Université Paris-Saclay celebrates the international Fascination of Plants Day
The international Fascination of Plants Day will kick-start online on 18 May 2021, giving many the opportunity to connect with the world of plants.
Plants are the world’s number one producers of biomass. They are essential for human and animal food, health, energy production and are currently being explored for new uses.
Created in 2012 with the support of the European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO) in partnership with INRAE (1), which coordinates the event in France, the Fascination of Plants Day aims to promote the importance of plants in daily life and showcase research in plant science.
“The goal behind the operation is to promote plants and demonstrate just how important they are in our daily lives, both in terms of food and non-food uses, i.e. energy, construction, etc.”, explains Marie-Jeanne Sellier, a research engineer at INRAE, head of the Saclay Plant Sciences network, and coordinator of the event in France since 2019.
Have we not already sufficiently grasped the importance of plants today? “Of course, many people like to grow plants in their gardens or are sensitive to the beauty of plants. But liking plants is not necessarily the same as understanding them,” says Marie-Jeanne Sellier. “This international plant day gives us the chance to delve deeper and understand the crucial role that plants have to play in ecosystems and environmental conservation. The event also highlights the importance of plant science for agriculture, sustainable food production, horticulture, forestry and the production of plant-based non-food products.”
An essentially online format for the 2021 edition
Since its creation, the annual Fascination of Plants Day has aimed to encourage institutions, associations and more generally all stakeholders who work with plants to offer scientific mediation events and activities to the general public and schoolchildren throughout the month of May, with a special focus on 18 May.
Due to the current health crisis, the 2021 edition will mainly be held remotely and a website has been created for the occasion. The site will remain open until the event’s 2022 edition and currently hosts approximately 80 types of online content: videos, reports, exhibitions, conferences, games, educational resources, etc.
“Everyone should find something to satisfy their curiosity. There is something for everyone, regardless of age or background!” says Marie-Jeanne Sellier. “It was something that the general public really wanted. Every year we receive excellent feedback at our in-person mediation events. Teachers, secondary school students, but also non-professionals who are more or less informed all tell us how enriching it is to share knowledge in such a dynamic and interactive way. We hope that this year’s virtual edition will interest them just as much!”
Within the Paris-Saclay ecosystem, the Fascination of Plants Day is in line with the Saclay Plant Sciences (SPS) network’s broader scientific mediation approach. Université Paris-Saclay is one of the network’s founding members.
Notes:
1. INRAE is France’s National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment. It was created on 1 January 2020 following the merger of INRA, the National Institute for Agriculture Research, and IRSTEA, the National Research Institute of Science and Technology for the Environment and Agriculture.
For more information:
The event’s official website in France: https://www6.inrae.fr/plantday-france
The event’s international website: https://plantday18may.org/
Contact for the event's coordination in France: marie-jeanne.sellier@inrae.fr