“We want to move the lines, provoke the politicians”, proclaims, full of hope, Damien Grimont, co-director and founder of the project “The Arch “. With a delegation of business leaders, the organizers of this unclassifiable event have an appointment this Wednesday in Brussels, at the European Parliament, to present “100 concrete and innovative solutions” that will contribute to the “ecological shift of the economic fabric”. These ” 100 answers for the planet” all come from the private sector. They concern the areas of housing, food, mobility or industry. They are carried by companies, identified and supported by the association The Arch after a process of several months.
“We are convinced that it is high time to take action to face the world of tomorrow, justifies Damien Grimont. We therefore went to source effective solutions throughout Europe. We selected 100 out of 300 proposals collected in 18 countries. They have already demonstrated their viability. Our ambition now is to accelerate them so that they can develop. »
“Revolutionary Things”
Among the ideas proposed, some are “very technical, others more poetic”. A French start-up proposes, for example, to transform urban lighting by using the luminescence of plants. Another wants to convert acoustic energy to produce heat or cold. Yet another wants to create fibers from some kind of sea lichen. An Italian company is developing intelligent pedestrian crossings. A Belgian company wants to combine a wastewater treatment plant and an outdoor swimming pool. A Serbian start-up promises to optimize the yield of hives thanks to artificial intelligence. A Danish team proposes to use robots to promote eco-responsible fishing in the seabed…
“There are revolutionary things in the list, it’s even crazy that they haven’t had more of an echo than that so far,” enthuses Damien Grimont. We want to contribute to change by making their voices heard. MEPs, if they are alone, will not be able to do much. Only collective action will make it possible to move up a gear. »
Sailing tour of Europe and seminar on a liner
Before their presentation to the European Parliament on Wednesday, the 100 solutions were promoted, from March 18 to May 30, in several European countries via a tour of the maxi-trimaran of sailor Francis Joyon. They were then presented, as part of an exhibition, last week in Saint-Nazaire. Then a seminar bringing together solution providers, experts, associations and funders was organized in recent days between Saint-Nazaire and Amsterdam aboard the liner. MSc Euribia.
A mode of transport that has earned The Arch criticism, with ocean liners having a reputation for polluting. “The boat left Saint-Nazaire empty. Our presence on board therefore did not change much. It was an opportunity”, defends Damien Grimont, who regrets that we “often prefer to speak of negative when we speak of ecology”. “You have to switch to the positive and press what works,” he insists. Our approach with the 100 solutions is exactly this. »