The Blue Community / Blue City of Paris is preparing for the second edition of the public water service’ Eau de Paris participatory budget. Here’s a look back at some emblematic projects from the previous edition: Terre Avenir and the ‘From the countryside to the city’ project. An interview with Marie-Christine Garnot, project manager Terre Avenir Association.
Your project was based on meetings between students in Paris and those in the Eau de Paris dowsing areas in the regions. How did they go?
We had a total of 8 classes involved in a journey around the water. One class from each of the 4 Eau de Paris dowsing areas teamed up with a Parisian class using the water collected at the source.
The first meeting was held in Paris. It was an opportunity to bring the “correspondents” together, to form pairs, to give a general presentation on water and to organise activities. Some of them visited the capital on a tour of the wells, while others took part in a practical workshop on water filtration.
The second event took place in the spring, in the regions. The classes visited the springs that supply water to Paris from its various sectors: Loing, Avre, Voulzie and Vanne.
These moments have been an opportunity to deepen your work in raising awareness of water issues.
That’s for sure. It wasn’t just a question of taking them out into the field and showing them, but also explaining things to them. Every meeting was an opportunity to talk about the great water cycle, the distribution of water on earth, how to conserve the resource, the different uses and so on. The focus was on the supply of water to Paris and its transport from the catchment areas in the region. It’s a way of reminding people of the link between the capital and the regions.
There were also workshops in the classroom on the history of water in Paris, filtration, the preservation of water resources and biodiversity, and so on.
How did the pupils react to the project?
They were very enthusiastic! It was an opportunity for them to discover what goes on behind the scenes with drinking water, beyond the tap, and to realise the beauty and fragility of this resource. By taking a closer look at springs, following the water’s journey through the city and understanding the impact of our activities on the resource, they explored as much as they learned.
It’s also socially enriching. Reaching out to others, bringing urban and rural children closer together. Water is everyone’s business!
The students have had time to explore the issues and infrastructures related to drinking water. What do you think they will learn? What will they do on a daily basis?
We found that most of them were already aware of certain issues, such as saving water. Many of them are following the eco-gestures at home. The strength of this project is that we take them out of their everyday lives, out of the classroom and into the field. Seeing a spring flow is more meaningful to them. We’re getting away from the theoretical side of things, which makes a bigger impression on them and will undoubtedly make them pay more attention.
And there will be traces of these explorations, as the pupils have produced a variety of reports: poems, short stories, videos and posters. Some Parisian schools have even decided to return to these regions to continue their research!
This project is the result of a well thought-out plan, brought to life thanks to participatory budgeting. Would it have been possible without it?
We’ve always had the idea and the desire to do this project, for years. The participatory budget really helped us get it off the ground by providing financial and logistical support. Without it, it would have been impossible to organise these meetings. You need money, transport, mobilised teams and so on. We were also able to call on Eau de Paris staff to run the awareness-raising workshops, draw up the itineraries and accompany the classes into the field. And we succeeded: the students, teachers and parents really saw it as an unprecedented opportunity, a gift!
As the 2nd Eau de Paris participatory budget approaches, what advice would you give to future project leaders?
Never give up, but be realistic. You can’t stop believing in your project, but it has to be achievable, quantifiable and time-bound. We saw this with the organisation of the meetings: you need a timetable and clear objectives, stick to a retro-planning schedule and anticipate unforeseen events. A project must have concrete actions.
A small, well-run project is better than a big, badly organised one!
