Design, build, manage and invest in cities, neighborhoods and buildings that are innovative, mixed-use, inclusive, connected places with a reduced carbon footprint. Places where it's good to live and work.
Such is the ambition of Icade's raison d'être, unveiled on April 24, 2020 at the Annual General Meeting and adopted by 99.99% of shareholders.
A raison d'être enshrined in the preamble to Icade's bylaws
Now enshrined in its articles of association, ICADE's raison d'être is the continuity of the commitments on which the company was founded. Founded in 1954 as Société Centrale Immobilière de la Caisse des dépôts et consignations (SCIC), Icade responded to the urgency of post-war reconstruction by building the housing and hospital infrastructure essential to France in the 1950s.
Logically, the company's governance wished to enshrine the essence of its identity and raison d'être in the preamble to its articles of association, in the lasting manner permitted by article 1835 of the French Civil Code.
Article 14 of the Pacte law invites us collectively to become aware of the responsibilities incumbent on companies, but also to be the main players, ICADE is fully committed to this dynamic and undertakes to reveal the meaning and usefulness of these activities and to precisely measure the consequences of these activities on the economic, ecological and human environment.
Today, as a real estate developer, the company's mission is to imagine the city of the future, and with its 1,127 employees throughout France, it takes concrete action to build and manage pleasant places to live, combining housing, offices, clinics, shops, nurseries and green spaces.
Icade's raison d'être: the fruit of a collaborative effort
The company embarked on a genuine process, involving all Group employees and the Board of Directors in the development of this vision and raison d'être. Through workshops and the use of questionnaires and a digital platform, this co-construction work has helped to bring out what forges the company's identity and vision.
From Icade's raison d'être to its raison d'agir
Each ComEx department has a role to play
Faced with the new expectations of citizens, and to be consistent with its raison d'être, Icade has presented concrete actions to offer effective responses to environmental, human and social issues. The "raison d'agir" is a structuring axis of Icade's strategy, with a clear role for each of the executive departments around the Chief Purpose Officer.
A reason to act implemented: Naturellement chez soi, 10% of homes 10% less expensive, Low Carbon by Icade
"Naturally at home" is one of them. Two key areas of focus, " Nature that feels good " and " Housing for all ", are designed to support the changes and trends brought about by the pandemic.
This new offering is designed to meet residents' needs for outdoor space, with more room for nature, but also to meet the growing demand, born of confinement, for an extra room within the home. The second pillar, "housing for all", focuses on functional diversity in the city and the personalization of housing. In partnership with Action Logement, the "10% of homes 10% cheaperIn partnership with Action Logement, ICADE's "10% des logements 10% moins chers" program aims to encourage first-time buyers with a subsidized loan scheme to buy new, low-carbon housing that integrates the challenges of biodiversity ("1 tree, 1 inhabitant"), and contributes to the well-being of residents.
ICADE's raison d'être is also reflected operationally in its " Low carbon by Icade " strategy, with ambitious quantified targets. As part of its raison d'être, ICADE is committed to moving towards a 1.5°C trajectory. By setting up a 2.5 million euro climate fund to finance low-carbon innovations and solutions for all the Group's activities, ICADE is making greenhouse gas emissions a priority.
To find out more, read the article by Marianne de Battisti (member of Icade's ComEx in charge of institutional relations and communications) entitled "From the reason for being to the way of acting", published on LinkedIn :
Earning, deserving and retaining the trust of our shareholders, employees, customers and partners by communicating our successes, but also the difficulties we encounter along the way, with sincerity and clarity, is, I believe, the key to the success of the collective contract that is our raison d'être.
Marianne de Battisti
