“Destination Common Good”: meeting the actors of goodness
10/18/2022
With his father, he traveled 10,000 kms in a camper in search of people who, through their work or their personal lives, are committed to the good of their community. Valentin TREPPOZ, a student in the Grande École Program at IÉSEG, introduces us to his project: “Destination Bien Commun”.
Could you introduce yourself and explain what “Destination Bien Commun” is all about?
©Destination Bien Commun
During my studies, I did my internships in a start-up and in a large company and, before starting my career, I wanted to set up an individual project to find out exactly what best suited me and what I was really capable of doing. So I had the idea of setting up the “Destination Bien Commun” (Destination Common Good) project, which we worked on for a year with my father. The idea was to travel around France in a camper for three months to meet people involved in the common good, based on four themes: the environment, solidarity, business and culture, the four pillars of the common good, in our opinion. Many media show the public what is wrong, but we wanted to show what is good in our society, in order to convey a message of positivity. That’s why we decided to make videos of our meetings and broadcast them on a YouTube channel. Every week, we shared videos of our exchanges and debriefs of the week. For example, we met a person who regularly walks the streets helping the homeless in Paris, an association that works to get people with mental disabilities to work, people who are committed to protecting animals, a man who volunteered to visit prisons for 5 years… a whole bunch of meaningful initiatives for the common good.
Why did you build this project with your father?
At the beginning, I wanted to set up a similar project with a friend, but he ended up leaving for other projects. I had talked about this project a lot with my father and one day he asked me if I would be ready to go with him if we built a project together. My answer was naturally “yes”. We often talked about the subject of the common good with my parents and we realized that we wanted to share these discussions with even more people to have even more impact. We also thought it was important to show that it is possible to do projects as a family. With Covid in particular, I became aware of the importance of family. On the other hand, the intergenerational aspect seemed very interesting to us because we necessarily have different approaches and points of view on these subjects. We also found the intergenerational aspect in our meetings, because we interviewed both older people and 18-year-old youths.
It took you a year to set up this project, how did it work?
Walt Disney used to say “the difference between a dream and a project is a date”. Indeed, at the beginning, we had a bit of a dreaming side with an emulsion of many ideas. Then came the phase of deciding what exactly we wanted to do with this project: to do a tour of France, yes, but where exactly? What kind of route? Do we go from North to South, do we go back and forth, do we return home during the tour? Who do we want to meet and why? Etc… Then, we had to agree on the name and define the 4 pillars of our project: environment, solidarity, culture and enterprise. It took us about 5-6 months for this first part of the project construction. Then, we renovated the motorhome that we were going to use for our trip and that took us about 3 months. Finally, raising money through fundraising was an important part of the preparation. We did all this during the period I was an intern at France Télévision, so it was quite intense. I came home every weekend to work on the project with my father.
©Destination Bien Commun
According to you, is there a link between your studies and this project?
In a way, this project completes my studies. I see this project as a culmination because after having learned a lot of things on the benches of the school and during my internships, I finally created my own project myself. I was able to see what I was capable of and to discover what corresponded to me. It also allowed me to improve on different points for my future professional career (for example, video editing, network development, various technical aspects). It also brings me inspiration for the future. Indeed, I wish to undertake other projects, and the meetings I made will certainly allow me to find innovative ideas. In particular, I discovered the ESAT (establishment and service of help through work), which I did not know and with which I now know that I wish to work in the future.
What are your plans for the future?
First of all, I will go to New Zealand for several months in order to validate an experience abroad as part of my studies at IÉSEG. When I get back, I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do, but I’ll certainly continue to give talks at IÉSEG with my father and in elementary school in order to talk about “Destination Bien Commun” and raise public awareness. We will also continue to feed our Youtube channel with future interviews. On the other hand, if we meet someone who particularly enjoys our project and wishes to continue it, we will gladly pass the torch.
What do you retain from this quite extraordinary experience?
First of all, I remember that when you want to do something good, something positive, you are not necessarily aware of everything that can be done. It is therefore very important to go and meet people, to be interested, to remain curious… And, when we have the opportunity, to put forward what is being done well, because it can inspire many. I also remember the beauty of our country which is full of people motivated to do good things. Of course, everything is not perfect but it is important to see the positive things and to keep hope. I think that deep down, we all want to undertake projects in one way or another. When we have the opportunity to start a project, we must not forget to think about ourselves but also about the others, and to think about the best way to carry out the project so that it is beneficial for all. Finally, since this experience, I always try to remember how lucky I am every day.