ELASA Annual meeting - 31 July - 9 August 2023, France
We are pleased to welcome you for the 2023 edition of ELASA annual meeting in France. After the mini meeting in Austria in May, join us on the road from Paris to the sea! We will talk about food, tasting new flavour and discovering various landscapes.
Why Foodscapes?
Traditionally, France is a big farming producer. Big fields and grasslands represent mostly half of the country. Nowadays, global warming, drought and ecological awareness lead to an evolution of agricultural practices, a change of scale production and a proliferation of local initiatives. Food became a subject of society, a way to gather people and create a link with nature.
Foodscapes, or edible landscapes, means on the one hand we are part of the world, we need to take care of it as it’s taking care of us, providing food in addition to many other benefits. On the other hand, it means that landscape architecture is a bond between people and their territory. It can make food production, social links and ecological issues work together to invent and find eco-friendly and human friendly ways of production and consumption. What is an edible landscape and how can it be a guideline to build a living world for tomorrow?
France has a large diversity of farming production, impacted landscapes and human territories. Initiatives for an eco-friendly and local agricultural production increase at various scales, from individual action to global decisions. It seemed important to us to approach the subject and show you some examples : how landscape architects, producers, cities, organizations take up the issue of producing food in an unpredictable future.
Which Foodscapes? During our trip, we will present you several projects gathering landscape and food production issues: Urban farming, Crop fields, Shared garden, Vineyard Market gardening, Salt production, Wild edible plants
N.B. We are part of an ecosystem, we are not alone. Therefore, we should always take into consideration the needs of other living beings. Even if we don’t eat something, it doesn’t mean that it’s useless, and it may be vital for another species.
This 9-day trip is planned with site visits, workshops, lectures. We will take you with us from Paris to the Atlantic Ocean, through various and amazing (food) landscapes.
Arrival day 31 July_ Meeting-up in Paris and getting to know each other
1st day - 01 August Site visits in Paris _ Urban farming and other projects, International Dinner
2nd day - 02 August Versailles _ Vegetable garden of the King Louis XIV and contemporary agricultural landscapes
3th day - 03 August Blois _ Lectures and visit of the International Gardens Festival in Chaumont-sur-Loire
4th day - 04 August Vallée de la Loire (Loire’s Valley) _ Tour in the Vallée de la Loire between vinescapes and polycultures
5th day - 05 August Nantes, urban foodscapes _ Sites visits of projects in Nantes
6th day - 06 August Nantes _ Free visits and fun times together
7th day - 07 August - Regional Natural Park of Brière _ Site visits of market gardens, wetlands and walt production in Guérande.
8th day - 08 August Workshop day _ Thinking about food production as landscape architects; Funtimes and relaxing at the beach!
9th day - 09 August Time to say goodbye _ Individual departures from La Baule
ELASA stands for European Landscape Architecture Student Association, which is a support for cooperation and exchange of ideas among all european students within the association. ELASA represents landscape architecture students in meeting of the European and global professional and educational landscape architecture organisations like IFLA (International Federation of Landscape Architects), IFLA Europe (European Region of the International Federation of Landscape Architects) and ECLAS (European Council of Landscape Architecture Schools). ELASA also actively participates in the LE: NOTRE project (Landscape Education: New Opportunities for Teaching and Research in Europe) of ECLAS.
Nowadays, the association has around 1000 members. Being a member of ELASA means staying informed about internships opportunities, LA-happenings, workshops, competitions, Erasmus-exchange feedback, and many others information about landscape architecture through ELASA’s mailing list. In this way, the association gives a common support for developing ideas and concepts about landscape architecture across Europe.
For more information, please visit https://elasafrance2023.wixsite.com/elasa-france-2023
