Cemento Sol’s “Smart Sidewalk” wins Cannes award for its contribution to society

• It received a total of 8 awards at the Cannes Lions, the world’s most prestigious international creativity festival.
• The initiative allows visually impaired people to orient themselves with greater autonomy thanks to an innovative system of tactile tiles installed by the municipality of Miraflores, benefiting more than 500,000 people.
• Among the awards, it won the Grand Prix (highest recognition) in the Design category and a Gold in the Sustainable Development Goals category, in the Sustainable Cities and Communities section.

Lima, June 2024.- The National Council for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities (Conadis), estimates that more than 3 million Peruvians live with some type of disability, and of these, 61.3% are visually impaired. Faced with this reality, UNACEM’s Cemento Sol developed the “Smart Sidewalk” campaign, recently recognized at Cannes Lions 2024 for its significant impact on social inclusion and community development.

This project, developed in conjunction with associations such as the National Union of the Blind of Peru and the NGO “I am your Eyes”, transformed the sidewalks of Miraflores into more inclusive spaces through the installation of an innovative system of tactile tiles that facilitate orientation by visually impaired people and allow them to locate basic services such as pharmacies, banks, restaurants, health centers, etc.

At the recent Cannes Lion international creativity festival, “Veredas que guían” (Smart Sidewalks) was awarded 8 lions: 1 Grand Prix, 4 Golds, 2 Silvers and 1 Bronze. Thus, UNACEM’s Cemento Sol holds the highest number of awards of any Peruvian brand in the history of this festival.

“At UNACEM, we are deeply committed to building more inclusive and accessible cities, not only as part of our social responsibility, but because we strongly believe in sustainability and the well-being of all communities. We want this type of initiative to serve as an example and stimulus for others to amplify the campaign. The patent for the system is published on our website free of charge so that it can be replicated everywhere. We will continue to encourage projects that make places more inclusive, demonstrating that our dedication is to the society and environment in which we operate,” says Gabriel Barrio, UNACEM’s Commercial Manager.

The “Smart Sidewalks” project has not only transformed the urban infrastructure of Miraflores, but has also created an accessibility model that can be replicated in other cities. The podotactile pavement system offers a practical and effective solution to improve mobility and independence for the visually impaired.

In addition to the awards at Cannes Lions, “Smart Sidewalks” was awarded a Gold Effie 2024 in Peru in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion category. This award recognizes the effectiveness of the campaign and its contribution to improving accessibility and social sustainability.

Continual commitment to sustainability

UNACEM has been working with its Cemento Sol brand on several initiatives to promote inclusion and sustainability. All of these actions are included in the “Knowledge” campaign, which seeks to raise awareness of the importance of safe construction through training and talks. As part of this campaign, an animated short film “Protegiendo los sueños de Sol” (Protecting Sol’s Dreams) sends a message about the 8 steps for safe construction, and has been seen by more than 6 million people in 36 countries.

Furthermore, the “Ponte en mi Silla” (Sit in my Chair) campaign, launched in 2019, raises awareness of urban accessibility, enabling the construction of nearly 1 thousand wheelchair ramps in Lima for people with disabilities.

UNACEM is also committed to long-term sustainability, with a road map to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, by reducing its carbon footprint, using less fossil fuel and investing in new eco-friendly technologies and processes.