5 tips for meeting committed people (and making a success of your professional transition)
Transitioning, switching, branching out to give your professional life more impact - that's all well and good, but where do you start? With 100 questions running through your head, you feel like you're going round in circles, stuck or perhaps demotivated. A good way to get yourself unstuck and move forward at your own pace is to meet other people who are going through or have gone through the same journey. They can inspire you or give you ideas for what to do next. Entrepreneurs often repeat this advice: "being surrounded by the right people is the key!" It's the same when it comes to making a transition! In this article, we'll introduce you to 5 types of spaces where you can meet committed people and move forward with your reconversion project.
Tip 1 - Join a committed collective
Their entry point is mostly online or on social networks, and they allow you to forge initial links to meet people in real life! We're not talking about Tinder, Bumble or other dating sites, but about collectives sharing common issues, similar desires or commitments, with whom you can interact... If transition issues of any kind (professional, ecological, social...) concern and interest you, here are a few examples of committed communities you might like to join:
Paumé.es
Find your compass if you've lost your way.
This online community, founded by makesense, is based on the observation that many of us have more questions than we have answers... Are you? If so, you may find support and guidance in this community, by talking to people who are in the same situation as you, or who have already been through it. Aperos paumé.e.s are often organized in various French cities to discuss various topics: professional paumitude, paumé.e in my sobriety, in my elections... Inspiring tools are also shared in the community to help you untangle your bag of knots!
The Shifters
To help generate ideas for the ecological transition.
The Shift Project is a think-tank bringing together a community of people who want to help build a low-carbon strategy. Whether you're already active on these transition issues or not, you can join the community to find out what's going on, debate and learn alongside the community. You can also get in on the action by lending your skills to the Shift Project team, who initiated this community, or by sharing their work on social networks.
Shaking it up
To be inspired by those who move the world from within.
Makesense has launched La Bouscule to inspire those who want to move their business from the inside out and create links between them. It's a newsletter that lets you find out what's being done elsewhere in terms of ecological transition! In it, you'll find information such as: the levers that enable companies to transform themselves, groups that can be organized between employees to challenge management, awareness-raising workshops that can be run by in-house employees, and other news and tips on how to mobilize those around you. In fact, we'll soon be organizing a La bouscule event. If you're in Paris, and want to get in touch and find out how other employees are getting their companies moving, you're welcome to come along!
👉 For more information, subscribe to the la bouscule newsletter.
👉 And sign up for the next "Je fais bouger ma boîte" event.
Tip 2 - Work in a coworking space
Get in touch with committed people in your workplace
Whether you're an entrepreneur, freelancer, telecommuting employee or job seeker, you can join a coworking space! Today, these collective workspaces are ubiquitous in cities and many rural areas. They bring together a diversity of profiles and are conducive to the sharing of knowledge and skills. If you want to make an impact, there are coworking spaces that bring together communities concerned with these issues. If this is the type of community you'd like to join, find out more about coworking spaces beforehand, via their website, their communication and the values they convey, even if it means visiting them and choosing the one that suits you best! Here are a few examples of high-impact coworking spaces:
Kaleidoscoop
Where in Strasbourg
On a daily basis, Kaleidoscoop works towards an economic, ecological and social transition. In addition to coworking spaces, you'll find event rooms, a café and a responsible store and incubator.
La Coworquie
Where? Mornant, Auvergne Rhône Alpes
In this coworking space in the Mornant region, workers of all professions can come together in a community that wants to work differently on its territory. The space also hosts a repair café for repairing objects and clothes!
La Cordée
La Cordée currently comprises 11 coworking spaces in France. For its founders, self-organization and horizontality are the watchwords! Themed workshops, introductory courses, meals, aperitifs and sports activities are organized on a regular basis.
Want to know if there's an impact coworking space near you?
👉 You can search for those who are by exploring this map!
Tip 3 - Spend time in third places
Create new synergies close to home
Third-Party Centers, which are also springing up all over France, bring together designers, shopkeepers, restaurateurs and even coworkers! Third-Party Places are the heart of emulation, of encounters between different worlds within the same territory. By going to events organized in these places, you can meet people sharing common interests, discover local initiatives and even see your neighborhood neighbors. More and more, these places are putting environmental and social impact and commitment at the heart of their operations!
Les Halles de la Transition
Where? Toulouse
Les Halles de la Transition is a third-party space dedicated to the ecological and solidarity-based transition. Here, you can eat locally, co-work, take part in impact events or find a committed book in the bookshop. Within the site, you can also take part in training courses on ecological issues and receive support in taking action!
Le Quai des possibles
Where? Saint Germain en Laye
Founded by a collective of optimists, for an ecological and united transition, in this place you can be accompanied to make your pro transition with impact thanks to the "Transition pro à IMPACT" course. Here you can meet people who, like you, want to put meaning at the heart of their work!
The Island
Where? Montpellier
Bringing together positive-impact players, the Tiers Lieu offers co-working, conference rooms, wellness activities, conferences and meetings. All this in a green space right in the center of Marseille. You can also take one of the training courses organized by La Fabrique des Possibles, to learn about facilitation, new modes of governance or how to manage your emotions in the face of environmental issues.
Tip 4 - Immerse yourself in an ecovillage
Learn to live differently without changing radically
If you want to learn to live differently, more connected than ever to nature, you can also join like-minded communities discovering ecovillages and eco-places! You'll meet families or self-organized groups who contribute their know-how and skills to the life of the place. Permaculture, democratic education, yoga, meditation and eco-renovation, for example, can all be taught in these living spaces... You can take part in immersive stays or choose to join one and live there.
Etika Mundo
Where? Cévennes National Park
Experience a 5-day immersion in 100% nature and ecology, and learn the basics for setting up and living in an eco-environment. By taking a course with Etika Mundo, you'll be able to connect with other people who, like you, want to learn to live differently, and maybe set up your own ecolieu later on... Who knows? ;)
The Pourgues eco-village
Where in Ariège
To experience a different way of life, collective living and even a different educational system for your children, you can also take part in immersive stays at the Pourgues ecovillage.
Welcome to Transition
Where? Mergieux
For 4 weeks, you join a community to experience life in an eco-environment, explore together the systemic issues of ecological transition and find concrete courses of action. In July and August, you can extend the experience by staying at the site for a 100% nature vacation. An inspiring way to meet new people over the summer!
Tip n°5 - Try coliving
Experience special moments and share your daily life.
Have you heard of coliving? It's a kind of eco loft without the cameras ;) For people working remotely, it's a great way to meet new people! Born in the 2000s in the United States and present in France since 2017, coliving represents, beyond a new way of working, a new way of living. It involves working and living under the same roof, in a community. You can enjoy your own space, while taking advantage of shared areas such as coworking, gym and kitchen, and numerous services. To experience this new way of community living, you can opt for long-term or short-term stays of a few days or months. Here are a few coliving sites in France:
Le Hub Nomade - For a militant "future of work
Where? Several locations, often around Hossegor
Managed by a collective of nomadic freelancers, the Hub Nomade organizes coliving events 2 or 3 times a year on different themes. It offers community living for 1 week to 1 month. Since covid-19, the Hub, which previously organized coliving events all over the world, has reviewed its operations, giving priority to destinations such as France or European countries accessible by train. Impact, community living, reconnection... every coliving organized by the Hub Nomade has its own theme!
Le Moulin Inattendu
Where? 1 hour from Paris
To share a place to live and work, Le Moulin Inattendu invites you to rediscover a taste for the simple things in life, in a former artists' residence in the countryside. You'll also find 2 vegetable gardens, a nearby forest and a river running through the garden. Coliving themes include "agriculture" and "entrepreneurs for climate". Enriching encounters if you want to make the transition into these fields!
El Capitan
For an immersive stay or just a few days away, you can experience living together in this large Normandy house and discover the Orne bocage. Coliving takes the form of a participative hostel where everyone contributes to the rent according to their use and means. Hiking, poetry, discovering the Bocage, self-management... The themes and activities vary according to the stay. You can also suggest activities!
Further information
👉 Life in an ecovillage: immersion in Pourgues
👉 Learn to commit to transition with the Fabrique des Possibles
👉 Discover the world of Third Places.
👉 5 books and 5 podcasts to learn about the transition