Which digital for which society ?

The Scientific Days on Environment are a multidisciplinary event for discoveries and debates around environmental research in Val-de-Marne. Open to all concerned citizens, as well as students, researchers, local actors, and territorial agents, they provide a synthesis of recent knowledge on a current topic. Roundtable discussions involving professionals and the public offer an opportunity for direct exchanges in addition to scientific presentations.

On Thursday, March 16th, students from the Master's program in Socio-Environmental Transformations (TSE, with a focus on political science) and the Master's program in Socio-Political Studies of Globalization (ESPG, with a focus on European and international studies) had the opportunity to facilitate climate and digital frescoes workshops for this audience. It was a highly interesting exercise for the facilitators as the audience was well-informed. This result in the creation of some magnificient frescoes by the participants.

This 34th edition of the SDE was titled "Sobriety in all its forms: defining, understanding, taking action." Several scientific communities and whistleblowers have drawn attention to the necessity of sobriety in today's public discourse. Regardless of the path our civilization takes in the face of planetary limits, sobriety will be either freely chosen or imposed. Chosen sobriety requires societal choices that sometimes touch on philosophical foundations. In the latter case, ecological imperatives or scarcity will lead to economic and social impacts.

Therefore, the goal was to define the concept and understand all its variations in order to make informed choices. On the economic front, the connection between the notion of sobriety and the older concept of degrowth was explored. Lastly, attention was given to the evolution of certain sectors and local initiatives, providing concrete examples of what sobriety can entail.

Written by Victor Pires Henriques

Translated by Dylan Breviere