Le 03 September 2026
VINCI Environmental Days 2026: making environmental thinking part of the way GEOCEAN delivers projects
How can an environmental ambition be translated into concrete practices that are understood and shared across an organisation? At GEOCEAN, part of the answer lies in creating opportunities for teams to reflect together, challenge existing practices and explore how everyday project decisions can contribute to a broader environmental trajectory.
To close VINCI Construction Grands Projets’ Environment Week, GEOCEAN teams came together for a Green Escape challenge, followed by a team-building lunch. The morning was designed to approach environmental issues differently: through participation, practical situations and collective decision-making.
Learning through experience
The principle behind the Green Escape was straightforward: place participants in situations inspired by challenges encountered on construction projects and ask them to agree on the most responsible solution.
Teams explored several issues directly related to the environmental impacts of construction activities:
- responsible concrete;
- reuse of excavated materials and other resources;
- waste management;
- circular economy principles;
- more efficient use of resources.
One guiding principle ran throughout the session: avoid, reduce, replace.
Rather than relying solely on theoretical messages, the exercise placed participants in situations where choices had to be made. It encouraged them to question established habits related to design, procurement, resource use and materials management.
The objective was not simply to provide the “right” answers. It was to create a framework in which teams could discuss possible areas for improvement and better understand how individual and collective decisions can influence the environmental performance of a project.
One commitment, wherever our teams operate
The initiative was not limited to colleagues based at headquarters.
GEOCEAN teams currently working on an international project site also took time to participate in an environmental awareness session.
This connection between headquarters and the field reflects a fundamental principle: wherever GEOCEAN operates, environmental considerations must be part of the way projects are prepared, managed and delivered.
The challenges may vary depending on the project and its operating environment, but the approach remains consistent: observe, question, share experience and identify actions that make sense in an operational context.
Part of a broader environmental journey
The Environmental Days are not a stand-alone initiative.
They form part of a wider reflection underway within GEOCEAN on its environmental impact and the evolution of the way marine infrastructure projects are approached.
Through the Convention des Entreprises pour le Climat – Parcours Océan, GEOCEAN has developed a roadmap towards an ambition of regenerative marine infrastructure: projects that ultimately aim to leave territories and ecosystems richer than they were found.
This perspective invites the company to look beyond impact reduction alone. It raises broader questions about how marine and coastal infrastructure is designed, constructed and delivered, and about the role that project teams can play in that transition.
In June, an Adaptation & Regeneration workshop had already provided an opportunity for teams to explore these topics collectively. The 2026 Environmental Days were a way to maintain that momentum, keep the conversation active and provide a more informal setting in which everyone could engage with the subject.
Building a clear, practical and collective trajectory
À l’issue des échanges menés en juin, un message fort était ressorti des équipes : elles ne demandaient pas une révolution immédiate, mais une trajectoire claire, concrète et collective. Cette attente est structurante.
Une transformation environnementale ne repose pas uniquement sur des engagements, des indicateurs ou des feuilles de route. Elle dépend aussi de la capacité de chacun à comprendre la direction prise, à se l’approprier et à identifier ce qu’elle change concrètement dans son métier.
Des temps comme le Green Escape jouent précisément ce rôle : créer un langage commun, favoriser les échanges entre métiers et rapprocher des ambitions de long terme des réalités quotidiennes des projets.
Le déjeuner team building qui a suivi la matinée a prolongé les discussions dans un cadre différent, permettant aux collaborateurs de poursuivre les échanges et de renforcer cette dynamique collective.
At GEOCEAN, raising awareness is one step. Giving everyone the means to understand, challenge and act is what ultimately matters.
Because an environmental trajectory is not built through action plans alone. It is also built through the everyday decisions, conversations and behaviours of the people who design and deliver projects.
