“Reconnecting people”: a third place is being created in Aubrac to encourage a sense of sharing

Recoules-d'Aubrac, his retirement home and recently his… third place. The village between Saint-Urcize in Cantal and Nasbinals in Lozère, a stone's throw from Aubrac Aveyronnais, is home to Areine de l'Aubrac which intends to spread across the plateau. “The goal is to reconnect people, to give meaning to what we do”says Marjory Mayo, president of the association and “queen” of the project, who set up two shared work spaces (coworking in the language of Shakespeare) in Lyon. Convinced of the necessity of this approach after having identified the needs, a group of individuals was formed to turn an empty apartment opposite the town hall into the first third place in Aubrac. “When I saw Marjory’s enthusiasm for this project, we rolled up our sleeves”confides Fred who, with his wife Carole, left Orléans for an active retirement with a plan for a lodging near Nasbinals on the way to Saint-Jacques. Carole, specialized in Chinese medicine, has already taken over the third place by sharing a well-being space with Virginie, therapist. “We need to mesh the territory to create warm places where people want to meet and share with the equipment provided”continues Marjory. Two large screens allow you to organize seminars under the roof or take a yoga class, or make videos with the kitchen next door for conviviality. The world of tomorrow, at least, a promise for rurality.

Strengthen social bonds

The neighbor, Marie, hasn't left since she learned that a tapas bar will open next spring next to the third place and the former postman is happy to be able to find someone to talk to. Faced with the social divide, the third place is a key. Many third places are in the pipeline in Aubrac: Montézic, Laguiole with Convivadis, Golinhac and Le Fel next year… “We need to integrate residents, find an audience, create commons. A third place operates with shared governance which must be animated”adds Marjory, fulfilled beyond all these expectations – “better than in my dreams”– by the crowds at the inauguration with people from all walks of life, while also being lucid about the situation: “The economic model is still fragile because it is hybrid. » In fact, a third place does not tick one box but several cells. A horizontal operation made of social bonds and skills in the service of a participatory democracy for collective intelligence. Less shared work space (coworking) as is done in the city, the first third place in Aubrac enters the arena with a social vocation in the face of the demographic and therefore economic fall of the territory. “Make connections because the world attracts the world”concludes Marjory, who cherishes a sweet dream of foraging on the plateau as in the Arvieu garden, exemplary in this regard. She doesn't think she says it that well. Two Google employees from Asia who came to film Aubrac were able to find refuge in Areine to work. Proof that demand can come from anywhere to those who know how to open their (third) place of life.