Public service to teach "eco-acts" to families in difficulty in Northern France

Every year, the teams of Unis-Cité lead a hundred or so young persons in voluntary public service in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. Since the 2009 school reopening, among the projects to which these young persons are guided, the association has launched the "MédiaTerre" initiatives - teams of mediators working "for the Earth" - backed nationwide by Valérie Létard, Secretary of State at the French Ecology Ministry. Already tested on a smaller scale in the Paris region (see page Éco-volontaires, la mobilisation d'Unis-Cité en faveur des gestes éco-citoyens), this project is now underway in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, before its nationwide launch after the appropriate adjustments.

The role of the MédiaTerre is apparently simple: the mediators accompany the families in economic difficulty - whose chief concerns are often quite unrelated to ecology - in an eco-civic approach. They teach them the importance of environmental issues - waste recycling, the use of energy - highlighting the financial savings that can be realized through the proper management of these factors.

Before deploying this program on a vaster scale, 46 volunteers will accompany 184 families of the region, throughout this first pilot year. They first undergo five days of training to learn about the challenges of sustainable development, the questions associated with energy security in social housing, and to discover the educational tools available before they can set off to work among the families.

In addition, all through the project, they undergo four days of additional training to learn more about four topics: conservation of biodiversity; waste source-separation; reducing water and energy consumption; and soft public transit systems. They then participate in recruiting the families by relying on local partners, collective events and information meetings in the neighborhoods. They then set off to work among ten or so families each. Following an analysis of their behavior, they draw up a list of ten "eco-acts" that are indispensible to improve their living conditions or to cut their water and energy expenditures. And finally, they accompany these families for several months, enough time to root these developments durably in their everyday life. The system is supplemented with educational visits.

After its involvement in the Paris region alongside the first MédiaTerre teams, the Veolia Environnement Foundation is again helping Unis-Cité in the Nord Pas-de-Calais region. This backing is supported by the regional branch of Veolia Environnement, which requested (and obtained) the commitment of six operating managers of the Company to accompany, train and answer the questions of the 46 young volunteers. After the experimental phase ends in June 2010, the project will be extended throughout France. Unis-Cité expects to involve 1000 MédiaTerre mediators by 2011!