History
2013 • The best is yet to come
Saturday April 27, 2013
The fifth Earth university took place on Saturday April 27, 2013 at UNESCO. It featured some 20 discussions and debates aimed at young people, heads of companies and the general public.
Some 50 experts and dignitaries were invited to contribute.
In all, 8,000 people participated in the debates.
Ecology and the questions it raises are issues that are both long-standing and recent at the same time. Long-standing, because the pioneering texts on the subject first began appearing a hundred years ago; yet recent, because after all, over the course of human history, what is a mere century?
The world – our world – is currently experiencing a period of exceptional change. By wanting to consume too much, innovate too much, build too much and harvest too much, we have put ourselves in the midst of a cataclysm – a cataclysm that we have created. Fortunately, ecologists, scientists and politicians have all sounded the alarm. But while it is urgent to change the way we live in the world, it is not yet too late to do so. Quite the contrary. The growing awareness and reactions can already be felt both at the individual and group level. Yes, we can counter this excessive movement and the disorder it causes. Across the globe, initiatives are being launched to help our society to evolve in its behaviour and ambitions. People are already changing their mentality. Determined to invent a sustainable and bright future for mankind, scientists are innovating in new ways every day, companies are making progress, citizens are adapting to ecological necessities, and governments are lending each other a helping hand. Individual and group awareness of the role we have to play is already proof of our capacity to think differently about our relationship with the world.
Since the first edition in 2005, The Earth university has adhered to this innovative movement. At a time when the world is mired in a crisis so severe that it raises doubts about the future, the 2013 edition wants to demonstrate that the best is yet to come. The world of tomorrow will be an exciting place, filled with opportunities for the advancement of mankind. Without seeming utopian, let’s count on the fact that a new, more socially responsible society is currently emerging.
Speakers
Olivier AIZAC
Managing director of the website Leboncoin.fr
Jean-Claude AMEISEN
Doctor, professor of immunology, president of the National Consultative Committee of Ethics
Guy AMSELLEM
President, Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine
Thomas d' ANSEMBOURG
Author, psychotherapist
Cyril AOUIZERATE
Philosopher, town planner, co-founder of Mama Shelter and M.O.B
Jacques ATTALI
Writer, president of PlaNet Finance
Jean AUDOUZE
President of the French National Committee for the UNESCO
Jean-Louis BANCEL
Chairman, Crédit Coopératif Group
Fabrice BARDECHE
Vice-president Ionis Education Group
Laurent BAYLE
Managing director, Cité de la musique
Laurent BECCARIA
Founder and director Les Arènes editions
Jérôme BEDIER
General Secretary, Carrefour Group
François BEGAUDEAU
Writer
Laurent BERGER
General secretary of the French Labour Union CFDT
Vincent BERGER
Dean, Paris Diderot University
Uwe BERGMANN
Head of Sustainability Management, Henkel
Stéphane BITTOUN
Managing director My Major Company
André BRAHIC
Astrophysicist, professor at the Paris Diderot University and at CEA Saclay
Jean-Paul CAPITANI
Director Actes Sud editions
Roland CASTRO
Architect and town planner
Christian COURTIN-CLARINS
Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Group Clarins
Cyril DION
Co-founder and spokesperson of the movement Colibris, managing editor of Kaizen
Geneviève FERONE
Director of Sustainable Development of the Veolia Environment Group, vice-president of The Shift Project
Eric FOTTORINO
Journalist, writer
René FRYDMAN
Head of the gynaecology-obstetrics service at the Foch Hospital
Jacques GENEREUX
Professor at Sciences Po, economist
Philippe GERMA
Managing director WWF in France
Georges HADDAD
Director of UNESCO’s Division of Higher Education
Serge HEFEZ
Psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, in charge of the family therapy’s unit in the psychiatric department for children and teenagers at the hospital of Pitié-Salpêtrière of Paris
Françoise HERITIER
Anthropologist, professor emeritus at the Collège de France
Luc JACQUET
Film director
JONONE
JUL
Author of comic strip, cartoonist
Jean-Claude KAUFMANN
Sociologist, Research director, French Centre for Scientific Research
David KEN
Photographer, president LOL Project Foundation
Rachid KORAICHI
Artist, painter
Yannick LEJEUNE
Internet director, IONIS Education Group
Antoine LEMARCHAND
François LEMARCHAND
Michèle LESIEUR
Jean-Hervé LORENZI
Chairman Cercle des économistes
Bertin NAHUM
CEO Medtech
Sylvie NICOL
Managing director, Beauty Care, Henkel
Natalie RASTOIN
Managing director Ogilvy France
Matthieu RICARD
Writer, Buddhist monk
François ROUILLAY
Coordinator of the Incredible Edible movement in France
Geoffroy ROUX DE BEZIEUX
Muriel de SAINT SAUVEUR
Mazars Goup Diversity director
Arnaud de SAINT SIMON
President, Groupe Psychologies
Eric SCHERER
Director of the prospective, the digital strategy and the international relations linked to the new media of France Télévisions
Michaël STORA
Psychologist, president of the Observatory of the digital worlds in human sciences (OMNSH)
Hapsatou SY
Founder of beauty salons Ethnicia, business manager and TV columnist
Denis TERRIEN
Managing director 3 Suisses International
Matthieu VILLIERS
Managing editor of Science et vie
Patrick VIVERET
Philosopher
Muhammad YUNUS
Economist, theorist of the microcredit, Nobel Peace Prize 2006