2024, an exceptional year for Projet Banlieues
A new sponsor, new prizes and a new venue: the 2024 Projet Banlieues ceremony celebrated an exceptional year on the 19th anniversary of the initiative.
What better venue than the Philanthro-Lab, a site entirely dedicated to the development of philanthropy, to host the 2024 Projet Banlieues ceremony? This 19th edition awarded 12 ‘Coups de Cœur’ non-profit organisations and bestowed a new prize – the ‘Douce France’ award – on a 13th organisation. Overseeing the event was this year’s sponsor of Projet Banlieues, the high-level and multisport Paralympic French athlete Ryadh Sallem.
Winning battles … through joy
A man of conviction who could be described as a ‘peaceful warrior’, multi-champion Ryadh Sallem is keenly involved in the social and solidarity economy. He is the founder of the Cap Sport Art Aventure Amitié (CapSAAA) non-profit, which promotes the inclusion of disabled people and civic education through sport. He also co-founded a company promoting culinary products made by disability and inclusion organisations.
I have discovered that you can also win battles through joy, especially in sport!
Through his personal and professional commitment, this Paralympic champion, entrepreneur, community leader and humanist places citizenship and compassion at the heart of his battles. As a fervent advocate of a better way of living together, social inclusion and solidarity, he both embodies and transmits the core values of the BNP Paribas Foundation and Projet Banlieues.
Every human being is a disabled person on borrowed time. Realising this makes it easier to accept difference.
The award-winning organisations in 2024
The role of local non-profit organisations is more essential than ever to combat inequality and improve community life. These associations work tirelessly in underprivileged neighbourhoods to ensure equal opportunities and tackle the various forms of exclusion. With unfailing commitment and determination, they are helping to make a real difference on the ground.
To honour the work of these non-profits, each regional branch of the BNP Paribas Commercial Banking network in France voted for a champion this year, awarding 12 ‘Coups de Cœur’ organisations in the following categories:
- Access to education
- AREA [Grand-Ouest region]
- Bay Chans La [Guadeloupe Island]
- D-Clic [Grand-Est region] – Top 3 laureate 🏆
- Le Sel de la Vie [Sud-Est region]
- Access to employment
- ADRIE [Réunion Island]
- Ateliers de l’Audace [Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region]– Top 3 laureate 🏆
- Cicérone [Nord region]
- Konexio [Nouvelle Aquitaine region]
- Le Vieux Biclou [Occitanie region]
- Better communities
- Mille sourires [Île-de-France region – west]
- Paris Tout P’tits [Île-de-France region]
- Rêv’Elle Toi [Île-de-France region – east]– Top 3 laureate 🏆
In a troubled political and social context, cohesion and solidarity are more necessary than ever to create and maintain links between each other. Building on the legacy of the Paris 2024 Games, the Foundation is taking up the torch to perpetuate and promote the spirit of mutual support and compassion.
« In a fractured world, goodwill and fraternity are more vital than ever to live together in a better way. The organisations involved in Projet Banlieues 2024 are actively working on the ground to foster dialogue across generations and cultures. They provide a concrete response to the challenges of social cohesion and support between people. »
– Isabelle Giordano, Head of BNP Paribas Group Philanthropy & General Delegate of the BNP Paribas Foundation
This year, the BNP Paribas Foundation also inaugurated a new prize – ‘Douce France’ – to pay tribute to an organisation that particularly embodies and promotes these values:
- « Douce France » award : SAWA [Île-de-France region – east] – 🕊
Click here to find out more about the 13 award-winning organisations – in French only
Click here for an English version about the 12 award-winning orgnisations
View the highlights of the inspiring ceremony set to
start conversations and encourage dialogue (in French only):
In the field: from theory to action
Sandra Hoibian, sociologist, director of the Research Centre for the Study and Observation of Living Conditions (CREDOC) and author of La Mosaïque Française, and Hugo Micheron, a political science professor and researcher, closed the ceremony with a powerful message:
France is not fragmented, but a mosaic of individuals, each with their own unique identity. Every one of us belongs to several communities: through our hobbies, commitments, work, etc., which give us a plural identity.
Sandra Hoibian, sociologist and director of CREDOC.
“Beyond the Group’s actions to promote equal opportunities and inclusion, Projet Banlieues is a forum for encounters between our branch employees and local non-profit organisations. Each of these relationships springs from a shared desire to strengthen social ties within their area.”
– Anne Pointet, Head of BNP Paribas Group Company Engagement
Projet Banlieues in a few words
Launched in 2006 by BNP Paribas, steered by its Foundation and supported by its Commercial Bank in France, Projet Banlieues is a national solidarity programme (banlieue refers to peripheral urban areas in France that are often disadvantaged neighbourhoods). Each year, a call for projects is launched to support local non-profit organisations that combat exclusion by promoting access to education, access to employment and better communities.
Since its creation in 2006, Projet Banlieues has:
1,350
local organisations supported
1.3 M
beneficiaries
€35 M
of budget total
The 2024 call to projects generated more than 1,000 applications, from which 147 new associations were selected to receive support at national level. Since last year, Projet Banlieues has also been extended to Italy through the ‘Progetto IncluCity’ programme.
Projet Banlieues allows the BNP Paribas Foundation to give power to those who take action.
To go further:
Projet Banlieues
Giving confidence in the future