HARET Project Study Visit – Fougères, Brittany
Updated: Jun 28
19–22 January 2026
Partners of the HARET project meet in Fougères, Brittany, hosted by one of the project partners, SPL Destination Fougères, for a four-day study visit dedicated to hospitality, territorial development and European cooperation. The meeting brought together organisations from across Europe for a mix of working sessions, local visits and collective learning experiences.
The programme began with an introduction session to get to know each other and establish the framework for the project: presentation of the partners, the HARET project, its objectives, its organisation and its governance.
The participants then worked in two groups:
the Steering Committee, focused on project management, the schedule, deliverables and coordination;
the Scientific and Operational Committee, dedicated to conceptual and methodological issues and skills related to hospitality.
Throughout the following days, the partners explored the Fougères region through visits to local initiatives, meetings with regional stakeholders and cultural discoveries. These visits offered valuable insight into the realities of rural territories in Brittany, particularly the challenges linked to housing, attractiveness, tourism and social cohesion.
We'd like to briefly highlight some of the places we had the opportunity to visit:
Ô Grain d’Selle was created four years ago (2021) in La Selle en Luitré, a rural commune with around 600 inhabitants. It is run by a local association, born out of the desire of residents and elected officials to recreate social ties, revitalise local life and offer a shared space, neither domestic or professional, open to all.
Fruit des Prés Farm is a family-run farm located in Mellé, covering an area of approximately 100 hectares, which is modest by French standards (the regional average being around 50 hectares per farm). It is located in a region with a long history of dairy production, Brittany being one of Europe's main dairy-producing areas.
Louvigné du Désert Small Town of Tomorrow is located on the borders of Brittany, Normandy and the Pays de la Loire. It has a rural identity marked by a strong landscape and built heritage based on granite and stands out for its particularly dense and dynamic network of associations, with more than 50 associations active in the fields of sport, culture, music, social life and events.
La Rivée – Eco-friendly holiday cottage in Saint Georges de Chesnay . The local council began considering the future of a communal building that had stood vacant for nearly ten years and made the political decision not to sell the property, but to transform it into a community centre that would breathe new life into the town centre and strengthen social ties.
The highlight of the week was a symposium held at La Coursive. This morning event brought together European partners, local stakeholders and experts for two round tables:
Hospitality and local governance;
Hospitality, development and preservation of territories.
The Scientific and Operational Committee and the Steering Committee continued their work through the evaluation of the study visit, the sharing of lessons learned and the preparation of the next stages of the project. Partners also emphasised the importance of local territories as spaces for experimentation, cooperation and citizen participation.
The study visit concluded with evaluation sessions and discussions on the next stages of the HARET project, before ending with a convivial evening in Saint-Malo that reinforced the strong connections built throughout the week.
