Education initiatives
In the United States, the Arkema Inc. Foundation helps fund local social, cultural and educational organizations to improve the quality of life in the communities in which it operates.
The foundation focuses on supporting science education at all levels, and initiated the Science Teacher Program, which has benefited hundreds of teachers across the country.
The teachers are provided with science teaching kits and collaborate directly with Arkema’s engineers and researchers. The idea is to provide them with learning resources to make their teaching more effective and engaging in the science subjects, including chemistry, for thousands of primary and secondary pupils.
In 2021, nearly 20 teachers took advantage of this module.
Arkema is one of the world’s leading consumers of castor oil, with the vast majority of the castor crop being grown in the Gujarat region of Western India. Our recent work, as part of the Pragati project to drive sustainable castor farming in the region has brought us closer and closer to the farming community and the citizens whose livelihoods depend on this special crop.
In recognition of this special relationship, Arkema launched in 2021 a scholarship program for children who live within the castor community.
This first edition will reach around 400 children. The program itself involves four individual competitions for high school students defined as follows.
- The Aalok (Enlightenment) Award – an essay competition on the subject of “The importance of castor farming to my family and me.”
- The Prithvi (Earth) Award – an art competition to draw or paint a typical castor community scene.
- The Varsha (Rain) Award – an art competition to create a three dimensional model of a typical castor community scene.
- The Divela (Castor) Award – an essay competition on the subject of “Why I believe that a sustainable future for this world is possible.”
Local Arkema employees and representatives will select the winners and runners up. They will each receive a small prize, and their high school will receive a monetary grant to be used in the purchase of school supplies and educational equipment.
The program will be renewed each year, to reach more and more children.
In China, our employees regularly meet with students from schools and high schools located near our plants. Through the Arkema ChemArt Green Innovation Class program launched in 2016, a genuine educational project has been set up.
The goal is to promote science education, to enhance the value of industrial jobs, but also to raise awareness of environmental challenges.
Our employee volunteers participate in and organize a range of CSR activities on topics such as innovation, safety, environmental protection, etc. for schoolchildren and young students.
These activities are always based on the local needs of the communities where our employees work, in order to respond as closely as possible to their concerns.
The ChemArt Green Innovation Class program aims to provide students with more opportunities and resources, to help them broaden their horizons, to acquire knowledge from different sources, to simulate innovation, and to stimulate their overall development.