Maisons Familiales Rurales (MFRs): Training Associations with an Original Approach to Sustainable Development in Rural Areas

This chapter presents the Maisons Familiales Rurales (MFR) case as a best practice of work-based learning for sustainable rural development. Although the MFR is a traditional organization founded in 1937, its approach to lifelong learning is unique even today. MFR schools are nonprofit associations that relying on the responsibility of students’ families. The learning approach is based on the integrated learning process, which involves taking part both in professional practice and in the classrooms, focusing on helping students fit with the socio-professional environment. In the 430 MFRs in France and more than 700 MFRs globally, sustainable development is integrated into all dimensions of students’ professional and social lives. Various training courses are based on sustainability principles, experiential learning methods, and the acknowledgment of local tacit professional knowledge. Students’ daily social routines further reinforce this, as they are accommodated at MFR student residences during classes. Furthermore, the social dimension of sustainability is emphasized by students’ participation in the governance of MFR associations with their families and other local stakeholders and work-based learning at local employers’ facilities. MFR trainers’ unique roles and practices are described, in their support of learners and their multiple communities, toward becoming empowered and focused on sustainability.