INITIATIVE ET DEVELOPPEMENT CITOYEN

opis organizacije

The non-profit cooperative IDC was founded in 2010 with the aim of promoting sustainable development, international mobility, active citizenship, mutual cooperation, ecological commitment and intercultural learning.
The primary objective is to develop a humanist project based on a social and solidarity economy as well as popularize the need for ecological preservation and a resilient vision for the future.
Our activities are split into four main poles, with an administrative pole which helps with all activities:
- Eco-tourism pole
- Pole of monitoring and coordination of the hosting of volunteers and volunteering projects
- Pole of Erasmus Plus coordination
- Communication pole
Our cooperative manages a small green campsite in the middle of nature on municipal land, which is keen to promote eco-tourism and the preservation of heritage in an intercultural process. The campsite has 20 plots over 1.6 hectares. It is a haven of peace and serenity allowing campers to recharge their batteries.
We transversally organize educational projects funded by the Erasmus program (In Youth and Education) and the European Solidarity Corps which aim to offer learning opportunities and capacity building to young people. The projects welcome volunteers from all over the world and focus on activities related to personal development, knowledge exchange, learning about various communication techniques or natural gardening and of course sustainable development, since our activities are mainly focused on ecology and the discovery of the living nature. In this fast-paced world, IDC gives participants the opportunity to reflect on their lifestyles while promoting personal development.
In terms of mobility, we are a recognized organization throughout the Aude region. Thanks to the DRAJES Occitanie, we are actively participating in the dissemination of the Erasmus Program, and it is thanks to this approach on the part of the region that high schools have decided to take the leap. They asked us to support them and allow “a bridge” between formal and non-formal education. Therefore we created a consortium of several private agricultural high schools with now 10 high schools from the CNEAP Occitannie Network (ERAGRISOC). We have KA1 accreditation to send their students on short mobilities and also some of them have started working for the hosting of ESC volunteers. One first high school was accredited in January, and we are in the process of organizing their next volunteer’s selection in September.
We are investing in the Departmental Collective of Mobility, so that more structures use the program. Indeed, we are just a few organizations and that makes visibility complicated. Also we have a lot of requests from young people and we cannot always answer all of them. We would like to participate in the construction of a network which would make possible the work on the youngster’s journey, without any “hole” in the process and while being guided by different operators according to what he/she needs in a specific moment.
Regarding the ESC program, we are very active in the hosting of volunteers in our own structure and currently we coordinate 3 organizations (a cultural association, a creative primary school, an agricultural high school). At the time of writing this application, in the midst of the COVID period, we have been hosting a volunteering teams project since mid-April, plus 6 long-terms and a Young Erasmus Entrepreneur.

Volunteering project