Plus two degrees in 2030, what do we do? This is the question posed by the University of Grenoble Alpes for the CCE, the Student citizen convention. Organized for the first time at the end of March, it brought around the table 40 student volunteers, to reflect on the issue and make proposals for a more resilient campus.
“I wanted to live an experience like that…
At the heart of the commitment within the Convention, the desire to reconnect with democratic process. Guillaume is in his thesis at UGA, and he didn’t hesitate much before registering: “The process of trying to bring more democracy within the UGA, that spoke to me.†Same thing for Adrien who is in masters: “I heard about other citizens’ conventions, On a national scale or in the Grenoble metropolis, I wanted to live an experience like that, and also to meet other people who are committed or who are curious about making a change. I hope this can be an opportunity to have a broader impact†.
Ambitious measures
Coming from 14 different courses, the students first thought collectively about the theme “No more two degrees in 2030, what do we do?†. They discussed together, then with scientists and various players on campus such as the CROUS, before formulating proposals. Three themes have been defined:‘Food, Governance and Biodiversitytous interdépendants.Â
11 measures were proposed to improve campus resilience in the face of climate change. Adèle notably met with the management of the CROUS in Grenoble, to refine the thinking and find out what it was possible to do: “We want to do two days 100% vegetarian on campus, Tuesday and Thursday, and offer vegetarian grills because today, they don’t exist. Afterwards, we want invite an association which raises awareness of animal welfare issues, in particular L214, to raise awareness among students. Finally, we would like reach 30% organic in 2030 at CROUSbecause today it is 16%, and according to the Egalim law it should be 20%. So in reality our goal is to continue towards the increase, but to go faster, because the biothis is what preserves health and biodiversity.â€
In the theme of governance, the students of the Convention would like to propose to the University to allocate a greater place on the board of directors to the youngest, but also to work on the question of l’engagement and of involvement in democratic processes à l’échelle du campus.Â
Governance and biodiversity come together on certain measures, notably around the proposal to create a “council of the non-human†. The idea would be to create a seat on the board of directors, and in decision-making bodies, for biodiversity. For more biodiversity, the Student Citizens’ Convention also suggests creating green and blue networks, or a green amphitheater to encourage outdoor classes.
A democratic process
But if these 11 measures were able to clearly emerge from the discussions, in just one week of discussion, it is also thanks to the establishment of a strategy of collective and democratic discussions. All the students say they are marked by this use of collective intelligence. Solal is in his first year at the IEP in Grenoble, and he will keep certain methods: “We worked with tools to, for example, show that we agree without imposing ourselves. We did exercises from the start of the convention to learn to listen to people without necessarily thinking about what we were going to say before, but simply to listen to them in a pure way. †In addition to being surrounded by scientists, they were also accompanied by facilitators, trained for these collective discussions. Thomas Simon is one of them, but he insists: “We framed the discussions, but we stayed as far back as possibleâ€.Â
Sustaining Student Citizen Conventions
And for after? The university management is committed to giving a response to the Convention, full of hope, by the end of June and the academic year. Referents were also elected, thanks to a vote without candidates, to monitor the implementation of these measures.
But for Titouan, this is almost not the most important: “Already, there will be work to disseminate the values that we have acquired, that we have also transmitted in this exercise, with the aim, nonetheless, of renewing this convention next year. That it can be sustained on a university scaleâ€.Â
Ultimately, even the most doubtful of this experience of democracy and reflection come out with a smile. In France, six other universities offer their students the opportunity to participate in Student Citizens’ Conventions, four in Paris, one in Bordeaux and one in Angers, the example in this area being the University of Créteil.
