SustainabilitySponsoring & Philanthropy

Raising funds and raising awareness

Unibail-Rodamco provides support in cash and in kind to a number of worthwhile causes. In 2010, these contributions had a total value of €3.75 million. More than 320 local charity fundraising and awareness events were held in the Group's shopping centres during the year. Space is provided for free to small local charities as well as to large international organisations like UNICEF, the Red Cross and the Make-a-Wish Foundation. In Spain, Unibail-Rodamco has signed a partnership agreement with UNICEF. Regular events in the Group's Spanish shopping centres will help this highly-regarded charity to communicate with the public and raise funds for the important work they do to help children around the world.

Supporting education

In France, the Group supports the Ecole de la Deuxième Chance (E2C, School of the Second Chance), which provides 18- to 25-year olds with few or no qualifications with the training and support they require to access further education or employment. In 2010, the Group contributed €80,000 to support the day-to-day operations of the E2C and help participants obtain work or work experience in its shopping centres. Unibail-Rodamco is a corporate partner of CEMS, a strategic network of international business schools.

Unibail-Rodamco also sponsors the Real Estate Chair at HEC, in partnership with Morgan Stanley. Unibail-Rodamco executives lecture in subjects such as real estate finance, sustainability, investment, development and asset management.

Supporting architecture and culture

Unibail-Rodamco supports a number of artistic and cultural institutions. For example, it helps the Pavillon de l'Arsenal, the Paris museum of architecture and design, to finance exhibitions in the Parisian suburbs and is a corporate sponsor of ImPulzTanz, Europe's largest contemporary dance festival, as well as of the Vienna Spring Festival in Austria. The Group has been cooperating with the Centre Pompidou modern art museum in Paris to bring the work of Alexander Calder to a wider audience. Hands-on workshops that enable children to explore Calder's art, sculptures and mobiles and learn about movement, light, space, form and colour have been held in many of the Group's French shopping centres. In Spain, the Group has created a new international art contest with a twist. The first edition of 'Bartcelona', held at La Maquinista shopping centre in 2010, brought together young contemporary artists to exhibit their works and to participate in 'art battles', competitions between new and established artists who create art on stage in front of a live audience. Other Unibail-Rodamco shopping centres in Spain will hold similar events during 2011. The Group regularly commissions artworks and sculptures from modern artists. For example, Vincent Leroy and Pascal Haudressy produced the eye-catching 'Nuage de fibres' and 'Lipstick' installations at Docks Vauban in France.

Grand Prize for Young Retailers

The Grand Prize for Young Retailers was created by Unibail-Rodamco to encourage innovation and to support the creation of new businesses. It is by far the largest single endowment supporting the creation of new businesses in France, distributing prizes with a value of €1.35 million to the three winners. Unibail-Rodamco provides the winners with retail space in one of its shopping centres, waiving both key money and the first six months’ rent to relieve the new entrepreneurs of some of the stress that is involved in launching a commercial venture. In addition, all six finalists receive marketing, legal, logistical, business and management guidance to help them to fine-tune their business plan.

The fifth edition of the Grand Prize for Young Retailers was won by Sport d’Epoque, a retail concept specializing on selling re-makes of vintage rugby jerseys—and the stories that go with them. The runners-up were Mi-Mai, a shoe concept that walks the fine line between luxury and accessibility, offering high-quality, original shoes without the high-fashion price tag, intimidating salespeople and pretentious showroom and La Chambre aux Confitures, a concept of jam and jelly boutique emphasizing on quality, tradition and craftsmanship.

The fourth edition of the Grand Prize for Young Retailers was won by Tailor Corner, an innovative concept which proposes made-to-measure suits at off-the-rack prices that is to open a store in Les Quatre Temps. The runners-up were Chaak, a Mexican fast-food concept, and Goutu, which sells fresh sandwiches from just €1 and just opened in Palais des Congrés de Paris.