LAUNCH OF THE FIRST BIODIVERSITY REFERENCE FRAMEWORK FOR THE CULTURAL SECTOR – VIF

With a million species now threatened with extinction worldwide according to the IPBES – the “IPCC of biodiversity” – the biodiversity crisis is emerging as one of the major challenges of the 21st century, on a par with climate change. Recent international discussions have highlighted the urgent need for transformative change, involving all sectors of society.

In this context, the cultural sector is emerging as a strategic lever. Through its ability to shape narratives, representations and collective imaginations, culture plays a key role in the evolution of behaviors and models. Festivals, museums, heritage institutions, creative venues and communities interact daily with living ecosystems – urban, natural or heritage – without always having the tools to understand their impacts, their dependencies and the role they can play.

While awareness is growing, the move to action remains hampered by a lack of shared benchmarks, appropriate methodologies and operational tools.

The VIF program was created in response to this structural need, to make culture a pillar of the ecological transition and the preservation of life.

Join us on April 7 from 4 to 6 pm at the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature for a meeting with the program’s players and experts to mark the launch of the first biodiversity reference framework for the cultural sector, followed by a cocktail reception.

INFORMATION :

• April 7, 2026
• At the Museum of Hunting and Nature
• Auditorium
• 62 rue des Archives, 75003, Paris
• RSVP : vif@projetcoal.fr

OPEN-SOURCE TOOLS TO MAKE CULTURE A PILLAR OF THE ECOLOGICAL TRANSITION AND THE PRESERVATION OF LIFE.

Following a year of action research and field experimentation involving a community of cultural players and nature conservation experts, VIF is launching three structuring tools to transform cultural practices in the face of the biodiversity crisis:

• a self-assessment tool for its impact and dependence on biodiversity, providing an initial, objective approach.
• a methodological guide to reinforce skills and structure collective action.
• training courses designed to transform intentions into lasting best practices.

With an operational focus, these open-source tools are designed to help cultural structures limit their impact, integrate the living world into their strategies, artistic projects and production methods, and support the implementation of regenerative approaches.

ONE YEAR OF EXPERIMENTATION AND COOPERATION TO TRANSFORM CULTURAL PRACTICES IN THE FACE OF THE BIODIVERSITY CRISIS

In order to be as close as possible to the needs of cultural players and to gather feedback and best practices, the VIF program has built up a community of over fifty professionals and structures from the cultural, artistic, territorial and scientific fields, committed to creation, research and action in favor of the living arts.

Together, this community took part in an action-research process, anchored in four case studies offering representative realities from the field of culture:

• A trail of works of art in a sensitive natural environment supported by the Rouen metropolitan authority in the Forêt de Roumare with Forêt Monumentale II.
• A public commission for a work of art in an urban environment by the City of Rouen
• An institutional exhibition with 100% L’EXPO, at La Villette
• A tour of works of art on the heritage site of the Château de Fontainebleau with the Grandeur Nature II exhibition

These explorations made it possible to identify and qualify the impacts of cultural projects on biodiversity and their dependence on ecosystems, while testing methodologies compatible with the operational constraints and timeframes specific to the cultural sector.

They also opened up a space for dialogue between players in the cultural sector and experts in nature conservation, and questioned the specific role that the cultural field can play in the preservation of living things, as well as the potential of culture-based solutions to bring about transformative change.

A community of some fifty cultural players committed to biodiversity, or wishing to do so, recognized for their inspiring practices. Among the members of this community, who actively participated in the development of this reference system, are : art centers and creative venues (Abbaye de Maubuisson, Abbaye de Noirlac, CIAP Vassivière, Citron Jaune, FRAC Poitou-Charentes, Friche la Belle de Mai, Hangar Y, La Villette, Serre Wangari, Palais de Tokyo, Centre Pompidou, ESADHAR Le Havre-Rouen, Jardins suspendus de l’école de Belfort), major heritage establishments and estates (Château d’Espeyran, Château de Fontainebleau, Château de Kerguéhennec, Domaine de Chamarande, Domaine régional de Villarceaux, Fort de Tourneville, Centre des monuments nationaux), local authorities and public institutions (Conseil départemental du Val-d’Oise, le Département de la Gironde, la Métropole Rouen-Normandie, la Ville de Rouen, la Ville du Havre, la DRAC Normandie), environmental and naturalist organizations (l’ANVL, le Groupe Mammalogique normand, le Conservatoire botanique de Normandie), third places and citizen initiatives (Le Ravitaillement, les Nouveaux Commanditaires), festivals and artistic events (le Festival de l’Estran, le Festival Horizons Sancy, les Nuits des Forêts, Les Murmures du temps, le Printemps de Toulouse, Forêt Monumentale, le Vent des Forêts, la Forêt d’art contemporain, Derrière le Hublot).

The program also drew on the expert advice of a committee of leading players in biodiversity preservation – the French Biodiversity Office (OFB), the CNRS, the Ministry of Culture, Réserves naturelles de France, the Foundation for Research on Biodiversity, the Humanité et Biodiversité association, the Agence Normande de la Biodiversité et du Développement Durable and the Institut Michel Serres.

VIF is an operation supported by the French government as part of France 2030’s “Supporting green alternatives in culture 2” program, operated by Banque des territoires (Caisse des Dépôts).

VIF is led by COAL in consortium with recognized experts in the transition of cultural industries, biodiversity and footprint measurement: Marguerite Courtel, co-founder of Les Augures collective, Antoine Vallier, co-founder of Darwin Data, Annabelle Prin-Cojan, founder of Être et Avoir and in partnership with Institut Michel Serres-ENS Lyon.