A FORWARD LOOKING REFLECTION TOOL
In conjunction with the international academic world, the Veolia Institute brings multidisciplinary insights into the environmental and societal issues that will have to be tackled over the next few decades.
Over the years, the Veolia Institute has developed a high-level international network of intellectual and scientific experts, universities and research organizations, public authorities, NGOs, international organizations, etc.
Recognized as a legitimate platform for global issues, the Veolia Institute has been recognized as an "NGO Observer" by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Thanks to the international reputation of its members and their expertise, the Foresight Committee guides the Institute’s work and development.
The Veolia Institute's activities are organized into three sections: the Veolia Institute “Facts Reports” review, conferences and prospective studies.
THE VEOLIA INSTITUTE REVIEW - FACTS REPORTS
Created in 2007, this international multidisciplinary publication aims to disseminate good practices implemented in the field and the expertise of different actors: researchers, international organizations, NGOs, social entrepreneurs, public authorities, companies, etc.
Covering both developing and developed countries, the topics of the reviews cover 7 main themes:
- Access to essential services
- Biodiversity
- Climate Change
- Governance and societal debate
- Resources and the circular economy
- Health and Environment
- Cities and urban services
The most recent issues of Facts Report covered the following topics:
> Tackling the challenges of indoor air quality
Indoor air pollution impacts a wide range of enclosed spaces such as houses, offices, schools and public transports, in which we spend 80% of our time on average. These spaces are sometimes more polluted than the outdoor air: the WHO estimates that poor indoor air quality is responsible for 3.8 million deaths worldwide each year.
What do we know today about the sources of indoor air pollution around the world? What problems arise depending on the areas concerned? How is the air quality of a building measured? What solutions exist to improve and preserve it?
> Urban agriculture: another way to feed cities?
While 80% of food will be consumed in cities in 2050, the issue of how we feed cities, coupled with urban explosion and climate change, is an increasingly pressing concern. Previously exiled beyond the city boundary, new forms of agriculture are now returning to city centers. Cities around the world are rolling out initiatives designed to relocalize part of their food systems.
How can we reinvent the links between cities and agriculture?
> Reinventing plastics
Once perceived as a symbol of modernity, plastics have been the subject of a rapid and profound global challenge in recent years, particularly because of ocean pollution.
Can we devise a "de-plastified" society? How can we leave our waste-based society for a resource-based society?
The Veolia Institute brought together various stakeholders (researchers, policy makers, NGOs, companies, etc.) in order to explore the issues relating to reducing plastic pollution and identify ways of creating a circular plastic economy. A conference was organized following the publication.
Find previous issues.
CONFERENCES
The Veolia Institute organizes two types of conferences:
- Conference-debates in connection with the themes in the Veolia Institute Facts Report.
The most recent conferences addressed the issues of indoor air quality and urban agriculture.
- International conferences that explore forward-looking themes.
The last two international conferences focused on the following topics:
> “Resource availability in a low carbon world”
In November 2017 the Veolia Institute in partnership with Oxford Martin School in Great Britain organized a conference to look at the availability of mineral resources in the context of the low carbon transition and the related economic, energy, environmental, geopolitical and governance issues.
More information about this conference
As well as the video of the speech by Nicholas Stern at the conference.
> “Reducing methane emissions: science and innovative solutions”
In 2015, the Veolia Institute launched its "methane" program for COP 21 with a pre-COP21 international conference that brought together high-level speakers and almost 150 participants in the Economic, Social and Environmental Council, and two side-events during COP 21 in Le Bourget.
In 2016, the Institute continued to raise decision-makers’ awareness of the importance of taking action on methane - in addition to taking action on CO2 - during COP22 held from 7 to 18 November in Marrakech. Thanks to the NGO observer status it was awarded by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2015, the Veolia Institute organized a side event in an official zone entitled "Actions on near-term climate mitigation to protect the Paris climate goals and the SDGs”. It partnered with the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, the main voice in bringing the subject of methane and other short-lived climate pollutants to the attention of policy makers.
Find all the Institute’s work on methane here
FORWARD LOOKING STUDIES
Alongside its academic partners, the Institute conducts forward looking studies on the major environmental trends.
> Workshops on common goods
The Veolia Institute organized reflections associating Veolia researchers and managers on the notion of common goods. Beyond the doctrinal debates, the work undertaken by the Institute has been to concretely examine the scope of the notion of common goods in some of the areas that are particularly important for modern-day societies and which concern the company’s activities.
To ensure knowledge is shared and act as a platform for exchanges, access to the Veolia Institute’s work and conferences is free of charge.