Training in heritage know-how to secure a job in the future

As a partner of the French Heritage Foundation since 2006, TotalEnergies Foundation is particularly keen on supporting restoration projects involving young people who are unemployed or unqualified. Over the past 15 years, 270 restoration projects with a socio-economic impact have been backed and nearly 700 jobs created or maintained.

France’s cities and countryside boast an abundance of eclectic heritage sites that are sometimes scarred by the ravages of time. Restoring them holds real historical, cultural, and economic benefits. These projects are indeed as many opportunities to generate employment, galvanize the regions, give people a sense of pride and recreate social ties.

For example, since September 2021, students from vocational schools in the Gers and adults working for the C.A.U.E¹ as part of a professional reintegration program have been helping to consolidate the masonry of the Northeast wing of the Château de Lavardens at the heart of Gascony. In the Calanques National Park of Cassis, the educational worksite of the Port Miou Château, initiated in 2017, has provided training and professional reintegration to 24 job seekers. At the Lacroix Laval Château near Lyon, students of the Ecoles de Production will take part in restoring this site that is due to be converted into a training center for trainees in culinary arts.

Take a look at some more of the French Heritage Foundation’s worksites supported by TotalEnergies Foundation.

¹ Architecture, urban planning, and environmental council