The climate in fiction

Since 2009, the Seine-Saint-Denis County Council has been backing “la Culture et l’Art au Collège (CAC)”. This project is based to a large extent on the presence in class for several weeks (40h) of an artist or scientist whose mission is to engage the students in a process of research and creation. 

Tutors: Sabine Revillet/ writer and actress, Thibault Fayner/ writer, playwright, stage director, Simon Diard/ writer and poet, Lucie Vérot/ writer and playwright

Project managers: Anna Mezey and Florise Pagès

Objectives:
In November 2015, France hosted the new world conference on climate change (COP21). Although the experts have high expectations of this event, raising awareness of climate issues is still problematic. In this project, the pupils approach the climate through fiction. With the help of professional writers, they have to tell the story of ordinary lives caught up in the climate problems affecting our planet.

Workshops:
Food for thought
The pupils gave short talks about the climate and the effects of climate changes on both man and nature, based on research into current events in science, politics, and geography. The idea of fiction was then discussed through texts, images, films and documents supplied by the tutor.

Writing needs practice
To familiarise themselves with writing, they conducted experiments and performed exercises: enlightened or automatic writing, invented vocabulary, various registers and literary forms, group collages, writing starting from an image or a constraint, reading filmed texts.

Once upon a time…
The pupils chose the themes of pollution and climate change. To make a story out of them, they decided to listen to the voice of the trees, animals, plastic: they invented a new register of communication between nature and people by keeping a part of reality, a sort of gateway to current climate change issues.

Outcome:
A 48-page booklet with a selection of texts and poems was printed for the occasion. The pupils programmed readings at various places in their school: in the library, classroom, cafeteria, staffroom, etc.

Outings (selection):
- PALAIS DE LA DÉCOUVERTE: TALK ON GLOBAL WARMING.
- MUSÉE DU JEU DE PAUME: VISIT TO THE EXHIBITION "INVENTING THE POSSIBLE", DISCUSSION OF VIDEOS ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT.
- SALON DU LIVRE JEUNESSE (MONTREUIL): MEETING WITH HERVÉ WALBECQ, AUTHOR OF THE BOOK HISTOIRES DE LA MAISON QUI VOULAIT DÉMÉNAGER (STORIES OF THE HOUSE THAT WANTED TO MOVE)

Schools:
- Class (4th Segpa) Collège René Descartes, Le Blanc Mesnil
- Class (6th A) Collège Edouard Herriot, Livry-Gargan
- Class (6th Segpa) Collège Léon Jouhaux, Livry-Gargan
- Class (5th 3) Collège Barbara, Stains

Photo: PIERRE ANTOINE, BIBLIS DUROUX
Graphic design: BIBLIS DUROUX