4 – 14 September 2024
Open to PhD and early career researchers (as well as professionals in related fields), the Alternet Summer School – organised and supported in cooperation with Biodiversa+ – creates an innovative atmosphere for considering the environmental challenges that society is currently facing, particularly those around biodiversity. Peyresq, a picturesque village in the Haute-de-Provence Alpes, provides an unparalleled setting for dynamic discussions and transdisciplinary learning.
This year’s programme theme is entitled: Biodiversity and Society: science, policy and transformative change.
Biodiversity and Society: science, policy and transformative change
Biodiversity is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history, with serious impacts on people around the world. The Alternet summer school focuses on the challenge of biodiversity management and conservation by exploring drivers of biodiversity loss, and the role of ecological knowledge and social science approaches.
We debate the potential of concepts such as valuation and nature’s contributions to people. We also examine how various initiatives at the science-policy interface embrace these concepts for decision-making, and with what success. Finally, we discuss the need to develop inter-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary approaches, and working with stakeholders to foster the transformative change needed to bring society onto a sustainable path.
Activities and participation
The Alternet Summer School is held annually in Peyresq, a remote mountain village in the Alpes de Haute Provence, south-eastern France, home of the Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc Foundation. The programme of activities includes:
- Morning talks and discussion with 20 invited speakers
- Afternoon group work on a mutual learning project about the local social-ecological system and its possible futures
- Aperitif talks prior to dinner
- Field trips to the mountain pastures used by local shepherds and the Parc National du Mercantour
- Free time in the evenings for leisure and further discussion
The summer school is open to graduate students, post-graduate scientists and professionals from environmental and social science fields with an interest in sustainability science. All participants are expected to actively contribute to all aspects of the summer school.
