Iberdrola's main contribution to society is via its basic activity, which is the production and supply of electricity.  However, its commitment goes further than that; it aims to enhance the quality of life of the population in the territories where it has operations. That is the basis for its social activity, which is coordinated by the Fundación IBERDROLA in Spain.  This foundation focuses its activity in the fields of education & research, biodiversity, art & culture and social action.

One of its main initiatives is the Fundación IBERDROLA Scholarships Programme, which aims to improve training for upcoming generations and promote excellence in education, particularly in the energy sector.

The award ceremony for these scholarships was held last July in Madrid, with the backing of T.R.M the King and Queen of Spain.  The last edition awarded a total of 95 scholarships and grants to young people from Spain, the UK, the US, Mexico and Brazil. This figure has trebled since the programme was first set up four years ago.

The Fundación Iberdrola recently launched a new call for applications for its scholarships and research grants for the 2015-2016 academic year, with a view to promoting education for the new generations. This edition is for research grants in Spain and scholarships to pursue Master's level studies in the area of energy and environment in Spain and the United Kingdom; all of which are awarded as part of the Fundación Iberdrola's Scholarship Programme for 2015.

Under this initiative, the institution plans to award a hundred scholarships/ grants worth €2 million this year. Since this programme was first launched in 2010, the Fundación Iberdrola has increased the number of scholarships/ grants awarded by 150%.

In the area of Art & Culture, the foundation is a Benefactor to the Prado Museum, focusing its support on the gallery's prestigious restoration studio. Some 300 restoration projects were carried out with backing from the foundation in 2014. As a result of this collaboration, over 760 works of art were repaired in the last three years. This backing from the foundation enabled the restoration of important paintings such as the equestrian portraits Philip III on Horseback and Margaret of Austria on Horseback, by Diego Velázquez; The Wine of St. Martin's Day, by Pieter Bruegel the Elder; St. John the Baptist, by Titian, and the copy of the Gioconda, as well as many others.

The foundation also collaborates with other major projects such as the Atlantic Romanesque Restoration Plan, which restores heritage churches on the banks of the rivers Duero and Tâmega and supports sustainable development in these territories.  So far, 30 projects have been carried out on eleven churches in Castile and León. Of these, ten are completely finished. Meanwhile, in Portugal work has concluded on a further five churches and a total of 20 projects have been carried out.

The Fundación Iberdrola also runs a Lighting Programme for unique buildings. The foundation has carried out about a hundred interventions in this area, 25 of which were done in recent years.

The most high-profile operations in this regard were the projects to light up the main façade of the Palacio de las Cortes (Spanish Parliament); the Basilica of the Royal Monastery of El Escorial (Madrid), the Yuso Monastery (La Rioja), the Oratory of San Felipe Neri (Cádiz), the Collegiate Church of Toro (Zamora) and the Mosque of Cristo de la Luz (Toledo).

Support for biodiversity and social action

The Fundación Iberdrola also collaborates with other organisations with its activities to support Biodiversity. These include the innovative Migra Programme run by SEO/ BirdLife, which aims to gather detailed information on bird migratory routes and overwintering areas using GPS devices.

With the support of the Fundación Iberdrola, the Fundación Aquila set up a ground-breaking programme in Spain to teach imperial and Bonelli's eagles to avoid power lines using conditioned learning techniques.

The Fundación Iberdrola also supports the LIFE+ Cantabrian capercaillie project, which attained the milestone of successfully breeding five birds in 2014. Three of these will soon be released into the Picos de Europa Regional Park.

As regards its support for social action, the foundation has a Social Grants programme that organises specific projects to benefit the most disadvantaged members of society. The foundation allocated about €1 million to the last edition of this call, up 13% on the previous edition. In total, the projects backed will benefit over 60,500 people.  To date, a total of 230 initiatives have benefited from this programme, with a €4.4 million investment.

To be more specific, 45% of the initiatives selected in 2014 were linked to enhancing the quality of life of people with functional diversity and providing care for the dependent, with a special focus on people with intellectual, physical, sensory or multiple functional diversity, mental illness and autism.

37% of the projects selected in this call are devoted to combating poverty and social exclusion, including schemes geared towards providing comprehensive support to homes with low work-intensity or long-term unemployment, meeting basic needs or integrating young people in the job market, among others.

Finally, the remaining 18% are devoted to helping enhance the quality of life of people who are ill. These include initiatives geared towards providing direct care to patients with serious illnesses, support for families with dependent patients, as well as others focusing on prevention.

For more information about Fundación IBERDROLA, visit the web page www.fundacioniberdrola.org.

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