Who are the Breton networks in Monaco?
Renewable energies, collaborative platforms and connected objects represent three fields of innovation in which Breton networks are consolidating their influence on the Rock, with a Breton ecosystem in the background that extends throughout the Alpes Maritimes.
The Breizh Nice Club has brought together more than a hundred members since 2017, but more discreet networks also exist in Monaco. Princess Grace Kelly (1929-1982), it should be remembered, was of Irish origin. Every Saint Patrick’s Day, the Princess Grace Irish Library does things on a grand scale, like the prince’s palace, lit up in green.
Irish and Monegasque models of commitment and philanthropy benefit from a strong and deep historical heritage, like the ancestral links between the Grimaldis and the Matignon region in the Côtes d’Armor.
Bonds of solidarity still existing between the Celtic and Mediterranean worlds. The Breizh Nice Club was founded in the Alpes Maritimes to create this enthusiastic link between the Bretons of the Côte d’Azur and the lovers of Brittany. These two lands are geographically very far apart. There is no longer diagonal in France: more than 1400 kilometers between Nice and the tip of Brittany. Historically welcoming land for Russian resorts, the Baie des Anges could certainly play a role in passing on the baton to mix influences and ideas.
The iconography around Saint Michael is very marked in Russian heritage, like the Cathedral of the Archangel Saint Michael in Moscow (necropolis of the Grand Princes of Moscow and the first tsars). Incubator of ideas, the Kavadenn commission (which means “discoveries”) of the association of Breton executives has published a white paper to make Mont-Saint-Michel the largest connected object in the world to finance its restoration thanks to big data The data. This initiative seeks to rely on entrepreneurial and technological networks on the Riviera (FrenchTech, Sophia Antipolis technology park) but also on “partner” or twinned territories with the Nice metropolis (Netanya in Israel, etc.).
Following the example of the “Livre Blanc Monaco 2029” white paper and the Monaco Crowdfunding approach which supports innovative projects (urban agriculture with Terre de Monaco, development of new resources linked to the sea, etc.), Monaco and Brittany place many of hope on crowdfunding as a fruitful cradle of smart businesses and an incubator-springboard between Breton and Celtic networks around the world. Marine de Carné-Trécesson, French Ambassador to Monaco (of Breton origin) was keen to support virtuous steps in this direction. In addition, Nice with its twinnings has a beautiful Celtic economic and cultural web that radiates beyond the oceans (Edinburgh, Nouméa and its Breton association which celebrated its 120th anniversary in 2014…).
Breton networks in Monaco regularly dialogue with Bretons in London who seek to develop links between “Little” and Great Britain. The British presence on the Riviera coast is an asset for imagining common perspectives.
Like the Stelios Foundation of the Cypriot founder of Easyjet, there are many funding and partnership opportunities in London for Mediterranean foundations, associations and entrepreneurs. Crédit Mobilier de Monaco has provided rapid financing since 1907 (sovereign order of 1 May) to meet cash needs. Its social mission is part of the heritage of the Mont de Piété, born in the form of two assistance offices.
One lent money, the other seeds to help peasants whose harvest had not been abundant enough. In terms of urban agriculture: the founder of EasyJet, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, British entrepreneur and billionaire of Cypriot origin, has set up his own foundation Stelios Philanthropic Foundation with a section in favor of the environment in the Mediterranean.
On the funding and startups side: Monegasque crowdfunding intends to finance, through its platform, innovative and solidarity projects on the Côte d’Azur, based on the philosophy of the “Monaco 2029 White Paper” which suggests permanent innovation in the financial sector: “Based on the example of Silicon Valley, The Monegasque authorities must promote simple means of accessibility to the capital available for entrepreneurs in Monaco. However, as Monaco does not have a sufficient number of financial risk takers (business angels, financing, venture capital and development capital companies), it will be necessary to set up an ad hoc network”.
The Monaco Pavilion at the Universal Expo in Astana dedicated to the energies of the future shared a bold vision of the blue economy and its many potentialities.
Kevin Lognone
Photo credit: DR
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