From September 15th to October 14th, the fifth Franco-Chinese Month of the Environment is dedicated to the theme of “breath, drink, eat”: three essential, vital activities that underpin our daily lives. A symbol of the dynamic partnership between France and China aimed at protecting the planet, this multidisciplinary festival will offer 55 programs including more than 130 events across 22 cities in China and – for the first time – in Paris. It will address the intimate links between health and the environment, including risks and solutions relating to pollution, and the impact of our behaviour on the environment, especially regarding food.
This year, the Franco-Chinese Month of the Environment is supported by two celebrities with a deep commitment to environmental issues. Actress Jiang Yiyan and actor Liu Ye are also ambassadors for the WildAid foundation and regularly take part in campaigns for the protection of endangered species.
A multidisciplinary festival for both experts and the general public
Exhibitions, shows, concerts, film screenings, literary, scientific and technical conferences, awareness raising workshops, meetings between environmental professionals: the program for this high point of the new season has never been so rich.
The Franco-Chinese Month of the Environment is unique in being the only embassyorganised festival dedicated to the environment. Leading experts in their field will give technical lectures for specialists and laymen alike. Corinne Lepage, a lawyer and the former Environment Minister, will talk about the environmental and health hazards linked to pesticides, while a panel of experts will examine solutions to reduce air, soil and water pollution. Collectively, a group of artists will unveil the eco-designed exhibition When Artists Sit Down to Eatin five Chinese cities. Prince Louis Albert de Broglie, the so-called Gardener Prince, will give presentations in four Chinese cities on the subject of healthy and sustainable agriculture. Finally, the Franco-Chinese Law and Justice Meeting will address the interplay of law and the environment in the presence of Mr Christian Huglo, a lawyer, who will also offer lectures followed by film screenings on the legal saga of the Amoco Cadiz.
Begin awareness raising as early as possible
It is never too early to become aware of your environment and adopt good habits to preserve it. Throughout the festival, several Chinese farms are opening their doors to introduce children to rural life and good farming practices. How can you make an air purifier all by yourself? What is the secret of «natural» gardening? Several NGOs (Friends of Nature, Chengdu Root & Shoots, Eco-Canton and many others) will run workshops aimed at getting children to breathe healthy air and eat organic food. Very young children will be able to (re)discover the sea in Good Fishing, Bad Cards– a show by the Maritime Theater Group. Finally, the Beijing Institut Français has invited the illustrator Emmanuelle Houssais to present her many books about discovering the environment, such as Hot Planet!in which she takes a poetic approach to the theme of global warming. The Frog Prophecy, a film directed by Jacques-Rémy Girerd, will also be available to view on the big screen.
Spotlight on gastronomy
It is possible to reconcile pleasure and protecting the environment. Eating differently (and better) will be the theme of author Gilles Daveau’s Chinese tour. A workshop spanning the whole gastronomic process, from the market to the plate, will reveal the secrets to a simple, affordable and tasty way of cooking. Lyonnais chefs will be in residence in Guangzhou and Beijing as part of the Magic Chopsticks Festival (Festival des Baguettes Magiques). They will merge Chinese techniques and ingredients with their own instinctive, plant-oriented cooking styles. Participants will have another chance to «go green» by shopping in a pop-up market, where craft products and those made using environment-friendly farming methods will be available to buy. Finally, find yourself at the “green table”of Michelin starred Chef Jérôme Laurent.
BREATHE - Solutions to pollution!
Chinese and French experts come together to consider the theme of air, soil and water pollution. Airparif and the Air Quality Monitoring Bureau in Beijing will present their solutions for the improved prevention and management of incidents leading to pollution.
Sept.8 Changchun | Sept.25 Changsha | Sept.27 Shanghai | Sept.28 Beijing
DRINK - Eric Tardieu, Director General of the International Office for Water (OIEau)
Since 2009, Eric Tardieu has been cooperating with the Commission for the Conservation of the Hai River. He will explain how the method of integrated water resources management is effective in minimising problems related to untreated wastewater and nonpointsource agricultural pollution.
Sept.16 Beijing | Sept.17 Chengdu | Sept.18-19 Guangzhou
EAT - For a healthy and sustainable agriculture
Prince Louis Albert de Broglie, nicknamed the Gardener Prince, will show how to produce the same amount of food but in a different way. His permacultureinspired agroecological micro-farm provides the perfect example. He will talk about the link between health and the environment, which is inseparable from healthy eating.
Sept.22 Chengdu | Sept.23 Guangzhou | Sept.25 Changsha | Sept.26-27 Beijing
Shows
The fifth Franco-Chinese Month of the Environment offers three high-quality shows in which viewers are questioned about relations with the body, the mind and the world.
WROUGHT (dance)
Sept.30-Oct.1st Guangzhou
Inspired by the resilience of this body duet, choreographer Rachid Ouramdane, CCN2 co-director, creates an airy exacting virtuosity where each move becomes breathing.
The State of Siege by Albert Camus (theatre)
Oct.5-6 Beijing
Published two years after The Plague (1948), the same illness suffocates the mankind. In a troubled and full of doubts period, the plague-ridden air governs all life aspects until it becomes unbreathable.
The Ventriloquists Convention (puppetry)
Oct.12-13 Guangzhou
9 puppeteers create a worrying fiction, at the heart of the international Ventriloquists’ convention, held yearly in Kentucky (USA). In partnership with the Goethe Institute.
