CENTRE FOR ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGY (C.A.T.)

Located on a former mine, the Alternative Technology Centre attracts convinced eco-lovers and curious people by the thousands every year. Originally, the C.A.T. was a community of idealists who decided to live in self-sufficiency. To do this, they had to produce their own electricity, recycle their waste, not use fertilizers, etc. The goal: to minimize its environmental impact. The experience almost immediately attracted the curiosity of ecologists from all over the world. More than 30 years after the foundation of this community, some of the idealists of the time still live at the C.A.T.

From now on, the Centre's vocation is to explain the basics of sustainable development by exposing the different ways of using renewable resources: the sun, wind, water; the funicular that runs on water provides an excellent illustration. The C.A.T. also tries to go further in its approach to promoting renewable energies: it offers, for example, courses explaining how to build a straw-based house or how to build panels using old radiators to heat water and your home... During these courses, you can be housed in the "eco-cabins" on site. You can also taste the specialities of the vegetarian tea room or buy organic products. It is really an exciting and worthwhile visit, to better understand the climate emergency and the challenges of global warming.