ADF 02

Avenir Développement Formation

ADF 02 was created in 2013 to offer remobilization actions for recipients of the active solidarity income (RSA) in the department of Aisne. Since 2017, the association has been running an integration project called “Recycl’jouets” which enables employees undergoing professional transition to return to work while contributing to sustainable development and the circular economy. The association collects games and toys that are bound to be thrown away and then restores them to sell them at a solidarity price on local markets and sales depots.

Good ecological practices

Already involved in sustainable development, ADF 02 had the opportunity to acquire a building at a very reasonable price, for which very important construction work had to be planned. The rehabilitation of the building became a project that the association carried out for 2 years, seeking to limit the ecological impacts both in the renovation and in the operation and use of the building planned thereafter. The project is to provide diversified circular economy activities in this place (Recycl’jouets insertion worksites, animation and training spaces, hosting of projects and also a shared store).

On the topic of rehabilitation of a building, the association has implemented the following actions:

What was the trigger?

The association was in the process of co-constructing a “learning boutique” project shared by three associations (ADF 02, Devenir en Vermandois, Adermas). ADF 02 had acquired a building but there was a lot of construction work to be done and the budget was too high to start the work. ADF 02 opened the discussion and looked for partners. The various meetings, namely with the State and the Hauts-de-France Region (Third Industrial Revolution Department) showed ADF 02 that a circular economy renovation project was possible.

Running the project

The association set up a monitoring committee bringing together the three associations involved, the State, the Region and the network of stakeholders for solidarity economy (Apes).

The rehabilitation project was built in a shared way: collective meetings with the future users of the place, the teams, the financiers, the agglomeration of Saint Quentin (collection of toys), artisans close to the circular economy and eco-design and the architects.

The mobilization and commitment of the teams and management of the three associations that carry the project have been essential to overcome the difficulties and find solutions. Similarly, the commitment of the architects was very important.

Keys of success

• benefit from a network of solidarity economy partners built up over several years within the territory
• be trained in cooperation and new economic models by a solidarity economy network: Apes
• to associate beforehand all the stakeholders involved and concerned: financiers, users of the building, structures associated with the site. This method allowed the commitment of all, the awareness that the project would be experimental and that it was necessary to adapt
• to collaborate and obtain financial support from public and private institutional partners
• to collaborate with a collective of architects involved in SSE projects: Les Saprophytes, Zerm
• to organize training in reuse and removal of lead from the building site for the supervisors and the teams of the work sites
• to communicate well during the realization of the work site to readjust as we go along and to remain confident

Financial support

The rehabilitation project was funded by public and private partners: the State (Prefecture, labor department), the Region, France Active, the department (integration section) and the Fondation de France. The association also obtained the support of the community of municipalities and the training courses were financed by the “opérateur de compétences” (OPCO)

Encountered barriers

The association encountered difficulties in appropriating new modalities of partnership and cooperation. The project was not organized in a “service provider” logic. ADF 02 reinvented working methods based on trust.

Cooperation takes time, especially when it is a question of working by experimenting and without always knowing what the next step will be. For example, adapting to deal with lead issues in the walls and training accordingly, which was not necessarily foreseen at the start.

Without trust between the actors, without mediation the operation would not have been possible.

Measures of change

The many recovered materials that were repaired, repurposed or reused instead of being thrown away: tiles, cement tiles, 4 sanitary facilities, 15 radiators, 19 panels in profiled glass reused as space dividers, light fixtures, shelves, wood; and the purchases made in the territory.

The rehabilitation of the building has allowed

– a mobilization of people far from employment on the site and of local artisans

– an increase in the skills of the integration actors trained in reuse

– a cooperation between the stakeholders which allowed a change of view on the way of working: openness to reuse, pride in conserving materials and reducing the environmental impacts

– an opening of the partnership for new actions and new local and national projects. Currently, a reuse network is being structured at the national level around toys with “Rejouons solidaire”.

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