Located in the Erève building in the heart of Rennes 2 University, this recently opened facility offers students and members of the community a freely accessible shared work space, a common space and two distinct meeting rooms available by reservation.
Its premises are entirely coordinated and managed by the organization ESS Cargo & Cie, whose goal is to develop various activities based on cooperation, solidarity and entrepreneurship. The ambition of this third place dedicated to social economy and social innovation, is to offer a multitude of services by hosting multiple projects and educational, creative and festive events with the idea of creating a self-managed dynamic to animate the life of the neighborhood and the university, helping to strengthen social bonds and links.
Starting in October, the ESS Cargo is open from Monday through Friday, from 8am to 9:30pm, and Saturday, from 9am to 5:30pm. It features:
- Customized support for initiatives, projects and organizations
- A community of support and sharing
- A cultural, festive and solidarity program: workshops, concerts, conferences, shared meals...
- A cooperative organization that offers everyone access to sustainable, quality food at a reasonable price
The inauguration of the ESS Cargo took place on Wednesday, October 5th. Activities were organized throughout the day in and around the Érève building on the Villejean campus. "A nice acronym for a nice project, which will strengthen the already well-established dynamic of support for grassroots community involvement that we have at our University", commented Christine Rivalan Guégo, president of Rennes 2 University, before cutting the traditional inauguration ribbon. She was also joined by the Co-Presidents of ESS Cargo & Cie, Béatrice Quenault, in charge of the Third-Party Place(s) and the Social Innovation mission, as well as representatives of Rennes Métropole, Isabelle Pellerin, and of the Ille-et-Vilaine territorial department, Jean-Luc Chenut. The day ended with a concert by S.O.S Groove.
