Sep 6, 2023 07:58
8 mos ago
29 viewers *
English term

/free/ temporary occupations

English Other Real Estate ESG report
I'm language-/copy-editing the ESG report of a property development company, part of a Belgian construction group. Written in English by a French speaker, I'm told. Listed among the achievements last year is:

More than 10 free temporary occupations of our sites
(no further context)

And then elsewhere in the text:

(name of specific project)
TEMPORARY OCCUPATIONS MANAGED BY:
(someone's name)

And in the text that follows (unedited = interview with the person named):
"We started temporary occupations of our site in development many years ago. Since then, we made it a recurring feature."

Perhaps it should be "occupancy" or perhaps they're talking about land use (occupation des sols), but I'm not sure what they actually mean (particularly the "free" aspect). Any suggestions how this could be rephrased? 

Discussion

philgoddard Sep 6, 2023:
Please could you close the question, since you have your answer.

I would add a few explanatory words, such as 'to local non-profit associations', since the text is not clear as it stands.
MoiraB (asker) Sep 6, 2023:
Meaning Turns out this particular redevelopment project will take quite some time to come to fruition, so meanwhile they make parts of the site available free of charge to local non-profit associations, NGOs, etc. So Anna is on the right lines.
Paul Ryan Sep 6, 2023:
French? Linguee gives a ton of stuff for 'occupation temporaire' in French:

https://www.linguee.com/french-english/translation/occupatio...
MoiraB (asker) Sep 6, 2023:
@ AllegroTrans A) it's not clear and b) that's what I've been asked to do where it's not clear or there's room for improvement!
AllegroTrans Sep 6, 2023:
Impossible to say imo But it's not quite clear what you need. If this is what is written, why do you need to change it?

Responses

+1
53 mins
Selected

temporary site residences offered free of charge

It's difficult to know without more context from the client, but could it relate to vacant site facilities, being offered locally for temporary use/occupancy, free of charge, as a CSR initiative.
'Occupancy/residence/use/let' rather than 'occupation', as you say.

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Note added at 57 mins (2023-09-06 08:55:38 GMT)
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perhaps temporary *estate* residences, rather than *site*

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Note added at 1 hr (2023-09-06 09:03:11 GMT)
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i.e. temporary free-of-charge residencies of vacant sites (I omitted the 'vacant' part)

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Note added at 1 hr (2023-09-06 09:35:15 GMT)
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Apologies, I should have said I *added* vacant (it isn't explicit in the source text sentences). I couldn't find an option to edit my above note.

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Note added at 1 day 2 hrs (2023-09-07 10:13:15 GMT) Post-grading
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Thanks Moira: 'Residence' or 'residency' came to mind in the sense of e.g. a production company or artists' collective being in residence at a theatre or venue for a set period of time, but the more generic 'use' is probably most appropriate here, as you say.
Peer comment(s):

neutral AllegroTrans : Could well be correct but without more context it's impossible to be certain
59 mins
indeed, comparable texts in French from the client / similar companies, or simply an explanation from the client in French
agree philgoddard : See the answer from the customer in the discussion box.
5 hrs
Ah, sorry, the discussion box was hidden in my view -- I have 'revealed' it, and can see the updates now
Something went wrong...
2 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "You have the right idea, but I don't feel "residences" works. Perhaps just temporary use of our sites free of charge. Thanks, everyone!"
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