An Evening at the Château d’Argenteuil
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Hosted by the École Européenne de Bruxelles–Argenteuil to launch the Fleur Rossdale Foundation and the Direct Climate Cooling Initiative through the DCCI School Awards on Wednesday, 20 May 2026.
Guests will be welcomed on the Italianate loggia of the Château d’Argenteuil by the Merode family and members of the Fleur Rossdale Foundation, overlooking École Européenne de Bruxelles–Argenteuil's beautiful grounds. From there, they will move into the dining room, where tables of six bring together voices from across sectors, including insurance, law, ecology, education, finance, and the arts, encouraging dialogue between disciplines whose decisions are deeply interconnected. Other guests will be seated at trestle tables. A simple system of coloured markers will help guests identify one another’s perspectives, allowing individuals to seek each other out more freely without the need for introduction.
Before dinner is served, Fleur Rossdale will introduce her vision behind the Foundation and the Direct Climate Cooling Initiative, which she conceived during the writing of her second book in the Woodland Sprite Series, The Journey, establishing the framework for the DCCI School Awards. Through on-screen excerpts of her adaptation of the first book in the series as a play, Taken by Storm, and readings from her third book in the series, The Farm, guests will begin to understand how storytelling can evolve into understanding, and understanding into action, while also opening pathways towards real-world engagement with initiatives such as Justdiggit, GoForest and Communities EverGreening Africa.
The evolving DCCI Educational Programme will also be introduced, bringing together storytelling, science, and expert contributions through school participation, providing a glimpse into future international collaborations, uniting nations through the love of nature. Alongside this, the Foundation is developing partnerships with environments such as La Rivelaine, where schools will gather ahead of future awards to deepen both learning and connection. With growing engagement from Kenya, the initiative is already expanding towards a broader international platform for 2027.
A three-course dinner will be accompanied by a sequence of short reflections. Fleur will open the evening, followed by contributions from Adélaïde Charlier on youth leadership and Dennis Karpes on landscape restoration and movement-building, together illustrating how imagination can translate into measurable environmental impact.
The evening will conclude with a curated auction in support of the Fleur Rossdale Foundation and Communities EverGreening Africa, with online participation available for those unable to attend. Over coffee, guests will be invited to share reflections from their tables, connections formed, ideas sparked, and potential collaborations, internships, or partnerships beginning to take shape.
The evening closes with a forward-looking perspective: how shared understanding across sectors can begin to influence both local action and wider systems, shaping not only how we respond to environmental challenges, but how we imagine and create the future together.
Launch of the Fleur Rossdale Foundation & DCCI School Awards
Wednesday, 20 May 2026
L’École Européenne de Bruxelles – Argenteuil
Sq. d’Argenteuil 5, 1410 Waterloo, Belgium
Discover the speakers and program for the DCCI School Awards event on 20 May at the École Européenne de Bruxelles–Argenteuil.
Tickets for the event are now available on our website.