7.5. Community engagement

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The Elia group is committed to creating a sustainable future for all of its stakeholders. This also means that we take our societal responsibility seriously. That’s why Elia Transmission Belgium SA/NV and 50Hertz Transmission GmbH support a wide range of projects in the fields of culture, energy and environmental education or youth and social affairs across their grid areas.

ELIA IN BELGIUM

Local added value / Supporting local initiatives

In addition to undertaking compensation and mitigation measures, an additional approach was developed to compensate local communities for any disruptions caused during works on high-impact projects (such as building new overhead lines or high-voltage substations).

Despite these measures, new infrastructure and assets do have a lasting impact on the surrounding environment. By making a financial contribution to community funds which are made available to local communities affected by infrastructure works, Elia Transmission Belgium SA/NV helps to improve the living environment of residents.

The amount set aside for community funding associated with some infrastructure projects is set at their beginning. Once the necessary permits have been obtained, Elia Transmission Belgium SA/NV replenishes the fund. Since 2017, Elia Transmission Belgium SA/NV has been collaborating with the Be Planet Foundation to develop and support local citizen initiatives which facilitate the ecological transition. Elia Transmission Belgium SA/NV has established a structural partnership with the public utility foundation Be Planet to develop and support ecological transition initiatives by citizens in municipalities where Elia infrastructure projects are underway. The organisation, which has been recognised as an organisation that works in the interest of the general public, manages the funding. Through this partnership, we are setting up a system under which citizen projects are funded to compensate municipalities for the impacts associated with the construction of overhead lines.

The Be Planet Public Benefit Foundation is to ensure that the funding is used in line with its objectives and that the citizen projects which are chosen to receiving funding are carefully selected. Each chosen citizen project must have a positive impact on the ecological transition and must contribute to sustainable development.

We undertake a number of biodiversity measures with the ecological engineering consultant, Ecofirst (for further details, see 8.3. Biodiversity and Landscape integration).Major achievements which were carried out with Ecofirst in 2021 include the selection of 28 projects that will be implemented with backing from the landscape/biodiversity fund aimed at the towns and cities affected by the Boucle de l’Est project.

Several of our project managers had the opportunity to share their passion for technology by working with the Technical Academy of East and West Flanders, delivering classes to 10- to 12-year-old students interested in the world of technology.

Donations

In 2021, 1.63 tonnes of our hardware (including laptops, docking stations, printers, screens and carrying cases) were donated to schools and non-profit organisations.

In the aftermath of the July 2021 floods that caused a large amount of damage in the Belgian Province of Liège, Elia Transmission Belgium SA/NV provided financial and in-kind donations to two organisations which amounted to €20,000. Elia Transmission Belgium SA/NV also donated €10,000 to the Red Cross. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, the yearly Sinterklaas party (which is usually organised by the Social Fund for Employees) has not been held for the last two years. The €50,000 budget intended to be used for the 2021 party was donated to a nonprofit organisation that provides birthday presents for children living in poverty.

50HERTZ IN GERMANY

50Hertz Transmission GmbH supports numerous projects across its grid area which primarily relate to education in the fields of culture, energy and the environment and youth and social affairs. Clear management and organisational structures are in place which facilitate our involvement in community and social activities. The Communications and Public Affairs Department is responsible for overseeing this - it coordinates with senior management to set goals, coordinate activities and, if necessary, investigate possible projects to get involved in, alongside the Legal Department and the Compliance Committee. Our internal guidelines for donations and sponsorship outline the general principles staff should follow in terms of support for different activities (these include assessment criteria and the organisational process staff should follow, particularly with regard to transparency). When providing donations to organisations or sponsoring them, employees must ensure that the relevant cause(s) are aligned with our corporate values and that such support is geared towards sustainability, offers true added value for society and the general public, and is given in line with the above guidance.

50Hertz Transmission GmbH seeks to act as a good corporate citizen, particularly in terms of the the area surrounding its headquarters (also known as the 50Hertz Netzquartier): it seeks to make the urban district residential and make the area attractive for its residents. For example, the Energiebündel daycare centre is open to the children of 50Hertz Transmission GmbH employees and also youngsters from the neighbourhood. In the reporting year, the organisation’s partnership with the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum for Contemporary Art in Berlin was extended by three years. As part of this, outstanding work carried out by graduates from different art academies in the 50Hertz grid area are exhibited on an annual basis. In the future, the Rundgang 50Hertz exhibition (as it is known) will be held digitally.

Educating children and teenagers about the energy transition is of great importance for the organisation. An interactive exhibition called Energie gemeinsam wenden (‘Changing energy together’), developed by 50Hertz Transmission GmbH and the Unabhängiges Institut für Umweltfragen e.V. (Independent Institute for Environmental Issues), teaches students about different aspects of the energy transition in an engaging way. Some parts of this exhibition (which are quite technical) can be used by schools in their physics and biology lessons. In the future, the exhibition will be adapted and made available in a digital format.

In addition, both partners are developing an online game related to grid development and the energy transition. The game involves young people playing different roles (such as local residents, farmers, conservationists, tourism managers, etc.) and considering different grid expansion possibilities. Using a points-based system, players can explore and discuss the different options, working together to find the best possible path for such projects. The game will be released in 2022. 50Hertz Transmission GmbH also supports selected cultural projects across its grid area. In 2021, the soprano Anna Prohaska was supported as part of the renowned “Artist in Residence” programme series organised by the Konzerthaus Berlin. From the 2022 season onwards, we will focus on supporting the digitalisation of the concert hall’s activities. The Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Music Festival was again supported by us in 2021.

As in previous years, 50Hertz Transmission GmbH was actively involved in different sports-related initiatives throughout its grid area in 2021. Examples include the Rennsteig-Herbstlauf run in the Thuringian Forest, the Baltic Sea relay marathon in Dierhagen, the junior division of the BR Volleys and activities organised by a large number of local non-profit institutions.

MUNICIPALIA COOPERATION WITH ECOFIRST AND BEPLANET

Elia and Ecofirst selected 28 projects to support through Elia’s landscape and biodiversity fund. The projects, which are based in the municipalities and cities which are being affected by the Boucle de l’Est project, include initiatives which will focus on building resilient forests, building ponds and fish ladders, setting up nesting boxes and planting orchards. The total amount Elia will be committing to these projects is €340,000.

Elia sees cities and municipalities as important partners: we are highly committed to engaging in productive discussions with them. In this vein, in 2021, Elia participated in Municipalia, a fair for local authorities in Wallonia. We welcomed attendees to our information stand, giving them the opportunity to explore our projects through the use of VR glasses.

INFORMATION AND PARTICIPATION

Elia believes it is important to give children a taste of the wonderful world of technology at an early age. In 2021, we organised a number of projects to encourage this, as follows:

• In Mortsel, a playground was briefly transformed into one of our construction sites. We designed a number of signs which were tailored to the children at the playground, to give them a flavour of what one of our construction sites might look like. It was an original way to encourage them to learn!

• Schools located near one of our sites can ask to be taken on a site visit. For example, students from the Mosa-RT school visited the

Massenhoven-Van Eyck project site. Our staff were on hand to deliver a fun and educational visit for them. • Elia developed a game about the energy transition for young learners. Our ElectriCITY educational kit contains a board game and activities for students who are in primary and secondary school. More than 1,000 kits were distributed to schools across the country in 2021 - that’s a whole lot of educational fun!

• Along with the Techniek Academie, a number of our project leaders visited schools in West

Flanders to provide them with information about some of our projects. Our engineers were asked a lot of interesting questions that made them think hard!