Since its opening in 1992, it has given youngsters a playful way of discovering wild and tamed nature, agricultural practices (cultivation, breeding...) and urban ecology, as part of a drive to raise awareness of environmental issues. More than a million children have enjoyed the site since it opened!
Its history is linked to the Domaine du Mas de Grille, a former agricultural property on the outskirts of Saint-Jean-de-Védas. In 1987, the local authority built an educational farm there. The project expanded in 1990, when a leisure center was created alongside it. Montpellier District then imagined a center unique in France, combining the educational farm, the leisure center and a resource area around the environment and nature.
.A multi-purpose space
Located on a 4.5-hectare site, the Ecolothèque boasts numerous facilities:
- an agricultural estate (orchard, greenhouses, gardens, farm animals...),
- an educational pond,
- a yurt,
- beehives and an insect garden,
- an interpretation trail,
- rooms with scientific equipment (astronomy, meteorology, geology, biology.......),
- a media library dedicated to nature and the environment...
The animation and extension team (over 20 people) offer a variety of activities: caring for farm animals (chickens, horses, donkeys, pigs, goats, sheep...), tending the vegetable garden and gardens, identifying insects, discovering the challenges of climate change. And even cooking with farm produce!
Online tools
To develop its awareness-raising mission, the Ecolothèque has set up a Pédagothèque, a digital catalog of free educational tools:
Target groups
- Children aged 4 to 12 taking part in leisure activities, on Wednesdays and during school holidays
- Schoolchildren, as part of scientific awakening
- Groups from medical-social centers and crèches
- Metropole childcare professionals for training.