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How do we do it?

Through four core principles:

Complexity: a rich, living environment
Connection: being present and engaged with the world
Equality and respect for each individual
Freedom: trusting the child

Complexity

By taking part in the life of the ecovillage — with its diversity of spaces, people, activities, and projects — children experience the richness of ecosystems firsthand.

Like fertile soil that nurtures wild growth, the Domaine Saint Roch ecovillage is a heterogeneous, complex, and living environment.

“All learning processes are complex and take place within complexity. Since it is impossible to determine and control all parameters, we must simply allow complexity and create the conditions for it to emerge.”
— Bernard’s Blog, Complexity, Simplexity
Connected to :
- The village
- The people living in the village

Connexion

Through exploration and meaningful encounters, children can grow, flourish, and feel grounded.
The emotional connections that develop within a living ecosystem foster joyful engagement and strengthen both a sense of belonging and responsibility.
To participate in life and truly be present in the world, one must be connected — both to one’s environment and to one’s inner self.
We pay particular attention to nurturing three essential connections, described by Abdennour Bidar in The Weavers:
To be connected with :
- Connection to others: "building a fraternity bond"
- Connection to oneself : “discovering the ressources within"
- Connection to nature : “respect life in all its different forms and the planet we live in”

Equality

Through a democratic organization, children are empowered.
With a school council and a mediation space, everyone has the opportunity to be heard and to stand up for their rights. This allows each person to grow in genuine freedom — rooted in mutual respect.
We are inspired by democratic schools. People who have been educated in such environments often say that:
“The knowledge they have of themselves, and the confidence they have in themselves, comes from having been treated as equals in every respect throughout their education.”
— Mimsy Sadofsky, afterword to "Free to learn" by Daniel Greenberg
To be connected with:
- The school council
- Mediation space
- Adult's role and posture

Freedom

“By underestimating children, we deprive them of freedom — and therefore of the learning opportunities they need to master their behavior and emotions.”
— Peter Gray, Free to Learn

Children are given time to explore, play, follow their passions, discover the world — and themselves.
Curiosity and imagination are the driving forces behind their engagement.
Within this space of freedom and abundance, self-directed learning naturally unfolds. We trust children in the choices they make about how they spend their time.

At Les Herbes Hautes, free play holds a central place.
To be connected with :
- Free play
- Autonomous and Self-directed learning