Groundbreaking Ceremony for Sud’@lternance

Friday, May 18, at 10:30 a.m.
, Montpellier-Sète University Institute of Technology

On May 18, 2018, construction will officially begin on a facility entirely dedicated to apprenticeships at the IUT Montpellier-Sète campus. This groundbreaking ceremony holds great symbolic significance for all those involved in the project, who have been working since 2015 to establish an unprecedented framework for apprenticeships in the region.

Over 3,000 square meters dedicated to learning

This work-study center is designed to house an administrative center as well as innovative educational spaces (such as learning labs). Its construction goes hand in hand with the CROUS’s development of a residence for work-study students in the immediate vicinity. In total, more than 3,000 square meters will be dedicated to work-study programs on the University of Montpellier’s North Campus.
The cost of the work on the work-study center is approximately 2 million euros. It is funded by the Programme d’Investissements d’Avenir (the “work-study vocational training” initiative managed by the Caisse des Dépôts on behalf of the French government), the Occitanie / Pyrénées-Méditerranée region, Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole, and the CFA EnSup-LR. The University of Montpellier is the project owner, and the architectural firm Imagine architecture is the project manager.

An unprecedented restructuring of vocational training in the region

This initiative stems from the establishment of the CFA EnSup-LR in 2015, followed by the Sud’@lternance project—led by the CFA EnSup-LR—securing funding under the PIA. The CFA EnSup-LR is the result of cooperation among the region’s four universities (University of Montpellier, Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3 University, University of Perpignan Via Domitia, and University of Nîmes) and two grandes écoles (Montpellier SupAgro and the National School of Chemistry of Montpellier), supported by the Regional Council and the Regional Education Authority.
To strengthen this partnership dynamic, the six institutions of the CFA Ensup-LR chose to submit the Sud’@lternance project, which was selected. Its objective: to promote the development of apprenticeships and position the Region as a training hub for emerging professions (energy, water, chemistry, biomolecules, smart grids) by leveraging the region’s innovative ecosystem (competitiveness clusters and research teams).

Groundbreaking ceremony for Sud’@lternance, attended by:

• Pascal Mailhos, Prefect of the Occitanie region; Prefect of Haute-Garonne;
• Carole Delga, President of the Occitanie–Pyrénées–Méditerranée region; former minister;
• Béatrice Gille, Superintendent of the Occitanie Academic Region; Superintendent of the Montpellier School District; Chancellor of the Universities;
• Thierry Ravot, Regional Director for Occitanie at the Caisse des Dépôts;
• Philippe Saurel, mayor of Montpellier and president of Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole;
• Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier;
• François Roux, lead architect at Imagine Architecture.