LVMH opens an environmental training center in a nature reserve west of Paris

To train on environmental issues, LVMH employees now have a dream destination. A thirty-hectare reserve located on the edge of the Rambouillet forest, in Yvelines, west of Paris, managed by the Vallée de la Millière association of environmentalist photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand. Through a partnership described as “strategic”, the number one luxury company inaugurated a campus on Tuesday, October 1, dedicated to training and raising awareness among its employees about eco-sustainable issues and the protection of biodiversity.

This land, located in the commune of Mesnuls, had belonged since 1868 to the Guerlain family, whose house was acquired by the luxury group in 1994. It was bought by the Arthus-Bertrand family in 2020 with the idea of making it a sanctuary dedicated to biodiversity and has since been classified as a natural zone of ecological fauna and flora interest (ZNIEFF). Twenty-eight hectares are completely free and intended to be rewilded. Among others, deer, does, badgers, dragonflies and many birds such as rush cisticolas have reappeared there. An educational organic botanical-vegetable garden was created on the remaining 1.4 hectares, financed in particular by Guerlain for three years, which has just renewed its partnership for three years.

For its part, LVMH has provided its support to La Vallée de la Millière from 2022 to enable it to accelerate the renovation of the farmhouses on the site, which accommodate the campus classes, the restaurant and accommodation. The investment amounts to “a few million euros”, as Yann Arthus-Bertrand reveals without giving further details. From 2023, a five-year partnership has been concluded with the luxury group, which has pre-financed a quota of training over the period. The goal is to offer 90 days of courses per year on this site.

The objective for the luxury giant is to train 100% of its employees by 2026, or more than 200,000 people, whether in the Vallée de la Millière, but also through e-learning and spaces of the company hosting the classes of its Life Academy, launched in 2023. This campus is at the heart of Life 360, LVMH’s environmental program focused on circularity, traceability, biodiversity and respect for the climate. Since 2022, the company has increased from 30,000 to 70,000 people trained.

“This place will promote connection with nature. Our jobs are interdependent with nature while we are all very urban and tend to forget that behind the dresses, there are cotton fields, behind the perfumes, there are the flowers and behind the champagnes, the vines”, recalls Hélène Valade, LVMH’s Environmental Development Director. “We want to be at the origin of a new luxury marked by reconnection with nature. We will also organize specific training for our suppliers and the places will be open to the public and to schools,” she continues.

Classes of 15 to 20 people maximum will welcome LVMH employees across the group and its 75 houses, including Dior, Louis Vuitton and Moët & Chandon, in order to “promote exchanges and pooling”. The program provides sessions of 4 to 6 hours or more, which are divided between “the Essentials”, basic learning
environmental fundamentals, and “Expertise” relating to specialized training, for example in eco-design, responsible sourcing or climate action.