VINCI, major partner to the INSA* Foundation

25 September 2019 - 5:45 pm - Events - France

The INSA Foundation signs a five-year partnership agreement with VINCI to support the development and dissemination of the INSA model, which is France’s leading network of engineering schools.

Signed by Xavier Huillard, chairman and chief executive officer of VINCI, Christian Nibourel, chairman of the INSA Foundation, and Bertrand Raquet, chairman of the INSA Group, the aim of the partnership is to promote the model of the engineer as a humanist: a concerned citizen who is open to the world and capable of taking on complex issues to serve the public interest.

Cooperation between the INSA Foundation and VINCI will take the form of initiatives to encourage diversity and social inclusiveness, develop awareness of the social and environmental impacts of engineering sciences, help students to succeed, support voluntary activities on campus, encourage responsible innovation, and highlight sustainable entrepreneurship. This special relationship between INSA and VINCI will also provide opportunities for the students to get to know VINCI and its various business activities better, along with its corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitments.

Starting this year, the partnership between the Foundation and VINCI has already given rise to many different conferences and workshops on sustainable development and social responsibility at INSA’s six institutes, attracting almost 1,500 students.

“We’re very pleased to have signed this sponsorship agreement with the INSA Foundation,” said Xavier Huillard, chairman and chief executive officer of VINCI. “INSA has a very special profile among engineering schools, because its goal is not just technological excellence but to offer a humanist education and produce citizen engineers. We share their vision of the humanist engineer. INSA graduates who choose VINCI will find it possible to express their willingness to embark on projects and be a force for good. They will join a group that meets their desire to engage, not just by knowing how to make the most of their human qualities – which are just as important to us as their technical skills – but also by offering them a collective project that confers meaning on that desire.”

Positioned at the interface of the business and academic worlds, the INSA Foundation brings together companies, students, teacher-researchers and INSA graduates, along with people involved in foresight-thinking and CSR, to gain better knowledge of the technical and human challenges of a complex world.

To design and implement its programmes, it calls on the network of local foundations that have been set up or are being set up at INSA’s different institutes. The local foundations relay the INSA Foundation’s national programmes and develop their own local programmes to meet their areas’ specific needs.

“VINCI was the first company to join the INSA Foundation,” said Christian Nibourel, chairman of the Foundation. “We came together around our humanist values. We share the same wish to commit to serving the public interest and common good. So we have chosen to join forces on the issue of engineers’ responsibility to build a more sustainable world together.”

*National Institutes of Applied Sciences

About the INSA Group
• 7 institutes in France: Centre-Val de Loire, Hauts de France, Lyon, Rennes, Rouen Normandy, Strasbourg, Toulouse
• 1 institute in Morocco: INSA Euro-Mediterranean in Fes.
• 6 partner institutes in France: ENSCMu in Mulhouse, ENSIL-ENSCI in Limoges, ENSISA in Mulhouse, ESITech in Rouen, ISIS in Castres, Sup’EnR-UPVD in Perpignan.
• 16,852 students
• 33% on scholarships
• 31% women students
• 20% international students
• 125 different nationalities
• 200 university partnerships around the world
• 55 research laboratories
• 1,275 doctoral students
• 89,300 alumni

Press contacts:

INSA Foundation - Véronique Desruelles, communications manager, +33 (0)6 80 58 47 72 - servicecom@insa-toulouse.fr

VINCI press service – +33 (0)1 47 16 36 37 – media.relations@vinci.com

 

About VINCI
VINCI is a global player in concessions, energy and construction, employing 280,000 people in more than 120 countries. We design, finance, build and operate infrastructure and facilities that help improve daily life and mobility for all. Because we believe in all-round performance, we are committed to operating in an environmentally, socially responsible and ethical manner. And because our projects are in the public interest, we consider that reaching out to all our stakeholders and engaging in dialogue with them is essential in the conduct of our business activities. Based on that approach, VINCI’s ambition is to create long-term value for its customers, shareholders, employees, partners and society in general.