Versatility at work: we know, we’re all for it!

Who are Les Ateliers Icare?

ICARE Workshops is an association of employees and freelancers seeking to reconcile work and ecology. The association experiments with alternatives to productivism through collaborative workshops (on societal needs, new professions, etc.) and field projects (multi-activity, low-tech, etc.).

“In June 2020, the ICARE collective was born in Toulouse, on the banks of the Garonne. We were then a group of direct or indirect employees of the aeronautics industry, all aware of the social and environmental problems generated by the current societal model.

Our group was formed in response to the letter from Atécopol challenging employees in the aeronautics industry, adding to similar platforms from students or NGOs.

After two years of existence, after having co-organized or participated in numerous events, it was decided to formally form an association.

This is how, in the summer of 2022, the association Les Ateliers Icare was born with the objective of opening up to all polluting sectors such as maritime, digital, road transport, heavy industry, agriculture and not forgetting the historical sector for our movement: aeronautics.

The group has set itself three overall objectives:

• Working to ensure that all economic sectors are compatible with planetary boundaries and the IPCC’s 1.5° scenario
• Preserving employment through the diversification of our businesses : identifying skills within teams, identifying needs for the ecological and social transition, and matching skills with needs.
• Preserving employment through the collective retraining of employees from polluting sectors to sectors with a lower impact, or even sectors that are beneficial for the environment, climate, and society. We are committed to the Social and Solidarity-Based Environmental Economy.

Focus on the experimentation of Polyactivity

The 2024 experiment with chosen polyactivity (reminder of the concept here ) has the following objectives:

• Moving from concept to action
• To unite people around the overall, medium-term project of chosen multi-activity, to demonstrate support, to communicate, and to begin structuring partnerships.
• Start structuring one or more development models (organization, finance, etc.)
• To live a collective experience rich in encounters and learning, to spend time on an agroecological farm.

It consists of two programs:

The “4 days in the office, 1 day on the farm” (4B1F) program is an extension of the 2023 experiment and involves volunteers spending a few days in May and June on a farm near their home. Anywhere in France .

The ICARE workshops are proposing this experiment, which is part of a broader vision of the gradual transformation of work and production in France , to rediscover meaning and contribute to the most essential activities. Let’s make citizen involvement in these tasks, at least one day a week, and ideally half-time, the norm in a few years!

Two explanatory documents are available detailing the 4B1F experiment, whether you are a multi-skilled volunteer or a host farm . Registration via a dedicated form is required for the association to properly run this 4B1F program, which is a collective experiment .

The funded program aims to move towards a situation of sustainable polyactivity over time, and with remuneration.

Farms or multi-skilled volunteers, businesses, local authorities, join us!