Château des Jeunes
A place where generations come together
to create what becomes possible next.
A vision for a living, creative hub in Southern France — with young people at its heart and a simple belief at its foundation:
There is something valuable in every human being.
Château des Jeunes will be a place to discover it, express it, share it — and put it into the world.
The Vision
A place to discover who you are — and what you might bring
to the world.
Château des Jeunes is a vision for a living, creative hub in Southern France, created with young people at its heart.
A place where they can come together across backgrounds, cultures and circumstances to explore who they are, discover what matters to them, and experience the value of their own ideas, creativity and contribution.
Music, art, movement, storytelling, nature, food, conversation and shared projects will all be part of life here — different ways of exploring, creating, making mistakes, trying again, and discovering what happens when something within us is given room to come alive.
At its foundation is a belief that has come to shape all of my work:
Our value is not something we have to earn. It is already there.
When we begin to experience that worth within ourselves, something changes. We become freer to be curious, to create, to pursue what matters to us and to meet others with greater openness and respect.
We flourish.
And flourishing matters simply because it is life-giving. But its impact reaches further. It shapes how we relate, what we create, the choices we make and how we participate in the world around us.
The young people of today will become the creators, citizens, decision-makers and leaders of tomorrow. Imagine more of them entering that future rooted in their own worth, while recognising that same worth in others — able to meet difference with curiosity, create across boundaries and bring their ideas, passions and visions into the world.
Château des Jeunes will be a place to begin living this in practice: creating together, developing ideas, taking responsibility and gradually shaping and leading more of what happens within the community itself.
Not because we want to tell a new generation what kind of world they should create.
But because we want them to discover how fully they can live — and how much becomes possible when they do.
Why This Matters
The future will ask more of us than knowing how to succeed in the world as it is.
Young people are growing into a world of extraordinary possibility — and extraordinary change.
Technology is transforming how we work, communicate and create. Old structures are shifting. Cultures and perspectives meet one another more closely than ever before, while some of the challenges we face increasingly ask us to think beyond borders, generations and familiar ways of doing things.
We cannot know exactly what world today's young people will inherit.
But we can help create the conditions in which they discover what they bring to it.
A strong sense of their own worth. The ability to listen to themselves and to others. Curiosity rather than fear in the face of difference. Creativity, discernment, compassion and the confidence to question, imagine and begin.
These are not simply qualities for navigating an uncertain future. They are qualities that can help us create a different one.
Because the future will not only be shaped by new technologies, political systems or economic models. It will be shaped by the human beings making choices within them — by how they see themselves, how they see one another, what they value, and what they believe is possible.
If we want a flourishing world, we need to make space for flourishing human beings.
And young people should not have to wait until they inherit the future to have a voice in it.
They can begin creating now.
A Place to Discover, Create & Contribute
Learning what becomes possible by taking part.
Château des Jeunes will be a place of exploration — somewhere young people can follow their curiosity, discover new interests and abilities, and bring their own ideas into something shared.
Music and art. Movement and storytelling. Growing and preparing food. Conversations that cross cultures and perspectives. Practical projects, creative collaborations, encounters with people whose lives and experiences are different from their own.
There will be opportunities to learn from artists, makers, entrepreneurs, thinkers, educators and people working to create change in different corners of the world — but also to learn from one another.
Because this is not simply a place where young people come to receive.
They will be invited to initiate, experiment, make things happen and gradually take greater responsibility for the life of the Château itself. An idea might become a project. A passion might become something to share or teach. A question might begin a conversation that changes how others see something.
And inevitably, things won't always work.
There will be room for that too.
To try. To get something wrong. To disagree. To reconsider. To begin again. To discover that mistakes are not evidence that we are inadequate, but an inevitable part of creating anything new.
The Château will not ask young people simply to prepare for life. It will invite them to participate in it.
To discover what they care about, what they can create, what they can contribute — and what becomes possible when they bring that into relationship with others.
Generations Growing Together
What if wisdom and possibility were allowed to move in both directions?
Château des Jeunes is centred around young people, but it is not a place for young people alone.
It is envisioned as an intergenerational community where people at different stages of life can meet beyond the usual roles of teacher and student, expert and beginner, giver and receiver.
Adults will bring experience, knowledge, skills, stories, connections and resources. Young people will bring their own insight, imagination, questions and perspectives — including ways of seeing the world that may challenge assumptions older generations have learned to take for granted.
Generations can learn from, mentor, inspire and invest in one another.
Artists, entrepreneurs, educators, leaders, creators, peace-builders and people from many walks of life will be invited into the Château — some to share what they know, some to collaborate on projects, some to mentor or open doors, and some simply to participate in the conversations and experiences that happen there.
But adults will not come only to give.
The Château will also offer spaces for them to step beyond familiar roles and expectations, reconnect with their own curiosity and creativity, explore the questions alive in their own lives, and continue becoming themselves.
Because flourishing has no age limit.
And when generations meet from that place — not defined by who knows more, but curious about what each might bring — something richer becomes possible.
We begin creating a culture in which experience meets possibility, wisdom meets fresh perspective, and every generation has something to teach — and something still to discover.
A Living Ecosystem
Where people, ideas and resources nourish one another.
Château des Jeunes is envisioned not as a single programme or institution, but as a living ecosystem — a place where learning, creativity, work, culture, community and everyday life can meet.
Alongside the work with young people, the Château will welcome retreats, professional gatherings, creative residencies, workshops, conversations, performances and collaborations. People will come to learn, create, contribute, exchange ideas — and sometimes simply to experience a different way of being together.
These different strands will have lives of their own, while also nourishing one another.
A visiting artist might lead a workshop with young people. An entrepreneur attending a gathering might become a mentor or help bring an idea to life. A young person's project might grow into something the wider community can participate in. Relationships formed around a dinner table may lead to collaborations none of us could have planned.
Over time, the Château can also become a place where young people gain practical experience — helping to shape events, grow and prepare food, create performances, develop projects, welcome visitors, learn skills and eventually initiate opportunities of their own.
And the activities that generate income — retreats, professional programmes, events, performances and collaborations — can help sustain and expand the work at the heart of the Château.
Not two separate worlds, but one ecosystem in which participation creates possibility for more participation.
And, as the community grows, I imagine one expression of all of this coming together in an annual Festival for Celebrating Life — young people and adults, artists and thinkers, music and food, ideas and conversations, creativity and celebration meeting in one place.
A living expression of what Château des Jeunes is ultimately about:
people flourishing together — and allowing what grows between them to reach far beyond the Château itself.
A glimpse of the energy that inspires the vision
Fargespill (meaning “play of colours”) is a Norwegian multicultural performing arts project bringing young people from different cultures together through music, dance and creative expression. Their extraordinary work has long been one source of inspiration for me.
This performance, created for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize celebrations, offers a glimpse of the kind of aliveness, diversity and shared celebration I imagine as part of the future Festival for Celebrating Life.
The short introduction is in Norwegian — the music and movement need no translation.
Where It Begins
The Château may be a vision for the future.
The work begins now.
Château des Jeunes does not yet have its walls, its gardens or its long tables.
But the ideas at its heart are already beginning to take form.
The Courage to Begin is one of the first expressions of that vision — a programme created for young adults who may have lost confidence in themselves, their direction or their sense of possibility.
Over six weeks, participants are invited to reconnect with their own worth, recognise the resources they already carry, explore what matters to them and begin discovering meaningful next steps.
It is a relatively small beginning.
But that is part of the philosophy too.
We do not have to know the whole path before we begin. An idea becomes real through the first conversation, the first gathering, the first person who says yes — and through what we learn as we go.
The Courage to Begin allows this work to begin now, while also building relationships with young people, organisations and others who may eventually become part of the wider Château community.
The Château begins long before we find the Château.
It begins whenever we create a space in which someone can recognise their value, discover possibility — and find the courage to take part in what comes next.
An Invitation
Could you see yourself in this vision?
Château des Jeunes will not be created by one person.
It will grow through conversations, relationships, ideas and the meeting of people who recognise something in the vision and feel drawn to become part of it.
You may work with young people. You may be an artist, entrepreneur, educator, leader, philanthropist or someone with experience, knowledge or resources that could help bring the vision closer to reality.
You may know a place, an organisation or a person we should speak to.
Or you may simply have read this far and thought:
I would like to be part of something like this.
The Château itself may still lie ahead. But the community around it is forming now — one conversation, one connection and one possibility at a time.
I would love to hear from you.