Since last June, I have been working part-time at L'Ermitage, Fondacio's headquarters, to support the ecological transition of the site. With all the activities of L'Ermitage accueil, the missions are all as different as each other.
In the food sector, our goal is to offer more sustainable and quality food, particularly with local products (ideally within a 200km radius). We are also working to raise awareness of the challenges of sustainable food with posters placed in the refectory and a self-service Bio Consom'acteurs guide. We are also in the process of offering coffee that comes from fair trade. We will also quickly forget about tea bags and offer herbal teas from the garden.
On the outside, the Ermitage is a 1.5 hectare site in the heart of Versailles and in fact, we benefit from large green spaces. In order to be ecologically consistent, we made the bet that we could bring the St Joseph meadow to life, that it would be a source of vegetable production with the establishment of a vegetable garden. After the shared Colibris gardens, created almost 2 years ago, a 200m² mandala vegetable garden has been in existence since the fall. We have just received the seeds, we will soon start the first sowings. The entire production is intended to supply the catering center. In addition, we are trying to rethink the overall layout of the site to have edible bushes, spaces for aromatic plants, etc. We are in contact with the Higher Institute of the Environment and the Higher School of Landscape Architecture of Versailles to reflect on these questions.
L'Ermitage is also events, gatherings, meetings. Covid-19 has somewhat changed our way of seeing things but has not stopped us, far from it! Every two months, we offer shared cinema with a theme linked to the ecological transition. The next one will be held on March 17 at 8pm. A first Gratiferia (free festival) was organized at the end of September, the cycle of conferences with the Centre Huit has been launched since this February and we will soon launch sewing workshops with the residents and volunteers of the Ermitage. As soon as the situation allows us, we will offer Climate Frescoes in person, and certainly other evenings on the ecological transition.
Furthermore, for a few months now, we have been involved in the Green Church Label initiative, which is creating real momentum with a team of volunteers who are happily involved. Nature walks (for the general public) will soon be launched and we are entering into relationships with other parishes and dioceses to share our values of integral ecology.
Finally, we are working on our presence in the territory and meeting local stakeholders in order to reach as many people as possible. The Ermitage Third Place aims to be an inspiring center, a resource center where we can find answers to environmental and social issues.
This non-exhaustive list of missions aims to be in ecological coherence, to live a human, relational and environmental ecology. Rich in encounters, social ties, challenges and ambitions, I live this year at the Hermitage as a real chance, an opportunity to imagine a desirable future for all, to build the world of tomorrow.
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