Community investment is a strategic instrument to enhance Ferrovial’s contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Its social programs pay special attention to the most vulnerable people.
Ferrovial’s commitment to the community is a strategic instrument aligned with the United Nations 2030 Agenda and its Horizon 24 Strategic Plan. Ferrovial favors dialogue with local communities, as reflected in the new Human Rights Policy, but takes its commitment further and has social action programs focused on the most vulnerable groups so that the development of the communities where it operates is sustainable and inclusive.
The company seeks that its social commitment also involves its employees through volunteering or financially. In 2022, 2,266 employees participated in one way or another in social programs, which means a contribution of 21,333 hours of volunteering valued as a contribution of 707,420 euros, in addition to 3,945,703 euros in cash. Moreover, the coordination of these activities entails management costs for the company valued at 148,795 euros. This participation multiplies the impact on the community while enhancing the company’s capabilities and the sense of belonging to a common project.
Ferrovial aligns its social interventions with its global strategy of promoting sustainable infrastructures. Therefore, its main community investment programs develop infrastructures that provide vulnerable people with access to basic rights such as water, health or food.
Aligned with SDG 6, one of the main pillars is the development of infrastructure to improve access to water and sanitation in vulnerable communities through the Social Infrastructure Program. In its 12 years of activity, it has promoted 34 projects in Latin America, Africa and Asia that have improved access to water in decent conditions for 286,213 people in 12 countries.
These achievements have been possible thanks to an investment of more than 6.8 million euros and the participation of 133 employee volunteers, who have dedicated more than 10,500 hours of skilled labor. The volunteers provide technical assistance in the development of the projects.
In 2022, the program has developed three projects in Sudan, Colombia and India, in collaboration with World Vision International, Action Against Hunger and the Spanish Red Cross, improving access to water and sanitation services for 50,042 people.
For several years Ferrovial has been working on measuring the social impact of its community investment programs aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. In addition, since 2018, all social infrastructure projects for access to water have had their social impact assessed using a proprietary methodology based on the Social Return on Investment (SROI) framework.
Since 2012, Ferrovial has been committed to improving infrastructures that facilitate access to food for the most vulnerable in Spain. In the 52 interventions carried out, it has invested more than 997,000 euros to contribute to SDG 2, zero hunger, improving soup kitchens and food warehouses to ensure food distribution. In 2022, it collaborated with Cáritas to improve the facilities of three soup kitchens in Bilbao, Tortosa and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
The company also develops infrastructures for the improvement of health with the “Parent Zone. Budimex for children” program, improving the infrastructure of hospital pediatric wards to facilitate a faster recovery of hospitalized children and create more comfortable conditions for them and their families. In the nine years of existence, 39 parent zones have been created, more than 250 employees have been involved as volunteers and it has benefited more than 2,500 people per year.
Ferrovial, aligned with SDG 4, maintains a firm commitment to quality education, with special attention to the promotion of STEM vocations. They are a key element for economic and social progress, and it is especially important to work with girls to reduce the existing gender gap in this area. This commitment is reflected in various programs in the main countries in which it operates.
In Spain, Ferrovial has been collaborating since 2017 with the Junior Achievement Foundation’s OrientaT program, in which company volunteers give workshops in educational centers to awaken STEM vocations among students, and company volunteers also collaborate with the Princess of Girona Foundation.
On the other hand, in the United Kingdom, the company supports numerous actions focused on schools with employees as protagonists. In 2022, 279 employees took part in educational activities to bring children and young people into contact with leading figures in the world of engineering, raise awareness of the opportunities offered by STEM careers and provide advice on the transition to the labor market.
Likewise, in the United States Ferrovial collaborates with schools with educational programs focused on fostering STEM vocations through programs such as the TEXpress STEM Scholarship and Teacher Grant, which in 2022 benefited seven schools.
In Poland, since 2009, the Domofon ICE program has been promoting the safety of children in schools, also involving employees.
Ferrovial’s commitment to responding to humanitarian crises dates to the earthquake in Haiti in 2010. Unfortunately, its response and mobilization capacity has been put to the test in recent years with the social and health crisis generated by COVID-19 and by the war in Ukraine.
The objective of this program is twofold. On the one hand, to make employees active players in Ferrovial’s commitment to the community and, on the other, to help build a socially integrated society.
Ferrovial’s response to the crisis generated by COVID-19 was global in all the countries where the company operates. The 8.7 million euros it contributed to the purchase of medical supplies, care for basic needs and support for research into the COVID-19 vaccine have continued to generate positive impacts in 2022. The research it supported from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, has successfully culminated in a low-cost vaccine with the possibility of local production.
Just when it seemed that the pandemic crisis was beginning to be overcome, the war in Ukraine broke out, especially relevant for the Budimex subsidiary in Poland, a country that has received almost 3 million refugees. Action has been taken in two areas: support for employees who are Ukrainian citizens, as well as their families; and humanitarian care, with special attention to internally displaced persons in Ukraine and refugees arriving in Poland. The Stronger Together for Ukraine campaign was launched among employees in Spain, Poland, United Kingdom, United States and Chile, thanks to which 470,000 euros were contributed, half of which were donated by employees. Through Caritas and the Red Cross, it has enabled the delivery of food parcels, kitchen kits, plastic tarpaulins and non-perishable food, benefiting more than 95,000 people.
Unfortunately, the social crisis is endemic for many people. Ferrovial therefore continues to support food banks in the United States with initiatives such as Food Drive in Virginia, Fighting Hunger in North Carolina and TEXpress Annual Drive Away Hunger in Texas.
