CALL FOR PROJECTS COAL Student Prize 2025: Fresh water

The ancient cosmogonies that have come down to us all say that the origin of life is linked to water. Contemporary science confirms this. Yet water remains a mystery. We now know that it has been omnipresent in the Universe since its very origins, and that it played a decisive role in the formation of stars and galaxies. Outside our planet, the molecule has only been formally identified in its solid or gaseous states, making its presence in the liquid state on Earth all the more remarkable. It is in its liquid form that it has been, and will continue to be, the primordial home of all life.

Every organism on Earth, from the simplest to the most complex, is “a creature of thirst”. Its unique properties, including capillarity, dissolving power, and permanent trickling make it, according to Gaston Bachelard calls it “the eye of the Earth” or “the organ of the world”. To the rhythm of its cycles, it passes from one state to another, crosses materials, connects elements, ravines mountains, designs plains, drains minerals, elevates plants, vitalizes animals, composes the climate, cooling the atmosphere and capturing carbon. Every drop of freshwater brings life to life, whether it comes from groundwater, wetlands or surface water.

Yet freshwater represents only a few hundredths of the water present on Earth. In temperate zones, we live in the illusion of its abundance, but its scarcity is tangible in arid zones. Water can only be shared. The pressure on water cycles caused by intensive agriculture, industrial activity, urbanization, energy production and the production of most of our consumer goods is seriously upsetting the balance. Extreme droughts and major floods, as well as chemical and plastic pollution, are the most visible indicators.

Our thirst for growth is compromising the only source capable of quenching our thirst. Pollution is compounded by unequal access, leading to increasingly extreme conflicts. A freshwater policy can only be devised on a planetary scale, with a shared vision of its uses.and with a view to repairing and protecting all water resources, from the natural reservoirs and glaciers that store it, to the wetlands that capture carbon, to the mangroves that slow down erosion… More than a common good, water is a fundamental right of all living beings, and today we need to consider it as a subject with rights.

How can we envisage an ecology and politics of water without a poetics of water? poetics? Protecting water also means regenerating the imaginations, stories, representations and practices that shape the way it is shared and used in our lives and actions. The COAL 2025 Prize dedicated to freshwater is a call to fight against the drying up of our sensitivities towards it, to elevate it to its rightful place at the heart of general attention, to rehabilitate it in its symbolic and sacred prerogatives, to consider it as the ally and partner of our existences. It’s also a call to protect it, to play our part in restoring its natural cycles, to repair places that have been damaged, in solidarity with those, human and non-human, who are irreparably affected.

CALENDAR

Call for projects closes: April 20, 2025

Announcement of nominated artists Summer 2025

Announcement of winners Autumn 2025

Awards Ceremony In autumn 2025, on the occasion of Sans Réserve, the meeting place for creative artists committed to ecology .

DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE CALL FOR PROJECTS

SELECTION CRITERIA

Selection is based on the following criteria:

– artistic and creative dimension of the project ;

– understanding environmental issues and putting them into perspective ;

– feasibility, anchoring in the natural environment ;

– impact and efficiency.

DOTATION

The COAL Student Prize offers the winner a two-month residency in one of France’s 350 nature reserves, with a prize of 5,000 euros to cover the cost of residency (transport and accommodation). Throughout the residency, the winner will be supported by the nature reserve’s teaching and scientific teams to help him/her implement the project.

APPLICATION FORM

All proposals must be submitted by April 20, 2025 by 11:59 p.m. on the COAL server: http://upload.projetcoal.org/formulaire-etudiant/

Files must consist of the following documents, assembled in a single file in PDF format, no larger than 30 MB, entitled: NAME_First_Name_Student_2025_Project title :

– A detailed description of the proposed project, relevant to the selection criteria;

– a technical note and an budget estimate;

– two visuals illustrating the project, at least ;

– a CV and an artistic file;

– a 2024-2025 school certificate.

PARTNERS

French Ministry of Culture

In addition to its core mission of making the most important works of humanity, and first and foremost of France, accessible to as many people as possible, the Ministry of Culture is convinced that culture must play its full part in the vast project of ecological transition, and has been committed to this through successive strategies since 2010. Since 2023, the Ministry of Culture’s strategy has been set out in the Guide d’orientation et d’inspiration, which sets a course for the ecological transition of cultural players. The Ministry of Culture has supported the COAL Prize since its inception in 2010.

French Biodiversity Office (OFB)

The OFB is responsible for protecting and restoring biodiversity in France and its overseas territories. It works to preserve life in aquatic, terrestrial and marine environments, thanks to the expertise of its 2,800 employees, including 1,700 environmental inspectors. This public establishment also works by mobilizing a whole range of players, decision-makers and citizens around biodiversity: the State, local authorities, associations, businesses, scientists, farmers, fishermen, hunters, nature sports enthusiasts, members of the art world…

MAIF

A mutual insurance company with a mission, MAIF is committed to the ecological transition. It places the preservation of biodiversity at the heart of its actions. Aware of the links between the environment, collective well-being and sustainability, it acts to raise awareness and mobilize around this essential cause. Convinced that art is a powerful lever for inspiring change and rethinking our relationship with living things, it is supporting the COAL Student Prize for the first time.

Association Réserves naturelles de France (RNF)

Leads a national network of over 700 nature protection professionals, working daily in the areas where there are almost 350 nature reserves. Their actions are based on three missions: the knowledge of the natural biological and geological heritage, its management and protection, the sensitization and the discovery by the citizens of these spaces of nature, life, meetings and creation. As an ambassador for nature reserves, RNF is the voice of nature, actively mobilizing all of society’s stakeholders, particularly in the cultural field.