Maison Régionale de l'Environnement et des Solidarités

What Maison Régionale de l'Environnement et des Solidarités does

Maison Régionale de l'Environnement et des Solidarités (MRES) is a French nonprofit association (loi 1901) founded in 1978 in Lille, operating as a regional hub for approximately 120 member associations working in environmental protection, sustainable development, citizenship, and human rights across the Hauts-de-France region. Following a 2006 rename from its original name Maison de la Nature et de l'Environnement (MNE), MRES has been independently governed by association representatives since 1999 through a 20-member board meeting bi-monthly.

The organization delivers a platform of interconnected services rather than a single product. Core offerings include a Centre de documentation holding 19,000+ references on ecology, mobility, sustainable housing, climate-energy, and associative life; an Espace Conseil providing personalized guidance on associative life, social rights, consumer rights, and energy renovation (AMELIO/France Rénov'); a Pôle ressource d'aide à la vie associative including the Guid'Asso information point and a regional observatory; civic service hosting and training; the Défis écocitoyens program (Zero Waste, Positive Energy, Sustainable Food, Sustainable Mobility); coordinated Repair Café networks; volunteer training programs; and an annual Forum des outils pour la transition. Technology infrastructure is built on free/libre Framasoft collaboration tools and OVH/Nursit web hosting, with no proprietary software product.

MRES operates on a non-commercial revenue model combining membership fees from its 120 member associations, public grants and subsidies (consistent with its role as a France Rénov' operator and Guid'Asso information point), and donations collected through HelloAsso. With 11 employees and a single physical site at 5 rue Jules de Vicq in Lille, the organization functions as a coordination and capacity-building layer for small-to-medium environmental and social NGOs in the region rather than as a direct service provider to end consumers.

Name

Maison Régionale de l'Environnement et des Solidarités

Legal name

Maison Régionale de l'Environnement et des Solidarités

Website

https://mres-asso.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

MRES is a French regional nonprofit association network in Hauts-de-France coordinating 120 environmental, solidarity, and human rights associations through documentation, training, advice, repair, and citizen engagement programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Lille

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Membership fees: Member associations pay membership fees to be part of the MRES network and access services including logistical support, training, and resources.
2. Donations: MRES accepts donations through platforms like HelloAsso to support its environmental and solidarity initiatives.
3. Public funding and subsidies: As a nonprofit association, MRES likely receives public funding and subsidies for its educational, environmental, and citizen engagement activities.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

MRES is a regional nonprofit association founded in 1978 in Lille that provides shared services to a network of 120 environmental and solidarity member associations in Hauts-de-France. It operates a documentation center, an open advice space, training programs, a civic-service ("service civique") program, eco-citizen challenges, and Repair Cafés. It also manages equipment loans, an extranet, and regional environmental advocacy work on behalf of its members.

Product overview

MRES is a regional network of approximately 120 associations (evolving from around 100 member organizations) operating in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Originally founded in 1978 as Maison de la Nature et de l'Environnement (MNE), it rebranded to its current name in June 2006. The organization provides a platform of interconnected services including: a documentation center (Centre de documentation) with 19,000 resources on ecology and sustainable development; an advice space (Espace Conseil) offering counseling on associative life, social rights, and renovation advice (including AMELIO/France Rénov'); associative life resources (Ressources Vie Associative) with sub-services like Guid'Asso and the Regional Observatory; civic service programs (Service civique); eco-citizen challenges (Défis écocitoyens) covering zero waste, positive energy, sustainable food, and mobility; repair café initiatives; a Forum des outils pour la transition; and volunteer training. MRES functions as a coordination and support hub rather than a single software product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Member association services (documentation center, advice space, extranet, equipment loans) Subscription-based shared services for the 120 member associations: access to a regional documentation center, an open advice space, an association-extranet for document and resource sharing, and equipment loans for member-led events and activities.
• Training programs for associations and citizens Group training sessions delivered at the Lille site to member associations and to the general public on environmental, associative-management, and solidarity topics.
• Repair Cafés Community Repair Café events where citizens bring broken household objects and learn repair skills from volunteer fixers, reducing waste and promoting the circular economy.
• Eco-citizen challenges Citizen-participation program offering themed environmental challenges (eco-gestes) for individuals and groups to take concrete ecological action over defined periods.
• Civic-service ("service civique") program Hosting and coordination of French civic-service volunteers (service civique) carrying out environmental and solidarity missions with member associations and at the Lille site.

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Repair Café Hauts-de-FrancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRepair Café is a partner initiative supported by MRES. Repair Cafés are free meeting places where people bring broken items to be repaired together. MRES hosts Repair Café events and coordinates the network of Repair Cafés in Lille-Lomme-Hellemmes.
• FramasoftcoreTechnology or IntegrationMRES uses Framasoft tools including Framadate (scheduling), Framapad (collaborative documents), Framindmap (mind mapping), Framaboard (project management), Framaforms (surveys), and Framacarte (mapping). These free/libre tools support collaborative work among member associations.
• France Rénov'coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMRES operates AMELIO, an Advice Space for France Rénov', providing citizens with guidance on energy renovation for housing. This partnership helps homeowners access information and support for sustainable renovation projects.
• Guid'Asso (Point d'Information à la Vie Associative)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMRES hosts Guid'Asso, providing information and support services for associative life. This service helps associations with administrative procedures, legal information, and project development guidance.
• Les Défis Écocitoyens (Déclic)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMRES coordinates the eco-citizen challenges program including Zero Waste Families, Positive Energy Families, Sustainable Food, and Sustainable Mobility challenges. This partnership mobilizes citizens around concrete environmental actions.
• OVHminorOthersOVH provides web hosting services for the MRES website through Nursit. Server location: 2 rue Kellermann - 59100 Roubaix.
• City of LillecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe original creation of the House of Nature and Environment (MNE, predecessor to MRES) resulted from an electoral agreement between the city of Lille and a dozen NGOs in 1978, establishing a place where Lille's ecology-focused organizations could gather.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights10 records

Direct peers

• Repair Café International Foundation: Global movement that organizes community repair events. MRES is a strategic partner and local coordinator of the Lille-Lomme-Hellemmes Repair Café network, so the operational model (hosting repair events, training volunteers, building a regional repair ecosystem) is directly aligned.
• Zero Waste France: National NGO promoting zero-waste lifestyles and policies. Directly comparable because MRES runs the Familles Zéro Déchet (Zero Waste Families) eco-challenge — one of Zero Waste France's flagship methodologies — adopting the same behavior-change program at regional scale.
• Le Mouvement Associatif: National coordination body representing associative life in France. Highly comparable to MRES because MRES hosts Guid'Asso (a Mouvement Associatif-aligned service) and runs the Observatoire Régional de la Vie Associative — both core Mouvement Associatif functions at regional level.
• Comité 21: French network of organizations committed to sustainable development and corporate-environmental responsibility. Comparable to MRES as a national membership network that aggregates environmental and solidarity actors and produces shared resources, methodology, and representation.
• Union nationale des CPIE: National network of 80+ Centres Permanents d'Initiatives pour l'Environnement (permanent centers for environmental initiatives). Directly comparable to MRES in mission — environmental education, citizen engagement, and regional association support — with a parallel center-based delivery model.
• Réseau National des Ressourceries: National federation of ressourceries (reuse and repair centers). Comparable to MRES because both operate circular-economy programs that combine citizen engagement, reuse/repair services, and environmental education through a federated local-network model.
• France Nature Environnement (FNE): National federation of roughly 3,500 French environmental and nature-protection associations. Closely comparable to MRES because it operates the same federation-of-associations model, but at the national level, providing coordination, representation, and resource pooling for member NGOs.

Broad incumbents

• WWF France: Major international conservation NGO with a French national branch. Overlaps with MRES on environmental education, climate advocacy, and citizen mobilization, but is part of a global portfolio and does not specialize in regional association-network coordination.
• Greenpeace France: National branch of the global environmental campaigning organization. Overlaps with MRES on environmental mobilization, solidarity, and human-rights-aligned advocacy, but as a high-profile campaign-driven NGO rather than a regional association-network hub.
• LPO France (Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux): One of France's largest environmental NGOs with a national network of local chapters. Overlaps with MRES on biodiversity protection, citizen science, and association-based environmental advocacy, but operates at significantly larger scale and with a single-cause focus rather than a multi-them hub model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCG5Alf38JzUbiU2ohvcTCVw
• Facebookfacebook.com/mres.hdf
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/maison-r%C3%A9gionale-de-l-environnement-et-des-solidarit%C3%A9s
• Instagraminstagram.com/mres_asso

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Maison Régionale de l'Environnement et des Solidarités