Educational partnership for sustainable development

In December 2005, Toyota Motor Manufacturing France (TMMF) signed a partnership agreement with CPIE Bocage de l’Avesnois, an environmental organisation. CPIE Bocage de l’Avesnois has set itself the goal of contributing to the sustainable development of the Avesnois area, where the TMMF factory is located.
The objective of the partnership is to:
• Maintain biodiversity on the plant’s grounds.
• Enhance the environmental and ecological awareness of children in the surrounding communities.
CPIE Bocage de l’Avesnois helped TMMF to create a biodiversity inventory of the site. The inventory details the plants, insects and birds that inhabit the area around the TMMF plant. The organisation has also worked with TMMF to improve the plant’s environmental management processes.
Each year since 2005, ten classes of students have visited the plant from local schools. The children are all aged around 10 and more than 750 have visited in the three years since this partnership began.
The TMMF site contains wetland areas, a retention pond and grassy areas. It is home to many different types of plant life and the wetland areas make it a haven for birds.
The students first visit the TMMF plant to discover more about the manufacturing process and the plant in general. The second part of the programme involves a day of activities on the TMMF property. Activities include bird watching around the retention pond and a food-chain awareness workshop.