Sheep grazing, installation of a beehive, a vegetable garden, and soon a butterfly house … Blaise-Pascal high school, in Orsay (Essonne), is not very exotic for Zoé Texier, a young eco-delegate who “comes from the countryside”. “When I arrived in town, I was afraid of losing my closeness to nature, I was very surprised to see that,” she says with pride. This Tuesday, the young girl went to Paris La Défense Arena to present her high school as part of the competition
School Cube, in favor of the energy transition.
Like ten other establishments in Ile-de-France, the Lycée Blaise-Pascal is committed to reducing its energy consumption as much as possible over the next five years. Other engaged in the competition on
Le Corbusier high school d ‘Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis) with his Wattsbusters team who roam the corridors of the establishment to turn off the lights and stick awareness stickers. Simple actions with a definite impact: by replacing traditional lights with LEDs, the association plans to reduce its annual energy consumption by 80,000 kilowatt hours.
“It gives meaning to learning”
Working in favor of ecology “gives meaning to learning”, according to Olivier Trony, teacher at Le Corbusier. “It is not only a citizen and voluntary approach, it is also professional. The Aubervilliers teachers set up interdisciplinary projects, align the practical and lectures. Finally, even the less green “say to themselves that it can bring something”, says Nadir, one of these students. “There, I really have the impression of bringing my stone to the building”, adds Zoe.
An important step, especially “for young people who, like us, suffer from eco anxiety”, confides Léo, former ecodelegate of Blaise Pascal. Environmental associations allow them to feel heard. “When I see the attitude of my family, which refuses to change its behavior, to understand, I understand the importance of the role of young people,” continues Zoe.
The place of young people in ecology
“They are the future leaders,” recalls Nathalie Nabli, SVT teacher at Blaise-Pascal high school. They must be trained and above all informed so that they are not susceptible to influence. The teacher explains the IPCC reports to them, gives them the keys to successfully defending their ideas. The future of ecology “passes first of all through the young people who refuse the stagnation that we had in our time”, she adds.
In Blaise-Pascal as in Le Corbusier, the teaching teams leave a great deal of freedom to the pupils. Nathalie Nabli specifies that they “do all the work in its entirety, find the ideas, set up the project, and even evaluate it at the end. A way to let them work for the environment in their own way, without being too moralistic or too alarmist, and to trust them. “They have a lot of ideas to remake the world. “