Blois Chambord Pont Jacques Gabriel 2022 08 03 09 45 00Blois Chambord Pont Jacques Gabriel 2022 08 03 09 45 00
©Blois Chambord Pont Jacques Gabriel 2022 08 03 09 45 00

The Loire in person Carrying the river's voice

At a time when biodiversity is under threat, the Centre-Val de Loire region is taking its ecological destiny into its own hands with the founding of the Parlement de Loire. Fauna, flora, tangible and intangible components of the river will be represented.

In the Middle Ages, animals could be tried in court in the same way as human beings; in the 21st century, they may have a seat and a representative in the National Assembly. Since 2017, New Zealand’s Whanganui River has been the first non-human entity to have legal status, closely followed by India’s Ganges and Yamuna rivers in the same year.

With the foundation of a dedicated parliament, the Loire would become the first river in Europe to be democratically represented. Spurred on by the POLAU (Pôle arts & urbanisme) in Tours as part of the 500th anniversary of the Renaissance, with the “Génies génie” project on waste recovery and the energy transition of territories, this idea brought together the Centre-Val de Loire Region, CICLIC (Centre regional agency for books, images and digital culture), the Val de Loire Mission and the COAL art and ecology association.

Under the aegis of jurist and author Camille de Toledo, scientists, philosophers such as Bruno Latour, thinker of the parliament of things, jurists, but also boatmen and fishermen reflected on the creation of this institution which would defend the Loire against polluters. According to Apolline Fluck, in charge of Arts and Territories resources and communications at POLAU, “it’s a possible response to the challenges of preserving biodiversity […] by representing the interests of all the living and non-living entities of the river, with a systemic vision”.

How and by whom should the river be represented? What are the objectives and functioning of the parliament? What non-human interests do we urgently need to defend? Citizens are invited to take part, via a Facebook page, in this process of reflection, the initial conclusions of which are to be submitted to the national parliament in 2020, the year of the 20th anniversary of the river’s classification as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With the Loire Parliament comes the hope of a common destiny for all living beings.

Vers un parlement de Loire
Vers un parlement de Loire
Vers un parlement de Loire

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