At Sonnedix, we are dedicated to our role as a social citizen, helping to develop the communities in which we work by conducting long-term social and economic development.
This is the case for Lambert, a town within the Coquimbo region of Chile, whose main economic activity revolves around mining, and where we are neighbors to the local community due to our Sonnedix Lambert Solar, a photovoltaic operating solar plant with 3.55MW capacity.
In May of 2022, our asset management and our Economic, Social, and Governance (ESG) teams, conducted a socio-territorial diagnosis of the region, carrying out interviews with stakeholders from Lambert including, the Lambert Elementary School, the municipal delegation, the San Gregorio mining, and the police delegation.
“Lambert is a very small town with less than 900 inhabitants, closely linked from its origins to the mining industry by the activity of Minera San Gerónimo,” stated Jorge Leal, Head of Asset Management in Chile. By installing our plant there, we want our presence to be positive for the community. by holding up to our values and strong ESG standards”.
During this research, it was identified that the public elementary school was a key factor in the socio-economic development of this region since it is the only school locally that provides the basic education for children up to 14 years of age in the community.
We also discovered that the school previously had an environmental seal granted by the Ministry of the Environment of the State of Chile but needed support to renew its certification by providing sustainability lectures to regain its stamp – an initiative that we were happy to arrange.
Our Sonnedix team in Chile first introduced themselves to Lambert by explaining who we are, our principles, and our sense of obligation to support their community. We then presented the challenges associated with the miners that resulted from our assessment and had an open discussion of how we can help everyone improve their region. The result of these conversations became known as Project Lambert.
Sonnedix’s plan of action for the project's community relations strategy first materialized with the students and teachers at the school implementing solar energy courses, lessons on sustainability and climate change from the Sonnedix Sustainability Academy, and by providing educational supplies.
“It is a great opportunity to have the collaboration of Sonnedix; the support network between both generates a great opportunity for our educational community, especially with our students, thus having the opportunity to expand their learning and knowledge of different professions such as those in the renewables sector,” shared Wilson Cortés Labarca, Director of the Lambert School.
This is the start for Sonnedix in a series of projects we aim to develop overtime with Lambert as we aim to continue the conversations with the delegates of the town to identify and define next steps together to improve the livelihoods of their region through implementing sustainable solutions with the aim of protecting the environment.