Do you care about global warming and the environment?

Do you care for social inclusion?   

Do you think education for adults is interesting and important? 




Welcome to
Come together! Fostering socially inclusive climate education for adults

Training education professionals and empowering disadvantaged individuals and communities: this is the path put forward by this project to address climate change challenges.

This Erasmus+ project aims to connect people using a “listening and learning” approach, in order to share expertise and develop innovative methods and practices in this field.





Building an Interactive Map of the EPIDE Park: A Collective Journey

What happens when a group meets not once, but several times, to create something together? In Come Together, we explored this at the EPIDE center in Montry (France), which supports young adults (18–25) in their social and professional integration.

The site itself is unique: a vast park, a legendary tree, roaming deer and wild boar, and even tales of “bears” meant to discourage nightly escapades. In this setting, we worked with TRACES, an association specialized in tinkering and creative workshops, to build an interactive biodiversity map of the park—over the course of four sessions.

How we did it

Step 1 – Theatrical practices to open dialogue
We began with theatre-inspired exercises, already tested in Paris, to spark conversations. Young participants shared their perceptions of climate, biodiversity, and their daily environment.

Step 2 – Exploring and collecting
The group ventured into the park, gathering feathers, leaves, and sound recordings, while exchanging with experts.

Step 3 – Mapping and annotating
Back indoors, they organized the findings: pressing leaves for a herbarium, printing photos, and labeling discoveries.

Step 4 – Building the interactive map
Everything came together on a wooden board, complete with electronic circuits and soldering so that sounds could be triggered.

Why it worked

  • Multiple roles for everyone: some drew, others recorded sounds, soldered wires, or assembled parts. Everyone could contribute according to their strengths.
  • Expert guidance: arborist Augustin Bonnardot shared stories and knowledge with empathy and generosity.
  • Accessible tools: apps like Pl@ntNet provided support when experts weren’t available.
  • Continuity across sessions: “micro-interviews” at the end of each meeting captured what had struck participants, feeding into the next session.

What we observed

The project created much more than a map.

  • Talents revealed: one participant stood out for electrical skills, another during the final assembly.
  • New passions sparked: some expressed interest in environmental or technical paths.
  • Collective pride: the final map became a beautiful, meaningful object.
  • Essential involvement of staff: supervisors passionate about plants and history played a key role in the project’s depth.
  • Quiet voices matter: some participants engaged later, showing the value of patience and inclusion.

Key takeaways

  • Offer diverse missions so everyone can find their place.
  • Value experts, but also use simple tools to sustain autonomy.
  • Ensure continuity between sessions to build trust.
  • Stay attentive to subtle signs: late engagement can be powerful.

In conclusion

This was a multi-session project built with the EPIDE community—both residents and staff—over four workshops. It showed the value of time, trust, and co-construction, where each person could find a role.

The collaboration continues: one EPIDE group later came to the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie for a mediation session on water and climate challenges.

We warmly thank the young participants, the staff at EPIDE, and TRACES for their energy, ambition, and dedication in creating this interactive map in just four sessions.


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Shifting Postures: Listening and Exchanging Differently with a Researcher

Can a creative workshop open the way to authentic exchanges between the public and a researcher? In Come Together, we tested this idea at the Library of the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie in Paris.

The workshop was part of Les Ateliers de Céline, a program led by Céline, a facilitator known for her creative sessions built around upcycling. In these workshops, participants design and transform everyday objects into something new.

For Come Together, one of these creative meetings welcomed Sybille Jumeaux, a researcher specializing in sustainable food. Around the table, young people from the Feu Vert program of APSV—a scheme supporting social and professional integration—were invited to customize papier-mâché fish while talking about food, habits, and visions for the future.

A creative trigger

The manual activity gave participants freedom to speak—or simply to focus on their creation—without pressure. Each person joined the conversation at their own pace, making the exchange more open and less intimidating.

An informal dialogue with a researcher

Instead of a formal presentation, the discussion was driven by the young participants’ questions and comments. The researcher reacted directly, providing clear answers, building on their ideas, and validating their perspectives.

A complementary duo

The workshop succeeded thanks to the combination of skills. Céline, the creative mediator, guided the manual activity. The researcher brought scientific expertise. Together, they created an environment where participants felt engaged, valued, and free to express themselves.

Why it worked

  • Hands-on activity lowers barriers: creating something with your hands frees the mind, reduces pressure, and sparks conversation.
  • Direct contact with a researcher: many participants rarely meet experts. This encounter gave credibility, recognition, and a sense of being taken seriously.
  • An informal setting fosters authenticity: spontaneous exchanges led to honest reflections, rather than rehearsed answers.

What we observed

This format triggered curiosity, genuine dialogue, and new ideas—not only among the participants but also for the mediator. It opened possibilities for “off-site” sessions in everyday places: canteens, neighborhood centers, or even exploring biodiversity in local parks. The creative activity became a doorway to relevant, place-based discussions on sustainability.

Key takeaways

  • Choose an activity suited to the public’s age and interests.
  • Let the expert respond to participants’ input rather than deliver a lecture.
  • Use creative practice as a tool for expression, not just as a distraction.

In conclusion

Shifting posture means creating a space where people build, exchange, and learn differently. This Come Together workshop showed how a creative gesture, combined with a researcher’s attentive listening, can spark meaningful conversations on sustainable food.

It was a one-off action held at the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie—but one full of lessons. We hope this format will be adapted and reproduced in future sessions with diverse publics.

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When Prison Inmates Design Their Own Mediation Tools - France, May 2025

We often imagine that people in detention are distant from scientific or climate issues. The experience carried out with TRACES, as part of Come Together, proved the opposite.

Over six sessions, a group of inmates in France not only explored scientific content about climate, but also designed tools to share their knowledge with others.

Step by step – building up together

An open starting point
This time, nothing was defined in advance. No imposed topics, no pre-designed formats. Everything grew out of discussions with the group and with the researcher they met. Step by step, participants chose both the themes and the way they wanted to present them.

A remarkable encounter
The group also welcomed Aglaé Jezequel, a climate researcher specializing in extreme weather events. The exchange was particularly lively, full of questions, comments, and personal reflections. For the inmates, this direct dialogue with a scientist was experienced as a rare and valuable moment.

The final choice
From these conversations emerged the idea of creating mini-exhibitions. Each piece featured a flap: on the outside, a question they themselves had raised; on the inside, an answer built from the documents they had read and summarized.

Reading, understanding, synthesizing… at full speed!
What struck us? Their appetite for reading and learning. Articles, studies, documentation: rarely have we seen a group so eager to dive into texts. What was planned for three hours was done in half that time, leaving room for discussions on source reliability, multiple viewpoints, and critical thinking.

Why It worked

  • The absence of a pre-set framework gave the project a true sense of ownership.
  • Their speed and rigor in analyzing documentation showed an exceptional motivation.
  • The flap-format exhibitions turned their own questions into powerful learning devices.
  • The exchange with an expert was experienced as a rare and valuable opportunity.

What We observed

Beyond the tangible outcome, the strongest result was a shared sense of pride.
Pride in reading, understanding, debating. Pride in producing mediation objects that could inform others.

Inmates showed a rigor and speed in handling scientific resources.

 

Key Takeaways

  • Start without a fixed format: let participants choose the themes and outputs.
  • Trust in motivation: even in unexpected contexts, curiosity can drive impressive results.
  • Build mediation tools around their questions, not predefined answers.
  • Ensure experts engage in dialogue, not lectures.

In Conclusion

This series of sessions showed how, by starting from people’s interests, it is possible to build together meaningful mediation tools — even in detention settings. The project highlighted both the potential and the limits of such actions: rich, constructive, but still temporary within a broader context.

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