The concept

 

Our history

Globalization, consumerism, over connected society…the world is changing. Everything goes faster, products and services are multiplying, our everyday objects get outdated on a few weeks basis, people spend more time on their smartphones and less time talking « in real life ». Moreover, internet immediacy is a difficult competition for local craftsperson and neighborhood storekeepers.

However, there are other ways to produce, to consume. We can change our relationships to things and services.

 

Our manifesto?

Consume, yes, but not at any price!

Consume, yes, but not just anything!

Consume, yes, but not in any way.

We discovered that thousands of people share the love of sustainable products and well done services. That general interest and respect of the environment can go with enrichment.

Thus we created the Village des talents crėatifs, a space imagined to gather those who share these values. We imagine it as a source of inspiration, a place that shows that it is possible to live in harmony with one’s convictions, step by step. A place conducive to local craftsmanship.

This unique place, dedicated to the French « savoir faire », revolutionize traditional shopping centers.

We are proud to offer you services and products made in France, often organic, often recycled and included in very short local distribution networks.

This 2 900 m2 village welcomes you in Puget-sur-Argens (83), a few minutes away from Fréjus. It is located in a 4 000 m2 park and built with environmental friendly and sustainable materials: recycled shipping containers, use of bio sourced matters (wood, wood fibers, cork, etc.).

We are glad that here, in the Village des talents créatifs, circular economy is on the spotlight: craftsmanship and French savoir-faire stand alongside organic food and Zen space.

Come and meet the villagers : entrepreneurs, craftspersons, amateur artists, store keepers, restaurant owners and alternative medicine therapists…they are the source of life in this place !

 

Our values

Born from a 1000 ideas and more and from a general realization, the Village des talents créatifs is a living space where craftsmen, amateur artists, store keepers, chefs and therapists can get installed and blossom, while giving free rein to their creativity.

In this unique space each professional can enjoy a fully equipped structure which favor skill sharing between all the entrepreneurs around one and only honest idea: having and teaching skills.

Conscious of the role we have to play in changing, we chose to lead 4 main missions with conviction and enthusiasm:


1) Offer a collaborative space where circular economy and French savoir-faire are under the spotlight:

What if, instead of throwing away waste, we fixed it, recycled it, reused it? Circular economy stands on 4 grounds: consume differently, give a product back its life, give matter back its life, consume in a sustainable fashion, and so think back on our ways of production.

2) Allow everyone to live its work with passion in a third party location where social bond gets back its original place.

Craftspersons, store keepers, restaurant owners artists, alternative medicine practitioners…Each entrepreneur has its place in the Village des talents crėatifs. This space is thought to welcome all these professionals and give them the freedom to express all their creativity and passion. Each entrepreneur will be pleased to welcome you, share with you and bring some of his skills to the table.

3) Develop the local economic fabric by creating a living space and a unique experience.

The Village des talents créatifs gathers a whole community of protagonists ready to share with visitors. The diversity of profiles set in this place ensure a unique experience to visitors.

Eventually, the fact that each entrepreneur is proposing a local product or an added value service should profit the entire regional area with economic, culinary, artistic and well-being fallouts.

4) Raise awareness amongst all generations with the concept of « consom’action » and sustainable development principles.

Reducing waste, think before buying, favor local/handmade products… those are the different aspects of « consom’action » to instill to every generation. We wish to educate and raise awareness among every visitors of the Village des talents créatifs concerning the different aspects of sustainable development.

Our commitments

The Village des talents créatifs intends to respect sustainable development principles by taking 3 strong commitments :

 

1. Environmental quality

  • To ensure a complete respect of the environment for the project, we decided to apply selective sorting in the Village. We will raise awareness among all visitors to this habit by teaching them waste recycling.
  • To go further in waste management and to offer regular actions. We’ve established a partnership with the Communauté d’Agglomération Var-Estérel-Méditerranée (CAVEM) and the Syndicat Mixte du Développement Durable de l’Est-Var pour le traitement et la valorisation des déchets ménagers (SMIDDEV)(Mixed union of sustainable development of East side Var department area for treatment on recycling of domestic waste).
  • With regards to construction of the Village, we use, as often as we can, sustainable construction, recycled, bio sourced or naturals materials.
  • Food proposition on site are organic, reasoned and/or local: organic agriculture protects soils, water and prevents erosion! If the proposed products are not organic, we make sure they come from local distribution networks and favor those types of networks (to limit goods’ travel distance).
  • Within the village we encourage plantings of endemic species, in order to maintain the local ecosystem, set up ecological corridors and contribute to the reinstatement of interconnections between different environments.
  • We are setting a plant-covered roof upon one of the structures with a rainwater collecting system allowing: natural thermic isolation and soundproofing, an additional green space, CO2 stocking, biodiversity development, better rainwater purging and many more.
  • In a general manner, we are doing everything we can to maintain a local ecosystem with the Green Village (Village Vert).
 

2. Social equity and governance

  • We keep at heart an open involvement on the territory alongside all interested parties of the project. This is why we are working towards a coherent chain of production/distribution. Local distribution network has to involve a maximum of one and only intermediate between producer and customer. We are convinced that this model must spread in all our ways of producing and consuming.
  • We demanded every villagers to sign a pact {lien vers « notre charte »} in order to ensure their knowledge of their products’ traceability.
  • Food working groups, vegetable garden care, debates, conferences, specific training courses…We are offering numerous intergenerational actions so that every generation can blossom in a constantly moving society, fit in and not feel excluded amongst other generations. Our goals are to create solidarity and cohesion between different generations.
  • We wish to put forward craftsmanship and French « savoir –faire »: in a highly competitive international context, the symbolic « Made in France » or « Fabriqué en France » of our culture represents a heavy asset. Advantage that should make us proud and that we should keep in mind, for it reveals itself beneficial for the territory as a whole.
  • We are participating in Social and Solidarity Economy thanks to economic projects serving social usefulness: we are employing reinserting men and women to help them to get work and their place in the world back. We rely on democratic governance and dynamic development, built on territorial integration and citizens rallying. Social and solidarity economy aims to favor an optimum management of all resources: human, natural and financial.

3. Economic efficiency

  • Economic efficiency aims to produce consumption goods and spread wealth of those productions in a sustainable and lasting manner, with environmental protection and consumed resources renewal at heart, extended to protection of working men and women.
  • This is why we are committed to ensure a healthy and sustainable management of the Village, with no prejudice for general or environmental interest. Our economic model is viable, ethical and easy to duplicate, mostly because we chose to rely on the local economic fabric.
  • Villagers will pay producers to their fair cost thanks to the local distribution network promotion which limits the number of intermediate to a minimum. They can then save up on the whole distribution channel and raise their margins thanks to a direct remuneration system.
  • We are also engaging into reinforcing the bond between producers and customers:
    • On the producer side: they’ve always answered to proximity and authenticity needs of the customers.
    • On the customer side: they seek authenticity, seasonality, local, with a better traceability and transparency.
  • We are allowing everyone to give sense to their purchase: by supporting French companies, the customer participate in on maintaining employment in the country, while preserving local savoir-faire and craftsmanship.

We really hope that all the solutions we are highlighting can be imitated in a short, medium and long term in different aspects of the professional and personal life of all visitors of the Village des Talents Créatifs’: recycling, skill handover, exchanging, sharing…

Vous souhaitez faire partie du Village des talents créatifs ?  Contactez-nous !