Design 375º: 10,000 students beautify 25 Montreal schools

MONTREAL, Feb. 14, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Youth Fusion, in collaboration with RBC and the Board of Governors of the Society for the Celebrations of Montreal's 375^th Anniversary, launched Design 375° today, to coincide with this year's Hooked on School Days. Design 375° is an official Montreal 375^th socioeconomic project focused on the city's public schools. Nearly 10,000 students will participate in this urban redevelopment initiative that will beautify 25 schools chosen from among the island of Montreal's five school boards.

Each of these reimagined outdoor spaces will be the fruit of a unique collaboration between grade or high school students, design university students and industry professionals, RBC employees, local businesses and citizens from the neighbourhood. Together, they will invest 375,000 hours to create living environments that reflect today's young Montrealers: innovative, inspiring, vibrant.

The launch, which took place at the Charles-Lemoyne elementary school, in the Southwest Borough, was attended by Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montreal, Monique F. Leroux, Chair of the Board of Governors of the Society for the Celebrations of Montreal's 375^th Anniversary, Martin Thibodeau, President of RBC's Quebec Headquarters, Gabriel Bran Lopez, Founding President of Youth Fusion, as well as several parties involved in the project.

"Montreal's 375^th anniversary represents a unique opportunity for members of civil society to unite around remarkable endeavours that will usher us into the future together. I salute everyone involved in this project for their commitment, especially the students. Today you're designing schools. Who knows what projects you'll be working on tomorrow?," declared Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montréal.

"Although 2017 is a year for celebrating our city, it is above all an opportunity to transform it. What better starting point than the incubators of tomorrow's citizens and leaders: the schools in our neighbourhoods? Design 375° is an initiative that lets our youth take charge of transforming their schools," stated Gabriel Bran Lopez, Founding President of Youth Fusion and a member of the Board of Governors of the Society for the Celebrations of Montreal's 375^th Anniversary.

"We are excited about this legacy initiative, because the students, the teachers and the community get to decide what needs to be improved, not to mention the opportunity it provides RBC employees to roll up their sleeves and get involved in their neighbourhood schools. RBC is proud to contribute to the development of local communities and the future of young people, in this, the year of Montreal's 375^th anniversary," mentioned Martin Thibodeau, President, Quebec Headquarters, RBC.

"For the Board of Governors of the Society for the Celebrations of Montreal's 375^th Anniversary, it matters that these be tangible and diversified legacy projects that will make a real difference in the daily lives of Montrealers. This is a bold and ambitious initiative by Youth Fusion, and the 2^nd socioeconomic project that has the backing of the Board of Governors. Design 375° enables young people to ply their creative skills and to be active in the communities they live in. It will be a way for them to shape the Montreal of tomorrow in their image," said Monique F. Leroux, Chair of the Board of Governors of the Society for the Celebrations of Montreal's 375^th Anniversary. 

About Youth Fusion
In order to lower dropout rates and create closer links between training and employment, Youth Fusion focuses on experiential learning by implementing innovative pedagogical projects in various fields, including robotics, video game creation, entrepreneurship and fashion design. Youth Fusion has been granted many awards and recognitions, and is among the highest impact charities across Quebec and Canada.

About RBC
Royal Bank of Canada is Canada's largest bank, and one of the largest banks in the world, based on market capitalization. We are one of North America's leading diversified financial services companies, and provide personal and commercial banking, wealth management, insurance, investor services and capital markets products and services on a global basis. We have over 80,000 full- and part-time employees who serve more than 16 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the U.S. and 36 other countries. For more information, please visit http://www.rbc.com/.‎

RBC helps communities prosper, supporting a broad range of community initiatives through donations, community investments and employee volunteer activities. For more information please see: http://www.rbc.com/community-sustainability/.

À propos du Conseil des gouverneurs de la Société des célébrations du 375^e anniversaire de Montréal
Le Conseil des gouverneurs est un comité bénévole, présidé par Monique F. Leroux. Il regroupe des citoyens, des élus et des gens d'affaires mobilisés autour de la réalisation de projets socio-économiques durables. Son action s'inscrit dans le cadre des activités de la Société des célébrations du 375^e anniversaire de Montréal présidé par France Chrétien Desmarais. Le Conseil des gouverneurs a été créé, à l'initiative du maire de Montréal, dans la suite logique du rapport Une métropole prospère et inclusive pour un développement durable du comité de travail sur le statut de métropole.

Pour plus d'informations : http://www.375mtl.com/projets-socio-economiques/  

SOURCE Société des célébrations du 375e anniversaire de Montréal