On the mountain of Céüse, transition in practice

Nearly 200 people attended the “What transition for the Céüse territory?” evening debate on January 15, organized by the Master’s program in Sustainable Management of Mountain Territories (GDTM) at the Gap university center and the Idées de demain association, in partnership with the Transitions des territoires de montagne – 2TM association. Broadcast on Zoom and Facebook-live, it was moderated by Mikaël Chambru (Gresec), lecturer at Grenoble Alpes University and researcher at Labex ITTEM.

Local elected representatives, socio-professional players and researchers shared their analyses and points of view on two themes:

• What climate change is doing to the socio-economic model of mountain regions, and the issues this raises in terms of transition;
• How to implement an ecological transition in the Céüse mountains, and what socio-territorial innovations are needed?

There was unanimous agreement that there is potential for a successful ecological transition in this area, based on the site’s natural resources, its history and its imagination, and with the support of citizen participation and the involvement of local elected representatives in a new territorial project.

“At Céüse, while institutional players and associations worry about the future of the resort, questioning its reconversion, its adaptation to climate change and its ecological transition, “ordinary” sports enthusiasts, mainly locals, are quietly inventing possible sustainable sports for Céüse. In this case, change is achieved through practice, without a sudden break,” explains Cécilia Claeys, senior lecturer in sociology at Aix-Marseille University, co-director of the GDTM Master’s program and scientific coordinator of the study Les pratiques récréatives de pleine nature à Céüse. Etat des lieux et perspectives d’adaptation au changement climatique (View the study [PDF])

This evening debate is part of a wider public consultation project, “Montagne de Céüse 4 saisons”, launched at the beginning of the year by local stakeholders.

[PDF] See the press release for the event

Listen to the conference via Facebook replay.