Non-financial indicators

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4
Societal indicators
Vivendi’s Four “Core” Issues relating to Human Rights
In a digital environment that is dramatically changing cultural practices
and the way in which the media is used, Vivendi has a major role to play
in assisting young people in their quest for self-fulfillment, in expressing
their creativity and in accessing knowledge. This is why, since 2003,
Vivendi has defined the empowerment and protection of young people as
a strategic “core” issue of its CSR policy (see Section 1.1.1 p.42). Since
2010, this objective has been part of the CSR criteria taken into account
in the variable compensation of the group’s senior executives.
4.1.2.1. Empowering Young Audiences
Initiatives aimed at enabling young people to exercise
their creativity and their status as citizens
GRI UNGC OECD Scope covered
MSS M7 1, 2 II, IV
Corporate
Canal+ Group
UMG (9 focus group countries)
GVT
Vivendi has entered into a partnership with the European Youth
Parliament (EYP). 150 young people met on the occasion of the Caen
International Forum, which was held from May 29 to June 8, 2014, to
celebrate the seventieth anniversary of the Normandy Landing. Following
the example of members of the EU Parliament, in two interactive
workshops sponsored by Vivendi, they debated the following topics:
“the role of culture in sustainable development” and “protecting privacy
in the digital world.” Their resolutions were submitted to the heads of
state attending the official ceremonies. The site Culture(s) with Vivendi
published a summary of these exchanges and continues to provide a
regular platform for these young Europeans.
On November 20, 2014, for the third consecutive year, Vivendi was a
partner in France’s National Youth Day. Vivendi invited three classes to
learn about career paths in the cultural industries and media sectors. The
event was attended by executives from Universal Music France, Canal+
and Studiocanal. Almost one hundred young people had a chance to look
more closely at a professional milieu that was previously unknown to
them.
In 2014, Vivendi also embarked on the topic of empowering young
audiences on its CSR web radio platform Vivoice in a special broadcast
devoted to the topic on February 11, for Safer Internet Day. The discussion
focused on three topics: “A Safer Internet”, “A Digital World respecting
the Rights of Children” and “A Creative Internet: a Lever of Expression
and Employability for Young People.” The French Children’s Advocate and
representatives from associations (Transapi, Simplon.co, ,
UNICEF and the French General Commission for Strategy and Outlook
participated in these discussions.
In 2014, Canal+ celebrated its thirtieth anniversary, an appropriate
occasion for recognizing creativity on the web, with the operation
“30 seconds for 30 years”. This contest, organized by Canalfactory, the
Canal+ label for new talent on the web, invited web users to create
30-second videos for the channel’s thirtieth anniversary. The winning
video was aired on November 10 during the show L’Œil de Links.
In addition, Canal+ Group has launched a structure called CanalStart that
is designed to support initiatives and projects by young entrepreneurs
in the world of media and new technologies to assist them in their
development. A total of 150 projects were reviewed, 30 start-ups were
identified and four initial partnerships entered into.
In a similar vein, Canal+ Africa supports the Tremplin prize for the social
entrepreneurship of young people and a culture of peace in Africa. This
is a CEPS (Centre d’étude et de prospective stratégique), Phoenix Capital
Management and UNESCO initiative. By means of this prize, the aim is to
support young economic players who, by creating and developing spaces
of sociability, economy and employment, contribute, in their way, to the
establishment of a context of peace.
Canal+ Group sets out to offer quality content suitable for young
audiences on its channels. To this end, the group has enriched its
television educational recommendation engine, “Campus”. This service
places the quality and variety of the content of Canal+ Group’s channels at
the service of education, making it possible to easily find all programmes
related to educational curricula from the sixth through to the final grades,
by level and subject. Special Brevet (French higher secondary school
qualification) and Baccalauréat (further education entrance qualification)
programming supports pupils at the end of the school year. The provision
of animated programmes on the Canal+ Family channel fulfils the same
quality and creativity requirements, and focuses on original creations;
this policy was distinguished during the 2014 edition of the Cartoon
Forum, a European showcase for the co-production of animated series
in Toulouse.
UMG is behind a number of initiatives to encourage the expression
of creative talent. In 2014, the group continued to develop Spinnup, a
platform for young unsigned artists to distribute their music to major
digital music distributors. Located in Sweden, the United Kingdom and
Germany, Spinnup also has a network of scouts who identify the best
artists, to offer them assistance and advice. In exchange for this global
exposure, the artists pay a low annual fee and all royalties are paid
through to them. Two Spinnup artists have now been signed directly to
UMG Sweden and have won several platinum awards.
In 2014, Universal Music Group also introduced Sinfini for Schools, which
offers free educational resources on masterpieces of classical music for
teachers with pupils aged between 11 and 14.
In the domain of classical music, UMG and Miami’s Frost School of
Music have been cooperating since 2014 on the “U-Frost” initiative.
This is a research partnership involving students, school researchers,
UMG professionals and artists to explore opportunities for innovation
in classical music in four main areas: the concert experience, training
of performers, the role of the record label, and building of a worldwide
network of young composers. This is a unique opportunity for students
to talk to professionals and express their expectations, whilst benefiting
from lessons learned at the forefront of innovation (programming,
audience development, entrepreneurship, long term career development,
etc.) given, specifically, as part of a new master’s degree in performance
co-developed by UMG.
UMG empowers young audiences through their apprenticeships in both
creating music and in the professional world through numerous other
educational programmes that bring UMG professionals into contact with
young audiences interested in the music business (see Section 4.2.2.3).
At a time when amateur videos inspired by songs are increasing on digital
platforms, UMG also supports new audiovisual talent (directors, editors
and producers). The group is working with Genero.tv, a participative
community site that brings together UMG signed musicians and video
makers by organizing video competitions. The video director who wins the
competition is awarded a sum of money and is given major visibility since
his/her work becomes the artist’s official video: in this way, the platform
contributes to the discovery and professionalization of new talent.
■ ■ 4.1.2. Empowering and Protecting Young People in their Use of Digital Media
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Non-Financial Indicators Handbook 2014