Signs must be part of an ethical and responsible action. Jean Van Caeneghem – Ekoya

Last updated on 1 September 2022

EKOYA, originally Club CAMIF, was created in 1993 by and for the educational community. There is no works council for national education staff.  Discounts negotiated by EKOYA for teachers on leisure, culture and cars compensate for their absence.

Supply has expanded in recent years to cover more sectors (house, equipment, services, … holidays). Discover the EKOYA club and how it works. EKOYA has also strengthened its commitment by participating in the financing of inclusive projects.

Jean Van Caeneghem is Associate Director of EKOYA. He answered questions from Fidel Navamuel .

A few words about your journey and what led you to create Ekoya …

I am the son of a teacher, my mother was a school teacher.

I fell into the pot when I was little! 😊

I found in the CAMIF universe values that were eco-friendly with my personal convictions. Bruno (my partner in this adventure) also had this journey. This is what motivated us to resume this activity in 2018.

A company has a social responsibility and its action must be based on real values. I stress the sincerity of the commitment. As regards Ekoya, solidarity, inclusion … have been part of the club’s DNA since its inception.

Ekoya in a few figures?

EKOYA 350,000 members from the educational community, 190 partner brands, 30 years in 2023, 10 employees dedicated to the community, €35,000 distributed to schools to enable the implementation of inclusive projects.

Where does the name Ekoya come from?

This name comes from workshops conducted with EKOYA members in 2016. We wanted to translate the idea of travel (which is the historical activity), culture, education. The name evokes the sequoia for the great outdoors, Eko for the economics, … school

3 groups came together for creativity workshops. A great moment of exchange!

What interest does a teacher have in registering on Ekoya?

The Club is free, offers great savings, you can act on the content (offers and blog), you can suggest developments, brand choices, you are guided by the Ekoya team in your choices of offers and if necessary, the team can facilitate the relationship with partner brands. We are in direct contact with them.

Teachers are often said to be demanding consumers, do you think so?

The teaching community expresses strong expectations of companies that are becoming more widespread today: the quality of the products and services, the commercial ethics, the sincerity of the actions carried out … all go in the right direction!

Signs must be part of an ethical and responsible action. As far as we are concerned, the expectations of the members are positioned in a similar logic. We are expected on our actions more than on our speech.

There has been a lot of talk for some time about responsible consumption. How do you join this movement?

Through exchanges with Club EKOYA members, we are committed to selecting committed brands as a matter of priority and negotiating discounts with them in order to gain purchasing power for the educational community.

EKOYA’s mission is also guided by this logic. Purchasing generates funds for educational projects, it is a virtuous circle.

Ekoya is also a project to support inclusive educational projects through the ‘Educational Ambitions’ association. The association is an integral part of the Ekoya project, can you tell us a few words?

Through our exchanges with teachers, we identified that many projects did not see the light of day due to lack of human and financial resources …, while innovative ideas could have been born. We managed to bring together goodwill (associations, teachers, school leaders, technical advisers for education, corporate sponsors) and created the association Ambitions Éducatif. The Education League in particular has supported us from the beginning.

I am very proud that EKOYA employees can give their time to support projects.

Every year, a call for projects allows institutions throughout France to apply and see their projects supported, either financially or in its assembly. … cultural, sports and environmental projects have already been launched.