See the photos here
On 17 and 18 September the Enlarged Plenary Provincial Council of the Province of France took place on the theme:
animated by Sister Cécile Renouard, Religious of the Assumption and President of the Association of the Transition Campus (https://campus-transition.org/), and Father Xavier de Bénazé, Jesuit, member of the Board of Directors of the Transition Campus, and Laudato Si delegate for the Jesuit Province.
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The sisters were made aware of the ecological and social transition that is taking place in the world: how to transform one's way of thinking/acting and how to accompany future generations and those involved in education in this transformation?
The issues at stake are ecological, social, economic, cultural, political and civic... This interdisciplinary approach is reflected in the proposal of a pathway with 6 doors: 6 different angles of approach that open up the issues of the transition from a particular perspective. Each "door" has been given a Greek name and a description starting with a verb that best expresses the action.
These 6 doors make it possible not to miss any of the right questions to ask oneself when faced with the challenges of the "Great Transition". Knowledge, interpersonal skills and action skills complement and enrich each other in a global dynamic, integrating the 'head-body-heart' pedagogy implemented at the Transition Campus since its creation: 6 doors that open onto action. In this way, any course that opens these six doors will have addressed all the issues of the "Great Transition" in a coherent manner.
The Great Transition Handbook, subtitled "Forming to Transform", co-authored by Sister Cécile Renouard, and commissioned by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, aims to accompany the actors of higher education and education in this transformation by providing them with innovative theoretical and practical tools.
In order to make progress in this change, the sisters have been led to :
In each of the communities, there are decisions to be taken to promote the commitment of each one and to create a "team spirit". Traditionally in religious life, people are appointed to the service of the common good to make decisions, while being invited to proceed in participatory ways.
The impacts are different depending on whether the decision is made in a directive (the authority makes the decision in a top-down manner), participatory (the authority consults the views of others) or collaborative (the decision emerges from group deliberations) way.
In this way, community leaders were able to reflect on how to facilitate the animation of their communities, through the most collaborative decisions possible.
The website www.nosgestesclimat.fr offers everyone the opportunity to measure their annual carbon footprint very concretely by major categories (food, transport, housing, digital...), to situate it in relation to climate objectives and above all to take action at their level with personalised gestures according to their answers.
For example, food represents 25% of greenhouse gas emissions in France. To reduce these emissions, we can use local and seasonal products, give priority to quality meat and plant-based products (vegetables, starches, legumes) and of course avoid food waste. Our speakers proposed to pass on recipes based on plant proteins to the communities.
Finally, the weekend ended with surprise festivities to celebrate the birthday of our Provincial Sister Anne!