700,000 heures Impact journey
Our story
700,000 heures Impact is the result of the encounter between Thierry Teyssier and Diane Binder, and their shared vision to use micro-hospitality as a catalyzer for the regeneration of local communities and their surrounding biodiversity and natural ecosystems.
Thierry Teyssier founded 700,000 Heures in 2018, as an ephemeral itinerant travel experience. For 5 years, 700,000 Heures would settle for a few months in a remote part of the world and offered its members the opportunity to discover the destination through authentic and unforgettable moments of life, woven into the fabric of local communities. This approach to traveling is anchored in Thierry unique vision, as embodied by his trailblazing realization in Morocco: Dar Ahlam and the Memory Road.
Diane Binder is the founder of Regenopolis, a pan-African initiative that supports local solutions at the intersection of climate action, preservation of biodiversity, urban and community resilience. Diane has articulated her vision and actions around the idea that self-regeneration, regeneration of communities and regeneration of the planet were all intertwined. As a system thinker and practitioner, she has dedicated the past 20 years to launch or develop initiatives bringing together local communities, governments and international institutions to achieve social and economic development.
Our approach
We are a value-driven organization. Humanism, well-being, empathy, consciousness, authenticity, solidarity, justice, are embodied in our principles and actions.
Our projects are co-created with local communities and have a net positive impact on local development and nature.
Our funding model
Regenerative Hospitality offers the possibility of a philantropic-public-private financing model capable of generating a return on investment as well as a social and environmental impact, in line with current regulation trends and citizens’ expectations towards businesses. Sources of funding include:
- Revenues generated by 700,000 heures Impact in hospitality
- Private philantropy
- Public aid
- Funding from local governments
- Donations from clients
The birth of DAEM
Since the beginning of the 700,000 Heures in Salento, Italy, we have been supporting local communities around our projects, and therefore created Daem (which means “permanent” in Persian) at the end of 2019.
The association supported the upskilling of local staff and a few educational and environmental projects.
The collaboration with Regenopolis and the launch of Regenerative Hospitality in 2022 led the not- for-profit to take a new turn and dimension to support the development of regeneration projects.
The association is the main recipient of funding for the design and implementation of regenerative projects, and more specifically for:
- Contributing to economic development
- Empowering local communities, especially women
- Protecting endangered cultural assets
- Restoring fragile natural ecosystems
Early 2024, Daem will join Regenopolis Foundation to pursue the activities related to regeneration.
