Cécile Renouard’s approach to education emerges from a simple but radical intuition: we will not build a livable future unless people learn to inhabit the world differently. Education, in her view, is not merely the transmission of knowledge or competencies; it is the cultivation of capacities that allow human beings to perceive, feel, and act in ways aligned with planetary limits, social justice, and our profound interdependence.
Her pedagogy is therefore rooted in transformation, not instruction — an education that awakens the head, softens the heart, and grounds the body.
1. Education as a Gateway to Cultural Transformation
From the outset of your dialogue, Cécile stresses that the third attractor — a regenerative, life-centered future — can only emerge if people redefine what success means, shifting from individual achievement to the quality of the relationships we maintain with ourselves, with others, with nature, and with what is greater than ourselves. This is the core of her philosophy.
The Great Transition Guide explicitly frames education as a vehicle for reimagining how humans live within planetary boundaries:
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It aims “to build a community of change-makers, both at individual and collective levels”.
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It insists on “a relational understanding, that considers every person as an individual and in relation to others, immersed in natural and cultural living environments”.
For Cécile, education is therefore inseparable from cultural evolution. It must challenge the dominant narratives of modernity, consumerism, and hyper-individualism, and replace them with ways of being that foster care, solidarity, and ecological wisdom.
2. The “Head–Heart–Body” Pedagogy
One of Cécile’s most important contributions is her insistence that education must engage the whole human being. At Campus de la Transition, she teaches through what she calls a head–heart–body pedagogy.
This approach is mirrored throughout the Great Transition Guide, which states that transformative education “involves all aspects of ourselves; not just the mind, but the body and heart”.
The Head
Students must learn to understand the systemic, ecological, political, and economic dimensions of the global crisis. The Guide’s six “gates” structure this intellectual work:
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Oikos — systems thinking and an understanding of Earth systems
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Ethos — ethics, justice, responsibility
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Nomos — governing rules, norms, and metrics
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Logos — narratives, critical thinking, future vision
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Praxis — collective action
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Dunamis — inner transformation and connection
The Heart
Understanding is not enough. Students must be moved — emotionally touched — by the fragility of our ecosystems, the suffering of others, and the possibilities of a different future. Cécile describes this as helping people notice and work with their emotions, not to suppress them. Without emotional engagement, she argues, change remains theoretical.
The Guide affirms this inner dimension: “The Transition demands that we re-examine our relationships with the world, with others, and with nature”.
The Body
Cécile insists that education must be rooted in experience — touching the soil, working with the land, learning from ecosystems, and recognising one’s embodied presence in a territory. This is a corrective to abstract academic learning that lives “in the head”. By reconnecting students with place and matter, she cultivates groundedness and responsibility.
The Guide emphasises the necessity of this embodied approach, calling for “awareness of our connection to nature and other living beings”.
3. Learning Through Experience and Territory
At Campus de la Transition, education is not classroom-bound. Students and volunteers farm, cook, reflect, meditate, and share communal life. This is intentional: the transition must be lived, not merely conceptualised.
Cécile says, “We have to help young people… deal with the soil, with nature, the fact that we are rooted in specific territories.”
In the handbook, this appears in the emphasis on:
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territory-based learning,
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collective practices,
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hands-on engagement,
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and institutional experimentation.
Praxis is not an afterthought; it is the fifth Gate.
4. Education as Inner and Outer Transition
Cécile views transition as both structural and interior. Changing systems requires changing people — their desires, habits, and ways of seeing the world.
The Guide’s Dunamis Gate makes this explicit: inner transformation enables new collective narratives and ethical choices to emerge.
Education must therefore help people:
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confront eco-anxiety, grief, and disorientation;
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cultivate resilience and agency;
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slow down and reconnect;
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develop spiritual and ethical depth.
This is why Cécile brings spirituality — not in a dogmatic sense, but as interiority — into the framework. Connection to something greater enlarges one’s field of care.
5. Pluralism, Dialogue, and Collective Responsibility
For Cécile, education is not about imposing a worldview. It is about creating plural, interdisciplinary, participatory spaces where people can think and act together.
The Guide similarly emphasises:
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interdisciplinarity and “connecting bodies of knowledge”
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democratic engagement and governance of commons
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collective responsibility and empowerment, including for the most vulnerable
Her education model therefore fosters citizenship, not merely competence; agency, not merely awareness.
6. From Knowledge to Action: Educating Change-Makers
Finally, Cécile’s vision is deeply practical. Campus de la Transition is a living laboratory where students explore how to:
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reduce carbon footprints,
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rethink economic models,
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redesign institutions,
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practice sustainable agriculture,
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live in community.
The Guide reflects this orientation: it “draws on both knowledge and competencies… exploring different stages of the transition process”.
Education is preparation for real-world transformation.
Conclusion: Education as the Seedbed of the Third Attractor
Cécile Renouard’s approach to education embodies the very spirit of the Third Attractor: relational, ecological, just, and spiritually grounded. It is an education that:
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expands consciousness,
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transforms values,
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reconnects people with place and community,
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cultivates responsibility and care,
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and equips learners to build regenerative futures.
Her work shows that structural change will not come from policy alone. It must be nurtured in hearts, bodies, and minds — through learning environments that model the culture we hope to create.
In this sense, the third attractor is already being prototyped at Campus de la Transition. It exists wherever education becomes a path of transformation, not only for individuals but for society as a whole.
