CEPE : Educational and environnemental pole
In 2004,the Pôle Education à l'environnement was created by a reinforced partnership between the Forêt d'Orient Regional Nature Park and the Ligue de l'Enseignement de l'Aube, owner of the Centre Yvonne Martinot in Mesnil St Père..
The missions of heritage education , environmental education, environmental awareness, training professionals and welcoming researchers, trainees...were thus given to the Ligue. Since 2008, the Region Champagne Ardenne has given it's support to this partnership.
In the heart of the Forêt d'Orient Regional Nature Park, the Centre Yvonne Martinot, a renovated farm in local style offers many activities linked to the environment in general . In the lakes region , educational stays to discover nature, come and share the passion of the specialised activity leaders who know how to adapt their activities to every age group.
The Centre Yvonne Martinot (CYM) is more than a simple "holiday centre", it's a fundamental part of the Ligue de l'Enseignement de l'Aube, linked to the history of the departmental federation.
The « personality» of the CYM is in effect inseperable from the person it's named after, Yvonne Martinot, a fervent militant for laicity certain of the benefits of modern schools and popular education.
In 1966, she gave the family farm to the FOL with three conditions : the buildings were given to be used by children, the creation of a holiday and leisure centre.....and the organisation of educational activities.
In the 80's, the facilities became a summer camp functioning on a voluntary basis before taking a major turn in 1994 with the decision to make a venue for school trips whose teaching purpose was environmental education. This decision required an important restoration of the property so as to be able to accommodate groups.
It became, in 1996, a school canteen for the communes of Mesnil-Saint-Père and it's surroundings with more than 4,000 meals a year and developed extracurricular activities: help with homework,fun and educational activities such as the club CPN that runs many environmental activities (nesting boxes, pool cleaning, creation of educational trails), or the Route des Salamandres that protects every year these amphibians from motorists during the mating season .
The centre isn't just about the environment because several times in the year, the elderly in Mesnil Saint Père are invited to dine with the children, thus recreating a social link, tightening the bond between the generations and allowing the transmission of another form of education, that of sentiments.
The CYM has thus known, over the years, how to find it's own identity, going beyond the status of a simple service provider to becoming a real actor in local life and an important asset in the diffusion of the principles of popular education and civics of the Ligue de l'Enseignement.
Infomations:
Many activities for the children are done here with a permanent team of 6 nature activity leaders :
- natural history activity programmes for school children and the general public
- a dining room with a capacity of 35 people
- a work and meeting room
- a laboratory
- teaching and scientific equipment
- approved by the Ministry of Education (class room for 30 pupils)
-an accomodation center with 60 beds, welcomes schools and holiday camps and organise activities related to nature.
Since 2008 the Region "Champagne-Ardenne is supporting the partnerhip.
Further information regarding the center and its activities :
www.laligue10.org/centreyvonnemartinot and www.laligue10.org
Discovery stay :for schools – +33 3 25 82 68 68
Contact for environmental animations : CYM – +33 3 25 41 28 63