🇫🇷 Erasmus+ Youth Exchange in France 🌱 Agroecology, Permaculture and Sustainable Living at an Educational Garden 🌻

BLOOM, which stands for Building Learning Opportunities on Organic Methods, is an Erasmus+ Youth Exchange and an inspiring journey into agroecology, permaculture, alternative fooding, ecological gardening and sustainable living. During the project you meet young people from different countries and share precious time to learn, explore, have fun and build a deeper connection with nature and with one another. Through hands on workshops, visits to local initiatives, cooperative games, shared meals and collective living, participants discover practical ways to live more sustainably and to rethink our relationship with food, land, nature and community. The exchange creates a space for creativity, solidarity and learning by doing.

🌱 Agroecology for Earth and Humans

Agroecology is a sustainable agricultural system that works with nature to create productive and resilient environments. It combines ecological principles with practical techniques to design gardens, farms and communities that use resources efficiently and regenerate ecosystems. In a systemic vision of agroecology, these principles are applied to build stronger, more cooperative communities that nurture both people and the planet.

🍅 Food Systems

Food and agriculture are strongly linked. You will discover how nature provides good food, how to prepare excellent meals and share the eating with others, and how being amazed by your surrounding environment is the key to thinking about how to respect it.

Before you send your first Youth Exchange application, here is how these projects are actually planned: https://youthworkshub.org/15107/

🏡 The Place

🌿 Terre & Humanisme is an agroecology education association based in a 1 hectare green educational garden

🐝 A multitude of plant and animal species can be found there, and life is everywhere

🏞️ The site is located in the south of Ardèche, a beautiful department known for its tourist attractions such as rivers, cliffs and landscapes

🌻 The Youth Exchange takes place in this natural setting with its luxuriant garden

✅ This Youth Exchange Is for You If

🌍 You are interested in ecology, sustainable food and living together

🌾 You are motivated to learn about gardening, autonomy, self sufficiency and alternative food

🧘 You would like to spend some time connecting to yourself, other people and nature

🤝 You feel called to contribute to a better, fair and sustainable world

🌤️ You enjoy spending time outdoors

🗺️ You are curious and open to meet people from other cultural backgrounds

🧭 Staying in France for something greener and longer term? This volunteering placement fits that idea well:

ESC Volunteering in 🇫🇷 France 🌱 Youth Activities and Sustainable Development near Paris ♻️ → https://youthworkshub.org/20485

📌 Some Requirements

🍳 You will be asked to contribute to daily tasks such as cooking, cleaning and dishes

🎉 You will be self organizing some of the activities such as evenings and free time afternoons

📣 You will be expected to participate actively in the dissemination of the project after the exchange

🇫🇷 If you have some basic knowledge of French it can be a good advantage, but it is not required

🛠️ Activities

🌱 Practical agroecology and permaculture workshops

🪴 Gardening and ecological growing activities

🚜 Visits to small farms, local associations, collectives and intentional communities

🥫 Workshops on food transformation

🥗 Vegetarian and alternative cooking workshops

🎲 Cooperative games and team building activities

🧩 Sessions on self management, group dynamics and collective decision making

🔥 Reflection moments, sharing circles and intercultural evenings

🤝 Collective Life

Living together is an important part of the experience. During the exchange, participants share daily life, tasks, meals and group moments. This collective dimension helps everyone practice cooperation, communication and respect for others. Together you will explore:

🏠 How to organize group life in a balanced and caring way

🧹 How to share tasks and responsibilities

💬 How to communicate respectfully and solve problems together

😊 How to build a positive group atmosphere

🗳️ How to make decisions collectively

Self management is part of the experience, allowing participants to take an active role in shaping the rhythm and atmosphere of the exchange.

🗓️ Key Information

📅 When: 21 to 29 September 2026, plus an online preparation call on 3 September 2026

⏳ How long: 7 days of activity from 22 to 28 September, plus arrival on 21 September and departure on 29 September

📍 Where: Terre & Humanisme, Lablachère, Ardèche, in south east France

👥 For whom: people between 18 and 30 years old, with basic English skills, interested in ecology and the environment

🧑‍🏫 With whom: a total of 16 participants with Léa (she/her, 35) as facilitator

💶 What is covered: the project is 100% funded by an EU grant, and the grant covers participation, accommodation and food, meaning no costs for participants

💛 Anything else: the organisers specifically invite participants from disadvantaged backgrounds to apply

🌍 Eligible Countries

🇫🇷 France, 🇩🇪 Germany, 🇲🇦 Morocco

🧑‍🏫 The Facilitator

Léa (she/her, 35) has been an employee of the Terre & Humanisme NGO for 9 years. She grew up in a bilingual family and had a European education, and she is passionate about interculturality and works daily to educate all types of audiences about nature and the environment. She has been trained in nature education and sustainable development.

🏢 Organisations

🏡 Terre & Humanisme is the host organisation and the venue, with Léa as the contact person on site

🌍 Grain & Sens is the leading organisation of the project, with Romain as the contact person

✨ If building and living sustainably is what pulls you in, this Erasmus+ course takes it further:

Erasmus+ Training Course in 🇵🇹 Portugal 🏡 Bioconstruction and Sustainable Building for Rural Regeneration 🌍 → https://youthworkshub.org/20693

🚆 Travel and Costs

Travel and participation costs for this Youth Exchange are funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the EU. You purchase your travel tickets in advance and are refunded after the activity, and if this arrangement is an obstacle to your participation you can let the organisers know.

🌍 Green travel: to reduce the project's environmental footprint, all participants are asked to avoid flying, and you can take the train to Montélimar and the bus to Lablachère

🚌 10 to 99 km: up to 56 €

🚆 100 to 499 km: up to 285 €

🚄 500 to 1999 km: up to 417 €

📌 To be eligible for refunds, the country of departure and arrival has to be your country of residence

♻️ The refundable costs are for green travel only, and if flying is unavoidable for you, you should get in touch with the organisers

📜 Youthpass

Participants receive a Youthpass certificate for their participation in the exchange project. If you wish, you can familiarize yourself with the Youthpass and related key competences online, and the key competences framework will be used to evaluate your learning experience.

📩 How to Apply

Read the infopack, complete the application form and send your application to the leading organisation by email before the deadline. After submitting your application, check that you received the confirmation email, because if you did not, something went wrong and your application may not have been sent.