Initiative et Développement Citoyen (IDC)

IDC was founded in 2010 with the aim of promoting sustainable development, international mobility, active citizenship, mutual cooperation, ecological commitment and intercultural learning. The first objective is to develop a humanist project based on a social and solidarity economy, and popularize the need for ecological preservation and a resilient vision for the future. Our activities are divided into four main areas:

- Environment and awareness of sustainable development,
- Development of transversal skills,
- Communication
- International mobility

We transversally organize projects funded by Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps, which aim to provide learning and capacity building opportunities for young people. The projects welcome volunteers from all over the world and focus on topics related to resilience, personal development, knowledge exchange, learning about various communication techniques and sustainable development.

In this fast-paced world, IDC provides the opportunity to reflect on our lifestyles while promoting individual personal development.

Main Activities:
Permaculture and minimalist living experience - Our goal is the conservation of nature and life and the promotion of environmental consciousness. We live in an eco-responsible way: we use organic products as much as possible, we plant trees, we recycle and we donate a second life for waste, we have about fifteen animals in our educational farm and we build constructions in an Ecological way.

Circular economy projects: Mushroom farm and vermicompost - Since 2019, we have started experimenting with the culture of mushrooms from coffee waste collected from bars and restaurants. Today the "Café Vert" project engages local businesses in this sustainable action, by collecting coffee waste from them and then our volunteers work on the mixing and production process of the oyster mushrooms. After the harvest, we put this new waste in a special compost of earthworms, which are super important for the soil restoration. We hope to be able to extend this project to the collection of other organic waste.

Shared space and eco-entrepreneurship – We have launched a shared place in the city center of Carcassonne. This space hosts intercultural activities to promote the international mobility of young people of the territory but also various militant and activists associations which have no place to meet.

Communication and promotion of our values – We work on different tools and actions to promote sustainable values and to sensibilize relevant information on climate change. We use social networks and online platforms, but also events and workshops to engage the local community. Another action we perform is to go in different rural schools of the region and to promote international opportunities, particularly in the framework of Erasmus and ESC.