Innovating differently

Innovation Day 2018

In June 2018, for the fourth edition of its Innovation Day, the Rexel Foundation brought its partner ecosystem together in Roubaix. This gathering was an opportunity to adjust the Foundation's primary strategic angles to fight fuel poverty:
> the desire to involve people living in fuel poverty in thinking about and developing solutions, when thus far they had only been represented by associations or groups;
> the realization, thanks to interviews with 15 people living in fuel poverty, that this phenomenon extends far beyond difficulties in paying energy bills and instead is part of their life trajectory: job loss, problems with mobility, health, and access to basic rights;
> the observation that fuel poverty, which affects 12&nbspmillion people in France, i.e. one fifth of the population, continues to grow despite massive investments (1.4&nbspbillion euros) and the existence of multiple assistance mechanisms.

Consequently, the Foundation made the decision to position itself for the first time as a fuel poverty solutions provider. The first initiative was based in Roubaix, one of the poorest cities in France, with participants who had gathered together for Innovation Day: around 15 inhabitants, Rexel's Roubaix branch, the Abbé Pierre Foundation, a social entrepreneur (Energie Solidaire), associations (les Compagnons Bâtisseurs, Voisin Malin), a Greenflex consultant, a start-up, EDF Solidarité, CCAS (Centre Communal d'Action Social), and GRAAL (Groupe de Recherche pour l'Aide et l'Accès au Logement).

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