors to the chosen teams, intends to go beyond this awareness-raising effort and prepare students who are passionate about energy issues for theirforthcoming professional life and make them more employable. Go Green in the City thus constitutes the first step towards creating a lasting relationship with employees who are competent and aware of the issues facing the Group and the global energy challenge. Give a better understanding of the global energy challenge to the younger generation By gathering all 25 teams who reach the final stage of the competition together in Paris (France), allows young people of all nationalities to meet and talk about innovative case studies. Through these case studies, shows students that the world is currently at a critical stage where all the participants need to search for effective ways to reduce energy consumption, for both economic and environmental reasons. The whole world needs to join forces to respond to this challenge, which will involve in particular more energy efficiency, a smarter organization of grids, and new solutions to make cities of the future more eco-friendly and more sustainable. With Go Green in the City, wishes to promote creativity and innovation in the foreseen solutions to respond to the current environmental challenge. Time is no longer focused on formatted case studies. We are aiming to promote creativity and originality in the solutions proposed to counteract the current environmental issues, because ambition is to help everyone, everyday to make the most of their energy. Aneta KOWALSKA International Recrutement and Employer Branding Manager,, as the only international group with expertise in both information technologies and energy management, has already begun to integrate the global aspect of the energy challenge in its organization, reflecting the state of mind of a Group that is pragmatic and responsive. To find solutions able to respond to the energy challenges faced by local populations, Schneider Electric also works with partners all over the world. These solutions can meet the energy needs of whole villages and thus aid economic and social development through the use of local entrepreneurs, basic infrastructures (medical centres, schools, warehouses, etc.) and leisure activities. Integrate the viewpoint of a young generation of women engineers and enhance the Group's reputation By defining threshold of female applicants (at least 50%), the Go Green in the City competition is keen to integrate a women's perspective and approach into the Group s environmentally-friendly initiatives. 25/06/2012 3

4 Through its diversity policy, stressed the importance of equal opportunities between men and women because it is the best way to develop the necessary values and skills to meet the economic and social challenges of the 21st century. In 2011, the Group's top managers went on a specific training to discover the benefits of working with mixed teams. At present, of the 2,500 employees identified as having a strong potential to become future managers, 25 per cent are women. "By 2014, we would like our global pool of talents to be made up of 30% women. With Go Green in the City we would like to collect and integrate women s perspective and approach on environmentally-friendly initiatives. Marie VEZY Senior Vice President, Leadership and Organisation Development, 25/06/2012 4

5 III. Go Green in the City results A worldwide attractive challenge: total of 570 cases filed for the 2012 edition is 17% more than in 2011 (Figure 1). 1 - Distribution of cases by country (%) 2 Nationality of the candidates A growing interest from student s coming from new economies on the energy topics: More than two third of the candidates come from new economies (Figures 2). Students from some of the best universities in the world 25/06/2012 5

6 Verbatim des étudiants "Dear organizing team, we would like to express our gratitude to our mentor, who has given us through our exchanges some very valuable advice and provided the inspiration we needed to complete our project!" (Student coming from India) "We have had many discussions during long sessions working on our project. I am very happy to participate in Go Green in the City! The work we have done with our mentors has taught us a huge amount! (Student coming from USA) "Many thanks to the whole team! It has been a fantastic adventure! Thank you also to our mentors who did some amazing work alongside us! I ve never seen an event like this before! We sincerely hope to make it to the final!" (Student coming from France) 25/06/2012 6

7 IV. and the academic challenges Solar Decathlon Solar Decathlon is an annual competition in which students from around twenty universities in Europe, America and Asia compete to design, build and run solar energy homes. This initiative offers a range of innovative clean energy technologies and encourages the training of technicians who are fully competent in environmental issues. Consumers can thus see the advantages of using solar energy in everyday life. has been sponsoring this event since the creation of Solar Decathlon in The next European event will take place in Madrid (Spain), between 15 and 30 September This time is financing and supporting eleven solar home projects, i.e. 50% of the projects presented, supplying the teams with engineering solutions and services as well as significant logistics and human support. World Academic Sport Challenge The World Academic Sport Challenge is a French sports tournament open to all students studying at the European Business Schools and Universities during which participants can meet and talk to recruiters and operational staff from the tournament s partner companies in a panel discussion. participates in this challenge since 2011 with the aim to make high-quality contacts among students and young graduates from over 120 Business School and universities. It is also an opportunity for the Group to receive numerous candidatures. During the 2012 event, held on June 2, 2012 at the Charléty Stadium (Paris, France), 72 companies took part in the sporting competition involving 4,500 students and young graduates. About As a global specialist in energy management with operations in more than 100 countries, offers integrated solutions across multiple market segments, including leadership positions in Utilities & Infrastructures, Industries & Machine manufacturers, Non-residential buildings, Data centers & Networks, and in Residential. Focused on making energy safe, reliable, efficient, productive and green, the Group s 130,000 plus employees achieved sales of 22.4 billion euros in 2011, through an active commitment to help individuals and organizations make the most of their energy /06/2012 7