Our Engineers & Citizens commitments
Being Engineers & Citizens means being fully aware of the role that engineering must play in the fight against climate change and in the ecological and societal transition.
It means affirming our commitment as citizens to these issues and choosing to play an active role in the transformation of our ecosystem.
As engineers, we provide solid solutions to meet these challenges. Finally, as an engineering company, it means being the driving force behind virtuous projects that are capable of changing the world.
In the same way, we want to help our employees grow, so that they grasp these challenges and become committed actors in these major transitions.
Our actions are part of a roadmap deployed within all our subsidiaries, in France and abroad, in accordance with their own challenges and contexts, and to achieve the transformation objectives set out in our strategic plan.
Advising and acting to reduce the environmental impact of our projects and activities
This pillar is expressed first and foremost through our commitments to the challenges of our transition: low-carbon design, low-carbon mobility, resilience and adaptation of territories to climate change, low-carbon energy, the circular economy and biodiversity.
- Playing an active role in the development of our professions, while systematically proposing less impactful alternatives
- Evaluating the needs and impacts of our projects on the society and the environment, in order to propose appropriate, resource-efficient technical solutions
- Promoting sobriety by making the most of what already exists, reusing materials and limiting the amount of land artificially developed
- Extending the scope of our sustainable activities, which address ecological, climate and energy issues
We contribute in each of our areas of expertise, to ensure that our vision is part of the overall movement required to bring about these changes, and to create a more responsible form of engineering.
This is reflected in the publication of manifestos describing our position on transition trajectories and the application of internal technical guides to develop concrete and viable environmental solutions. We are also deploying an internal tool to assess the environmental impact of our projects.
Being “Engineers & Citizens” also means paying attention to our day-to-day practices. The setec group has been carrying out a carbon assessment since 2008, covering all 3 scopes. This assessment of GHG emissions gives us a global view of our carbon footprint and enables us to monitor our reduction trajectory.
We have already put in place a transport policy that is consistent with our commitments, deployed the Sustainable Mobility Package, reviewed our car fleet management policy, drawn up a sustainable purchasing guide and worked on the best practices in digital responsibility.
Guarantee respect for our values in our practices
Right from the tendering phase, the setec group is committed to taking into account the social and environmental impacts of projects, using an evaluation questionnaire as part of the preliminary risk analysis.
Ensuring that our values are respected in our practices also involves preventing the risks of corruption, conflicts of interest and human rights abuse. To meet this commitment, all our employees undergo basic ethics training, and those most at risk also undergo advanced training.
We also offer employees the opportunity to get involved in a different way through skills sponsorship and the setec Foundation.
Promoting the professional development and well-being of our employees
The quality and diversity of the men and women who work at setec is the group’s main asset. The diversity of profiles, skills, gender identities and cultures enables each employee to develop and grow on a daily basis.
The setec group has made the development and sharing of employee skills one of its priorities. Our commitment is to learn, act and grow. setec has set up a dedicated campus to adapt training to the needs of engineering in the face of the challenges of ecological and social transition.
For a number of years now, we have been pursuing a proactive HR policy to promote the development of our teams. Our commitment is reflected in the actions taken by each of our subsidiaries in terms of inclusion, equity and diversity. setec also aims to promote more women in the engineering professions, notably by signing the Syntec gender equality charter in 2021.
Health and safety prevention is an ongoing priority in all our activities. We are therefore committed to guaranteeing the physical and psychological integrity of all our employees, both in France and abroad. As part of this commitment, dedicated training is provided and initiatives are carried out in all Group companies to raise awareness and prevent risks.
Whatever the circumstances, our responsibility as an employer is to offer our employees a working environment of high technical and managerial quality, which offers flexibility and takes care of each individual.
Involving our ecosystem
Project management is at the heart of our profession, which has historically led us to interact with a wide range of stakeholders: clients, public authorities, partners, service providers and final users.
Over the last few years, this dialogue has opened up to the challenges of sustainable development and the co-construction of responsible projects. Our ambition is to continue and strengthen this dialogue, both to share our technical expertise in projects and to listen to the expectations of our stakeholders in order to better support them, by providing advice as Engineers & Citizens.
We share our expertise with our ecosystem by participating in working groups and think tanks, and by publishing substantive technical articles, as well as in the day-to-day running of our activities.
