Regions best for progressive, artistic, environmentally aware people?

Hi Finn 9 !

Vast question ... 40 / 30 years before to-day  I would have an answer very quickly !
Because environmentalists were located in just a few areas ( Larzac / Elsass / south-alps , some Bretons, and some people in south-west). That was all... after "generation post - 68".

But now after 3 / 4 decades of "environmental propaganda" ... and rise up of environmental conscience... you can find people of such spirit everywhere around the country and now they are numerous.

The main problem now, will probably be to select an area which can provide the "level of quality" you are expecting, in regard of what you intend to do yourself. Because this "cause" is to-day, really diversified , classified in a lot of objectives , communities, and "churches" ! A true "market" indeed ...

As I had for years interest on this matter I can tell you, the map ( of environmental activities and settlements ) changed a lot , really a lot. i made several times (last 40 years) a "tour" all around in France to see what those people were doing and it moved  quite a lot.

to sumerise it you'll find all over france now places to settle ; with close to it ( in a circle of 50 / 100 Km) lot of people engaged on some specific topic talking about living in sustainable ways of acting and living..
yu 'll see them at market place in some region with specific products for example. Or craftman. Or, even in town as in stuttgart ( germany - a village close to french boarder, wellknowned for experiences in solar , and sustainable devt - co-ownership ; zero energy houses building etc...)

I think the process will be to decide first which region ... then which local market ( to find a place to live, prices of properties, lands,, what activities you intend to develop there etc...) then to choose the property and do it !

But of course this gonna need a lot of contacts and purchase your target (after definitive plans) to get good info and advices , from people already living in this environment - just try by the networking.

Good luck to all of you.

I agree very much with what Foster said. I'd been meaning to respond to your post, but the problem is, really, you can find what you're looking for in just about every region of France. All of the greater metropoles have excellent access to the arts. It's something the French take seriously. And as Foster said, environmental movements have definitely taken off in the past 30-40 years here. The French have taken a lot more definitive actions against GMOs, for example, than we have in the US.

I think the better question is, exactly what kind of environmental group interests you? What are the arts that most fascinate you? You need to get more specific, so that you can more more pinpointed searches. For example, if you're looking for groups concerning animal rights (something I know about, as a long time vegetarian), well, vegetarian restaurants are slowly opening up in France, but for a wide variety, the only place is really Paris. In Toulouse for example, there are perhaps two all-vegetarian restaurants, and a few restaurants that cater specifically to vegetarians and meat eaters. The AVF (Association Végétarienne de France) has branches open all over France, but their participation really depends on the group that's active. And a lot of groups where I live do a lot of anti-bullfighting picketing, but that's also because well ... bullfighting still happens a lot in southwestern France.

If you're into one of the sustainable building movements like earthships or cob housing, they definitely have pockets of people practicing both, but it also depends a lot on local governments and building rules of the area in which you live.

Those are two very random examples, but they're something I've looked into, so that's why I'm speaking specifically about them. Hope in some way that helps.

Thank you so much for your considered reply Foster-Ehlé. It does make sense - I guess I was hoping there was a region best known for welcoming and environmentally and socially caring people, but the world doesn't work so neatly does it?
Thanks again, I will continue to research.