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Rethinking our connection to nature at the festival Agir pour le Vivant

The Agir pour le Vivant Festival is an opportunity for collective, interdisciplinary discussion on and around our relationship with Nature. It calls into question our models and practices in view to bringing about a new way of living on our Earth, one that is more respectful and inclusive.

Issues

The extinction of species is a natural phenomenon, but rates of extinction today are accelerating exponentially. There are many causes for this, many of which are linked to human activities: intensive agriculture and fishing, massive deforestation, the development of transport, increasing urbanisation and concrete cover, over-exploitation of natural, mining and oil resources, over-consumption, and so on. By treating Nature and the living world as a resource to be exploited, contemporary society seems to have forgotten that the human species is an integral part of the living world, and that if animals were to disappear, we too would perish. North and South, everywhere, men, women and young people are helping to create a community of the living that have a shared desire: to show that other paths are possible.

Actions

Since 2020, the Agir pour le Vivant festival has brought together nearly 200 figures from a wide range of backgrounds for a week in Arles, Provence, including artists, researchers, scientists, academics, activists, thinkers, entrepreneurs, politicians, etc. The aim is to spark dialogue among various disciplines and with the general public to sketch out the contours of a society based on living organisms that is more respectful of and inclusive.

Initiated by the Actes Sud publishing house and the Comuna agency, in collaboration with the Association du Méjan and the Domaine du Possible university, the Agir pour le Vivant project has three main aspects:

  • ‘Penser le vivant’ (Conceiving the living world) hosts a series of conferences, debates and round tables to encourage encounters and multiply points of view.
  • The ‘Fabrique de l’action pour le vivant’ (Action workshop for the living world), which includes company workshops and work and experimentation sessions held throughout the year among local players, to develop new methodologies for action.
  • ‘Célébrer le vivant’ (Celebrating the living world), holds walks, performances, concerts, films and evening events to raise awareness among as many people as possible and forge a new collective imaginary.

Our support

  • Financial sponsorship
  • Outreach and raising awareness of glacier melting with our photo exhibition “Extreme sport to raise awareness of glacier melt” on the Riding to Explore adventure and the Ice & Life project
  • Invitation and networking of associations supported by Mirova Foundation at the Festival