Conference on the future of natural and agricultural areas (July, 12th 2022)

A public conference was held at the University of Paris-Saclay on the future of natural and agricultural areas, with delegations from California and France composed of local and state policy makers, members of regional organizations, associations and scientists, gathered for the first time in France.

The objective of this meeting is to strengthen the biodiversity and climate resilience of agricultural and natural areas, by comparing ideas, initiatives and actions of the Santa Clara Valley (San José, Silicon Valley, California) with those of the Plateau de Saclay (Île-de-France), two peri-urban territories with a strong agricultural identity.

The visit of a Californian delegation this summer is the result of a partnership born in 2018 between the University of Paris-Saclay (including C-BASC), the association Terre et Cité, the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority (OSA), Nature Conservancy (TNC), and the EIT Climate KIC, which has been strengthened in 2021 with the organization of 3 webinars.

PROGRAMME

Paul Leadley, C-BASC coordinator and author for IPBES moderated the conference organized by the assocation Terre et Cité.

Welcome by Estelle Iacona, President of the University of Paris-Saclay
Introduction by Valérie Masson-Delmotte, co-chair of IPCC group nᵒ 1, Anne Larigauderie (Executive Secretary of IPBES) and researchers and scholar Adina Merenlender (UC Berkeley), Kerri Steenwerth, (UC Davis) and Eric Chu (UC Davis).
Roundtable 1: "Open spaces in land use planning and at the border of urban spaces: discussion on the dynamics at work in Ile-de-France and California in the perspective of global changes". With the participation of: California Secretaries of State Jennifer Norris and Virginia Jameson, California Congressman Ash Kalra; Valérie Lacroute, Vice President in charge of agriculture for the Ile-de-France Region and Benoît Gabrielle, Director of the Graduate School Biosphera and Professor at AgroParis Tech.
Round table 2: "The role of open spaces, natural infrastructures for local climate resilience implemented on the Plateau de Saclay and in Silicon Valley". With the participation of: Sam Liccardo, Mayor of San Jose; Andrea Mackenzie, Executive Director of the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority; Caroline Doucerain, President of Terre et Cité; Philippe Van de Maele, Director of the Établissement Public d'Aménagement Paris-Saclay; and Manuel Pluvinage, Director General of Services of the Versailles Grand Parc agglomeration.
Presentation of the European funding program LEADER and reflection for the 2023-2027 programming
Questions - Answers with the public

The conference will soon be posted online. (Registration was free but mandatory, on the following link: https://bit.ly/3zfeKDz. Open to all, the conference took place from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm at the Bâtiment h-bar of the Université Paris-Saclay in Orsay.)