How Aix-en-Provence is Leading the Way for Startups in Europe
The small southern French town of Aix-en-Provence is leading the way for startups in Europe with thecamp, a campus dedicated to supporting innovation and new businesses that focus on exploring a sustainable future. With amenities including meditation areas, an open theatre, and plenty of room for campers to stay in, it’s the first European campus of its kind.
thecamp was founded in 2015 by Frédéric Chevalier, a business man originally from the Provence region. It was first inspired by American campus universities where people are encouraged to work together and feed off each other’s ideas to create their own. The project brought together a number of private and public partners to financially support the initiative, raising €34 million ($39,875,880.00).
thecamp was designed by local architect Corinne Vezzoni (& Associates) and is over 11,000 square metres (13,155.9 square yards) with buildings set in landscaped countryside outside Aix-en-Provence. The idea is that different groups of people will come, live, and work on the site for a few days or months at a time. These groups might be professionals from diverse backgrounds— engineers, scientists, coders, entrepreneurs, young creatives, and public officials—who are all working on ideas and developing functional prototypes to create a more sustainable world and improve the quality of life.
Some of the world’s largest companies like Accenture, AccorHotels, Cisco, and Air France are contributing money to the project. In the coming years, the idea is to train more than 200 students every year and over 2,000 international executives.
Now-President Emmanuel Macron opened the site officially in 2015 when he was Minister of Economy, Industry, and the Digital Economy. The site has been open in an operational sense since September 2016.
Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.
Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.
Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.
Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.
We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.
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