Campus Versailles, heritage and craftsmanship of excellence

Campus Versailles strives to initiate, integrate, lead and promote talents focusing on 5 fields of excellence: built heritage, art and design trades, landscape and horticulture, gastronomy, cultural tourism. In these sectors, the Campus addresses the challenges of acquiring knowledge and know-how and the strong need for manpower through training, guiding, and showcasing. At the heart of a vast network of professionals, teachers, companies, institutions and schools, the Campus develops a world-class collaborative ecosystem of excellence.
A joint initiative between the Palace of Versailles, the Rectorate of the Academy of Versailles, the Cergy Paris University and the Ile-de-France Region, the Campus is supported by the Bettencourt-Schueller Foundation.

Training

The Campus offers its learners - young people, professionals or trainers - the opportunity to come and learn about the heritage and craft trades. It develops its own training programmes in line with market needs, backed up by partner establishments, with a unique pedagogy based on:

• Building self-confidence as well as a spirit of enterprise
• Connecting training courses with the needs of professionals
• Putting practice at the heart of the learning
• Adapting to contemporary ecological and digital issues

Pedagogy is served by a 360° team including a coordinator for each programme, a coach, a community of trainers and a mentor for each student. It also offers an enriching Campus life offering accommodation, self-service workshops, events and outings. By 2025-2026, the Campus aims to support over 6,000 learners per year.

Guiding

Orientation is one of the main vectors for academic success. The Campus Versailles offers tailored guidance to develop one’s own professional project with the help of a dedicated coach through different tools:

• An individual mentoring programme for all Campus students
• Vocational Wednesdays: 6 months per year, a weekly meet-up with coaches and professionals open to all
• Promotion of the various training and guiding methods: apprenticeship, production school, continuing education, vocational training, lifelong learning, etc.

Showcasing

An open third place, the Campus deploys a yearly events programming aiming to give a view at trades, know-how, materials, techniques, companies, men & women as well as the pathways. Exhibitions, forums, conferences, festivals are organised on a weekly basis and promote a new vision of the heritage and craft trades.
An iconic location opposite the Palace
The Campus is located in the Great Stables of the Palace of Versailles, an heritage-listed monument built by architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart between 1679 and 1682. This prestigious location is a reminder that the Palace of Versailles was once the greatest and longest construction site in Europe, but also the one which created the most techniques and know-how, developing the signature “made in France”. The Palace remains an amazing melting pot of craftsmen and know-how, allowing students from the Campus to follow them closely.
A growing place to live, learn and share
Since its opening in 2021, the Campus takes place in the front pavilion of the Parisian aisle, covering an area of 900m². The place currently hosts trainings, coworking sessions, exhibitions, orientation meetings, festive gatherings and creations through a fablab.
Ongoing renovation works will allow the Campus to expand to the 6000m² of both wings by 2025-2026. Ultimately, it will include an incubator, shared workshops, residences, a research-action laboratory, a training restaurant and a material library as well as multi-purpose rooms to learn, exercise, create, entertain.