Industry and ecology: an unprecedented dialogue in Pays de la Loire

Objective: to enable association volunteers to better understand how quarries work through an immersive cycle combining site visits and discussions on environmental issues.
This unique partnership aims to bringing together the worlds of extractive industry and ecology around key topics such as Water Management, the biodiversity or the Corporate Social Responsibility.

A great step towards more dialogue and mutual understanding!

A concrete program to deconstruct preconceived ideas

This partnership aims to strengthen mutual understanding between the extractive industry sector and voluntary associations, through a cycle of mutual understanding made up of eight thematic modules:

• Uses and material requirements
• Career Life: From Opening to Renewal
• How a career works
• Careers and biodiversity
• Careers and water
• Careers, recycling and recovery
• Refurbishment and redevelopment
• Commitments of the sector

These modules, combining theoretical sessions and field visits, allow volunteers to understand the practices of quarry workers and to discuss ecological issues, in particular the management of water resources and the preservation of biodiversity, and to better understand the progress initiatives carried out by the profession, such as the UNICEM CSR label for committed companies.
They also provide a space for professionals in the sector to listen and engage in dialogue, enabling them to better
understand the expectations of civil society and, if necessary, question their own practices.

The objective is clear: to overcome preconceived ideas about quarries and extractive activity, often perceived in a caricatured manner, and to promote the sector's concrete commitments in terms of the environment and social responsibility (CSR). Developed with UNICEM Bretagne and Bretagne Vivante, this project allowed nearly 80 association volunteers to participate in 13 site visits, for a direct immersion in the reality of quarries.

"This convention is the culmination of a dialogue built between two worlds which have every interest in better understanding each other.
know." says Thierry WOJNOWSKI, president of UEE Pays de la Loire.
“Together, we deconstruct preconceived ideas about the extractive industry and overcome the often unfounded fears it arouses. 

"This project started in Sarthe. Seeing it expand throughout the region is a real success," says Jean-Christophe Gavallet, president of FNE Pays de la Loire. "Our volunteers worked on the sites without always fully understanding how they operated. Today, they can interact as equals with the operators and contribute their environmental expertise."

Towards concerted environmental and biodiversity protection

Signed for a period of three years, this agreement paves the way for long-term and renewable cooperation. An evaluation of the results will allow for consideration of the renewal of the cycle.

"This agreement marks a decisive step in cooperation between quarry operators and associations, in the service of an ecological transition based on knowledge, transparency and mutual trust," the presidents concluded.