Reportage — Summer seriesReading time: 7 minutesTaking part in a collective project when you have no DIY skills, is it really possible?Our journalist tried the experiment, and was pleasantly surprised.[SERIES 2/4]You are reading the second part of our series “The road to autonomy”.The first is here, the third here and the last there.I have been wondering for a few months what I would do if our model of civilization collapsed tomorrow.If, suddenly, there were no more stores to buy my vegetables and my toilet paper.If there was no more electricity at the end of the switch, nor water at the tap.What would I become?I barely know how to fix my bike on my own, so how could I eat, drink, shelter, if everything I know disappeared?It's a diffuse concern, a fear that sometimes makes my stomach ache — particularly at a time when pandemics and wars are disrupting our production and supply methods.So when, at Reporterre, we decided to publish a summer series on autonomy, I told myself that this might be the opportunity I was waiting for.What if I finally learned to be more independent, by signing up for a participatory workcamp?No sooner said than done: here I am browsing the web looking for ads.I discovered that there are workcamps everywhere in France, that they are free, and that accommodation is often made available to volunteers.This summer, a "call for the recovery of knowledge" was even launched by activists, researchers and teachers (among others) to organize as many collective projects as possible and regain "political and material autonomy".Exactly what I'm looking for.I go through the proposals: need help to build a recycling bakery in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, dig a frog pond in Dijon, renovate a shed in Le Havre... My attention is drawn to this last announcement.There is still room, the dates suit me.Bank.I send an email to the organizers, insisting: I have no experience.I am told that it is not necessary and that I am welcome.I'm not very reassured, but let's go.A week later, I arrive at Le Havre station for three days of work.Frédéric, architect and leader of the participatory construction site, welcomes me and takes me to the docks district to discover the famous Hangar Zéro [1] .There, the large red-brick warehouse faces the canal.A few gulls fly over it.Frédéric explains to me that in 2016, residents came together to found the LH -Ø association (which became a cooperative in 2019) and take over this former storage shed.The goal: to transform it into a place open to all, “a citizen laboratory of ecological disruption”."Eventually, there will be a resource centre, shared workshops to help people repair their everyday objects", develops Frédéric.As well as a vegetable garden, a documentation room, a restaurant, a shop and offices."We want people from the neighborhood to take ownership of the place, we don't want to do something above ground," says Brice, engineer involved in the project.I enter the old coffee dock.Scaffolding, stepladders, trestles, tools… Every corner, every floor of the hangar is occupied.“For three years, we have built almost everything on a participatory site, favoring reused materials,” Frédéric informs me.Every week, dozens of volunteers, from Le Havre and elsewhere, come to lend a hand to gradually transform the place.And thus, collectively design the future living space.It's my turn: I put on gloves and safety shoes.For my first day, I find myself at the coated workshop.The recipe for the basic mixture is simple: earth (recovered from a construction site a few kilometers away), sawdust (partly taken from the shed, partly obtained from a timber merchant) and rainwater.So here I am digging, collecting the earth, sifting it, and taming the mixer.I'm not very comfortable with the machine, I'm afraid of doing something wrong.But after a few tries, I relax.It's true that it's not that complicated.“That's also the purpose of participatory projects,” Frédéric tells me.Show simple things that can be done everywhere, with materials that can be found everywhere.When we realize that, we realize that there is no need to build otherwise.»It's time to apply the mixture on part of the walls, on the first floor of the shed.With me: Jeanne, an architect who came from Rouen for the day, and Irène, who has just finished training in earth coatings in Albi.Suffice to say that I do not have the same level.Patient, Irène shows us how to use the tools, how to position yourself, the gestures to avoid."Lay out the material well", she repeats to us.My apprehension dissipates, and I apply the plaster more and more easily.Admittedly, it's not perfect, but I note with satisfaction that I am improving.My gestures are less abrupt, my body is getting used to it.During my stay, the pattern repeats itself: I tell myself that I'm not going to make it, that I'm useless, then the other participants show me how to do it, without taking me for an idiot, and I succeed.Better: once I understand, I can teach (with pride, let's be honest) to newcomers.Skills are passed on.In the space of three days, I learned how to coat walls and insulate walls [2] .At Hangar Zéro, what remains to be done seems immense: there is still so much work to be done.But by talking with other participants, we come to think that it is not the most important last brushstroke.This is what we live now.The techniques we learn, the bonds we forge with people.So even though I still don't know how I would manage if our society collapsed tomorrow, I already feel less anxious.I understood that I am no dumber than anyone else, and that I am capable of creating, of building.So, against all odds, it is quite possible that you will see me again soon on a construction site.Feeding ourselves, building a house, getting dressed… so many vital needs that we generally no longer know how to satisfy on our own.We no longer know how to garden, build a frame, sew, knit, etc.We buy, we consume, we get things done.But good news: we can fix it!It is possible to rediscover a form of autonomy, of emancipation.And Reporterre told it to you from August 8 to 12, in this third summer series.On the program: crafts between women, a participatory construction site, wild picking and the praise of slowness.📨 Subscribe to newsletters for freeSubscribe in less than a minute to receive a selection of articles published by Reporterre free of charge by e-mail, either daily or weekly.“No DIY”?These women who unscrew prejudices[1] For Hangar “zero waste, zero carbon energy and zero exclusion”.[2] With polystyrene and reused false ceiling tiles, covered with hessian canvas coated with earth.Survey — Summer SeriesDesertion, what if we dared?Interview — Summer seriesRaoul Vaneigem: “Against capitalism, a market gardening revolution”To support their desertion, the ecological transition incomeSurvey — Summer SeriesThe path to autonomyReportage — Summer seriesDesertion, a path strewn with pitfallsLola Keraron: “At 24, I left AgroParisTech”To be free, let's be slowReportage — Summer seriesUnknown and edible: discovering weedsCarbon capture is used to extract… oilIn 2021-2022, eight people died under the bullets of a hunterIn Reunion, the ruinous coastal road opens… in partA “monster of fire” devours CaliforniaLow-cost public transport: Germany will make the measure permanentFaced with the heat wave, California partially bans the charging of electric cars'Abnormally hot' days on the rise, study findsDroughts, fires... Forests could absorb less carbonReading time: 7 minutesReporterre is an independent media dedicated to ecology in all its forms.The newspaper is managed by a non-profit association of general interest, and therefore has no shareholders.It employs a team of professional journalists, and numerous contributors.The journal is open access, ad-free, and 97% funded by donations from its readers.Learn moreReporterre c/o La Ruche 24 rue de l'Est 75020 ParisA question ?Consult the FAQs