danone.communities is a many-sided adventure . The life of our projects feeds on co-construction on the field with social entrepreneurs, NGOs, microfinance institutions, universities ... Meanwhile, our investment fund, through the SICAV danone.communities, driven by IDEAM teams, allows every French to participate in this adventure, giving another meaning to their savings.

Within the French subsidiaries of Danone Group, our colleagues (Danoners) may decide to invest part of their profit sharings in the SICAV.

In March and April, with Leila, we went to meet them to answer their questions, share news about our projects, share learnings for Danone from these experiences, discuss how to rally to help these social enterprises to develop.

"Architects of Change" or how to be the voice for small causes to serve a large one.

Last week we met Muriel, founder LatoSensu: a production company committed to promote sustainable development. The program: the very rich documentary series Architects Of Change, which promotes local economic development initiatives throughout the world. At a rate of 3 meetings with independent entrepreneurs per episode, Architects Of Change addresses 10 issues of the current debate on sustainable development and solidarity: for instance, let’s quote Philanthropy and capitalism, the impossible marriage?, Innovation is imitation, or Eco-housing, designed to last.

On March, 06th, 2009, at the Second Board of danone.communities, the community danone.communities gathered at the Casino de Paris! Over 1200 people attended this evening around two round tables. After a status on the progress of danone.communities in 2008, a first round table presented the 3 social businesses that we support in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Senegal and the under observation project in Madagascar.

Since the beginning of the adventure danone.communities, we met many experts in development topics such as access to water, malnutrition and the fight against poverty. For the community to benefit from those meetings with these exchanges and debates that they generate, danone.communities starts a cycle of workshops to gather regularly those people. Danone.communities workshops offer a forum for dialogue on innovative solutions to development issues and malnutrition among the poorest, in all countries. Each workshop is structured around one or more expert testimonies, followed by a discussion. These meetings are transcribed in the a report sent to participants and posted on our site.