STUDENT AWARD 2021 : AN EDITION ON THE FOREST

If there is an ambassador of ecology on Earth, it is the forest. This is why, after a 2020 edition on the living world, the COAL – Culture & Diversity Student Prize will dedicate its 2021 edition to it. With 80% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity present in forests, it is the terrestrial environment that shelters and nourishes the most living beings. A reserve of life but also of carbon, regulating the climate and waterways, the forest is both this great whole with infinite biodiversity and this indispensable part of the planetary ecosystem, at the same time chain and link. It is also the symbol and the point of convergence of the covetousness, the environmental catastrophes and the struggles which agitate the contemporary world in crisis. Thirteen million hectares of forest are disappearing every year, under the pressure of agriculture, overgrazing, timber exploitation and urbanization; whole sections of the forests of Amazonia, Australia and sub-Saharan Africa are burning while others are dying on the ground due to global warming. All over the world, people are fighting to defend these reserves of life and culture and to make them the models for new worlds to be built.

Vital for the global balance of ecosystems, the forest is also vital for human societies that, for thousands of years, have lived directly or indirectly from its resources. In France, the forest cover represents 30% of the territory, however, the modes of intensive forest exploitation too often replace the forest by monoculture of trees truncating the real figures. Its composition varies considerably according to geographical, geological, climatic, historical and socio-economic factors. However, insects, birds, mammals, amphibians, flora and micro-organisms live side by side with owners, forest managers, tourists, hunters, local residents and elected officials, weaving a mosaic of complex issues and conflicts of interest.

See the educational file “The 2019 forest inventory” from IGN

The COAL – Culture & Diversity 2021 Student Prize is associated with the French Nature Reserves through a residency program and invites students to take an interest in the richness of the forestto feel and experience the ecological balance of the forests, to promote the diversity of beings and cultures that inhabit them, to revive their ancestral knowledge and give birth to new ones, to nourish the movements of resilience that they inspire, to act with their protectors, and to create other ways of being together in the woods.

CONDITIONS

Be a student in a school in the arts and culture field and have completed two years of higher education. Student collectives are eligible.

RESIDENCE

The Culture & Diversity Foundation grants the winner a 2-month residency in one of France’s 350 nature reserves, along with a 5,000 euro production grant. The winner will be accompanied throughout his or her residency by the educational and scientific teams of the nature reserve for the implementation of the project. The Fondation Culture & Diversité covers the residence expenses of the winner (transportation, accommodation, meals). In the case where the winning project is carried by a collective, the conditions of residence will be specifically reviewed. 1 List of schools in the artistic and cultural field in the appendix.

PARTNER

The association Réserves naturelles de France (RNF) leads a national network of more than 700 nature protection professionals working daily in the territories where nearly 350 nature reserves exist. 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.

OPERATION

Three finalist projects are nominated by a committee of professionals from among all the applications received in the national call for projects. One of them is awarded the Prize by a Jury composed of representatives of the partner organizations and personalities of art and ecology. In addition, all the applications considered by the Selection Committee allow the exposure of young artists and projects that may be solicited or promoted according to other opportunities and actions carried out by the Culture & Diversity Foundation, COAL and their partners.

JURY 2021

• Frédérique Aït-Touati, Researcher at the CNRS and director
• Daria de Beauvais, Exhibition curator at the Palais de Tokyo
• Saïd Berkane, Deputy General Delegate of the Culture & Diversity Foundation
• Catherine Dobler, Founder of the LAccolade Foundation
• Christine Germain-Donnat, Director of the Museum of Hunting and Nature
• Paul Jarquin, Founder and President of REI Habitat, President of Fibois Ile-de-France
• Olivier Lerude, Senior official for sustainable development at the Ministry of Culture
• Charlotte Meunier, President of the Nature Reserves of France
• Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez, Head of Cultural Programming at the Cité internationale des arts
• Marc-André Selosse, Biologist, Professor at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, President of BioGée
• Joelle Zask, Philosopher

DOTATION

The Culture & Diversity Foundation grants the winner a two-month residency in one of France’s nature reserves, along with a production grant of 5,000 euros. Within the framework of the residency, the Culture & Diversity Foundation covers accommodation, food and transportation costs.

PARTNER 2021

The association Réserves naturelles de France (RNF) leads a national network of more than 700 nature protection professionals working daily in the territories where nearly 350 nature reserves exist. 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 field of culture.

AWARD HOLDERS

The Culture & Diversity Foundation, a Fimalac corporate foundation created by Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, aims to promote access to the arts and culture for young people from modest backgrounds. Since its launch in 2006, it has been designing and implementing sustainable programs directly in the field with its cultural, educational and social partners. More than 45,000 young people have already benefited from its actions.

The COAL associationcreated in France in 2008 by professionals of contemporary art, ecology and research, mobilizes artists and cultural actors on societal and environmental issues and supports the essential role of creation and culture in raising awareness and implementing concrete solutions. Through the COAL Prize, international cooperation actions and more than fifty exhibitions and cultural projects, COAL is the first French actor to promote the emergence of a new culture of ecology.

REVIEW THE CALL FOR PROJECTS

Find out more:

• THE WINNER OF THE COAL – CULTURE & DIVERSITY 2021 STUDENT AWARD
• ARTISTS NOMINATED FOR THE COAL STUDENT AWARD – CULTURE & DIVERSITY 2021
• COAL 2021 PRIZE-WINNING ARTISTS
• THE ARTISTS NOMINATED FOR THE COAL AWARD 2021
• THE 2021 PRICE LIST