From the Blue Community / Blue City of Pariis and its public water utility: Created as a result of Eau de Paris‘s first participatory budget dedicated to water, ‘Bulles d’eau’ (water bubbles) brings together six stories drawn by 23 young Parisians about the future of water in the French capital. On 12 December 2024, Dan Lert, President of Eau de Paris, Benjamin Gestin, Director General, Anne-Sophie Leclère, Deputy Director General and Emma Haziza, hydrologist and patron of the project, signed copies.
A collective of 3 associations proposed to create a fictional comic strip about water in Paris in 2050 by bringing together students or young active people with Eau de Paris staff and experts on water issues in Paris. The aim? To put water at the heart of the thinking of these future social, economic and, why not, political players in the capital, inviting them to project their vision of water and the public water service in Paris into the future.
The idea was well received and around twenty volunteers joined the collective. Recruited via social networks, they live and work in the capital and study engineering, design, architecture, geography, social sciences or communication.
A project promoted by hydrologist Emma Haziza
Emma Haziza, a doctor of hydrology, a specialist in systemic disruption of the global water cycle and a voice for water in the media, has agreed to be the project’s patron. The volunteers met for a weekend to immerse themselves in the world of water in Paris. They learned about the capital’s drinking and non-potable water supply systems, geothermal energy, baths and showers, the workings of the sewerage system, etc. Another weekend was dedicated to learning how comic strips work.
Their imaginations gave rise to six stories – which you can discover online – that do not tell of a future dominated by technology and artificial intelligence, but of a future in which citizens are at the centre of taking water back into their own hands. Two screenwriters and six cartoonists then took up these scenarios to produce this exciting collective work, which was be presented by Eau de Paris on 12 December 2024. For the young people and for the experts and staff of Eau de Paris who accompanied them during this collective adventure, it was a real experience, both civic and social.
