Integration projects in the building trades

« What I particularly like about this type of project (apart from the use of solar energy and the involvement of the students of the Baronnerie High School in Angers), is the determination to perpetuate the development actions around the school of Godin. Besides, PAA also wants to build something durable by enlisting the inhabitants. It's extremely important. »

AJean-François Moal

After 10 years of activity in the Yvelines and the Hauts de Seine, the association AIME (Agir, Innover, Mobiliser, Essaimer) has settled in Ardèche, where it continues to train and accompany persons in difficulty. Its goal is to assist the social and professional integration in this rural area, where the jobless rate is among the highest in the Rhône-Alpes region. In the Ardèche, it proposes a mobilization around a professional project and pre-skills training.

In 2008, the ateliers d'AIME launched two projects specialized in the building trades. These projects, open to jobless persons and minimum-wage earners referred by the local missions or the ANPE National Employment Agency, offer a six-month renewable Accompaniment Contract or Future Contract to some 30 persons.
They are trained in the techniques of heritage restoration and refurbishing, and eco-construction, using HEQ building materials and techniques. The aim is to help them land a durable job at the end of the period, or undergo skills training.

Workforce development for the general good

The ateliers d'AIME meet a real local need by associating with small projects which are of little interest to conventional contractors due to their remote geographic location, the small workload, or, on the contrary, are extremely labor intensive. Its main customers are local authorities, associations, and even private individuals who thus fill their order book.

Through these projects, the employees of the ateliers d'AIME participate in upgrading the often abandoned heritage of the Ardèche. Thanks to their professional expertise, many refurbishings are planned: the château de Craux at Genestel near Aubenas, the drywalls and terraces of the Jardin de la Beaume, and a drying room at Châtaignes in the Monts de l'Ardèche Natural Park.