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