The Science & You Colloquium is set to be held in November at the Robert Schuman Conference Centre in Metz. What are the challenges involved in a partnership between the Départemental Council and the University of Lorraine around Science & You?
The Département of Moselle has long been a committed partner of the University of Lorraine, to which it lends assistance across its territory. Being involved in the momentum created by the Science & You Colloquium is very much in line with our Council’s longstanding stated wish to support research and its developments at the service of as many people as possible.
Scientific culture and the theme of Artificial lntelligence, which has been chosen for this 2021 edition, are the indisputable corollaries of a shift in our daily lives, in which every one of our fellow citizens may be faced with the evolution of and changes in their environment. Scientific resources are on the increase and everybody needs to appropriate them as best they can.
I firmly believe that the exchanges between the Colloquium’s speakers, who come from very different but complementary backgrounds, will enable expertise and practice to confront one another with the common aim of transmission.
What role does your Council play with regard to its territory’s cultural and scientific actors?
The Département of Moselle is active in its support to local cultural structures. Alongside the State and other authorities, we implement a funding policy covering the voluntary sector and municipalities promoting local artistic projects (amateur practice, festivals, etc.).
Also, by overseeing the départemental public reading network, libraries and multimedia libraries, we facilitate access to scientific knowledge via all the means made available to users, in particular the youngest among them, such as the Fab Labs for example.
In the current health crisis, citizens’ trust in scientists sometimes seems to be called into question. What initiatives do you support in the fields of education in science and critical thinking?
The Département of Moselle is committed to a proactive policy providing educational support to primary and lower secondary schoolchildren in line with the National Education system’s goals.
The Département’s actions focus on pupils and their needs, schools seen as living spaces serving their pupils’ physical and intellectual wellbeing. Assistance with development of citizenship by visits to our Institution and other sites, support to the training of Civil Security cadets, and the Moselle Déracinée (Moselle Uprooted) project, which plays a key role in the preservation of collective memory, are all actions springing from our determination to accompany the youngest among Moselle’s citizens on their road to becoming actors in society.
In the context of this policy of openness, we have developed partnerships with the academic world in order to promote sectors of excellence, in particular through provision of vocational guidance information in line with the entrepreneurial spirit and the training programmes available across our territory.
Technological and environmental evolution is highlighted through such innovative scientific projects as the MATh en JEANS workshops and the “Technobot” robotics competition.
Actions focusing on sustainable development, in line with our “Moselle Durable” policy, help promote deployment of biodiversity facilities, thanks to the activities of the Bird Protection League (LPO) and “Défi Vélo”.
Similarly, the Département organises the MoseI’Lire competition every year, which encourages reading, development of the imagination and critical analysis of one’s environment.