Rêve général

Next spring, three marquees will give the Sart-Tilman campus a festive air. The Arsenic2 company - in partnership with the Centre d'Action Laïque de la Province de Liège (CAL) - is proposing to "reconcile art and science, and help re-enchant the world". From 2 to 22 April, a festival of shows and concerts, a host of lectures and round tables will set the university community's heart beating. We take a first look at the event with four researchers who the initiative has won over.

Remember, it was 2006 in France. Young people everywhere were mobilising against the "CPe" bill, the "contrat première embauche" (first job contract), which they felt would make work even more precarious. A first experience of struggle. Two film-makers, Daniela de Felice and Matthieu Chatellier, set out to accompany the striking students in Caen, who were barricaded inside their university. Their documentary (G)rêve général(e) brings the event to life and reveals a collective project driven by the urgent desire to "dream their lives together".

It was in reference to this high point that the Arsenic2 stage centre came up with the idea of a "General Dream" festival with a citizen's perspective, a festival that would mobilise people around a number of major issues of concern: food, health, migration and environmental issues, including the theme of gender. "While it echoes the anti-CPE movement of 2006, the 'Rêve général' motif also harks back to the 1960s and 1970s and the climate of protest and joyful, positive proposals of that era," notes Grégory Cormann, lecturer in the Department of Philosophy. It's the spirit of 1968 that's being evoked, the need to think and act collectively, the desire to get together to make things happen. Times have changed: 1968 was the time of decolonisation, of the second wave of feminism, of the call for liberation from bourgeois mores. Today, climate change is at the heart of our concerns, and perhaps more broadly, political change at all levels. So what we need is a reactivation of our social and political history, new times of interruption, celebration and collective expression. The slightly crazy idea that, for three weeks, a place should be reserved for dreams, but collective dreams, that another future is possible".

Rector Anne-Sophie Nyssen jumped at the chance. "I'm delighted that the University is involved in the project, she says. The big top will inevitably create a surprise and contribute to the dynamic creativity that the organisers are hoping for, and which I fully support. Reconciling art and science with the same objective, that of fuelling discussion, sparking debate and, why not, bringing artists and researchers face to face, seems to me to be a salutary move and opens up exciting prospects. I'm delighted that the University is also a welcoming place for artists and the general public."

Contacted by Arsenic2 and CAL, Pierre Ozer, lecturer in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Management at Arlon (and co-founder of the "Nourrir Liège" festival), said: "Our times are facing major challenges because of climate change. No scientist doubts this any more: the fires and floods of recent years and the scorching summers in Europe have finally convinced people. But what about the political authorities? In Europe - in England, Poland and Hungary, but also in Belgium and France - we are witnessing a retreat from the urgency of the measures to be taken. People are dithering. And yet the lake is on fire!"

2024, AN ELECTION YEAR

In Belgium, the year 2024 will be punctuated by elections at all levels of government (municipal, regional, federal and European), against a difficult economic and social backdrop. Most of our students have never voted," says Pierre Ozer. I think that the University needs to raise their awareness and draw their attention to the major issues facing our societies. I know that there are already courses on climate change and its consequences, and others will be coming out shortly. But I believe that the acquisition of knowledge and the understanding of phenomena also involve the senses and emotions. The theatre (like literature and the arts in general) seems to me to be the ideal medium for revealing, bearing witness and moving people. That's why I applauded the proposal by the Arsenic2 company and the CAL and, with the agreement of the Rector Anne-Sophie Nyssen, I'm taking my colleagues on this adventure."

The idea is to make room for an artistic look at the key issues at the start of the 21st century. Several shows will address the themes of the food transition, migration, health, gender, climate and social inequalities. The performances will be open to the entire university community, staff and students alike. "They will often be followed by a lecture, a master class or a round table organised by a lecturer. But there will also be readings, concerts, film screenings, evenings hosted by student artists and the Ligue d'improv, etc.", explains Pierre Ozer. The same theme will be explored from different angles, by actors, journalists, associations, teachers and special guests. "My aim is to act on our imaginations, to shake up our mental representations. Weaving together the different disciplines and viewpoints will give substance to what we say. And I'm convinced that, from the clash of ideas, other values, other priorities and new proposals will emerge in the face of urgency."

PLACE FOR DREAMS, FOR COLLECTIVE PROJECTS

"I'm delighted that the authorities have agreed to make the University a genuine partner in the festival and that they are encouraging students to attend. "Rêve général' combines the individual and collective dimensions of emancipation," says Grégory Cormann (also co-director of the Matérialités de la politique centre), who has already experimented with similar arrangements." In 2019, Jeremy Hamers (a lecturer in film studies) and I worked with the Nimis Groupe, a group of actors brought together by the need to question the European Union's migration policies. Their show - "Ceux que j'ai rencontrés ne m'ont peut-être pas vu"- was performed at the Manège de la Caserne Fonck and we organised a colloquium and seminars alongside the performances. The aim was to bring colleagues and students face to face with the reality of migration, through a production that was as close to reality as possible. The aim was twofold: to carry out a rigorous investigation into the reality of European policies, and to create a work of art that would mobilise people.

This year, the Nimis Groupe is putting on another show - Portraits sans paysage - which gives a voice to the citizens and professionals who meet exiles (lawyers, activists, police officers, Fedasil officials, etc.). "The play shows, without making us feel guilty, the complexity of our attachments and makes us question our own behaviour. What is the nature of our commitment? What are our limits when faced with people who simply want a better life? With Jeremy Hamers, we are used to working with the many associations in Liège that welcome migrants (Migrations libres collective, la Voix des sans-papiers, etc.) to include them in the debates and listen to them. By reporting on their actions, these associations produce knowledge that feeds our thinking. This is one of the challenges facing our disciplines: how can we look reality in the face, lucidly? We will discuss these questions with the students, emphasising that the philosopher or intellectual is not an expert; he or she questions knowledge and measures it against his or her capacity for commitment".

In 2019, the students really appreciated this exercise, which is a bit out of the ordinary. And their demand is growing," notes Grégory Cormann. They want the major issues of our time (climate, gender, migration, biodiversity) to be addressed in the courses, in the bachelor's degree. Providing answers to these questions is a new challenge for universities. The Festival will be an opportunity to tackle contemporary issues, a way of bringing together sometimes divergent points of view on the challenges of our time, in a non-aggressive, debating tone. That's my hope, even if I know that some colleagues feel that ecology, decolonial or gender issues have no place in lecture halls.

MOVING UP A GEAR

Sybille Mertens, Professor at HEC-École de gestion, Director of the Centre d'économie sociale and advisor to the Rector, fully supports this initiative: "Environmental disruption is forcing us to change our habits, our priorities and our way of life. We need to change society, change our society. It's our job to explain this in our lessons. But all this information won't be enough: we need to reach citizens and students in other ways, through emotion in particular. It's the combination of sensitive and cognitive approaches that will get things moving and get people moving.

Sybille Mertens continues: "What interests me about this festival is the collective aspect. Of course, we're all individually aware and we're all doing something for the planet. And that's important. But we need to move up a gear and not individualise responsibility, which leads either to dead ends or to personal discouragement. We need collective action and decisions, especially as political decisions have a much greater impact. My hope is that the festival, by bringing together the public, students, researchers, teachers and members of the administration, will give rise to ideas and projects. The Food and Earth Belt (now a key initiative) was first discussed at a colloquium initiated by students. Collective discussions are often the crucible for great projects".

She adds: "In my opinion, the University must set the tone. In terms of food transition, for example: if it decided that, from now on, university restaurants would offer organic and local food, that would set a standard. It would become a decisive player when it comes to food. It would send out a strong signal, like ISOSL, which delivers 12,000 meals a day to schools using local produce. The University, the Ceinture Aliment-Terre and Liège Métropole are also joining forces in a new "Food Policy Council" to encourage this dynamic transition towards a resilient food system throughout the Greater Liège area. We could do the same in the field of energy and mobility, basing our decisions on our scientific expertise."

ULiège counts in the public sphere. It has the critical mass to show that change is not only essential, but achievable. There are strong expectations on the part of students for an education that is in line with the challenges of our time, and for coherent action on the part of the University. This could reduce the eco-anxiety that we see among them.

Organising a festival like this is a godsend for journalism students," points out David Leloup, lecturer in the media, culture and communication department and coordinator of the master's degree in journalism. Firstly, because they will be able to take an active part in the event and, secondly, because the role of the media is constantly highlighted in the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The former freelance investigative journalist and co-founder of Médor goes on to say: "The media are reacting to the request of the IPCC, which, in its sixth report, stresses their role in raising public awareness, an essential step towards transforming our societies. The press has always defended values such as freedom of expression, freedom of opinion and, more recently, tax justice with the revelations of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) on offshore companies. So why not get involved in providing information on climate justice, another global issue on which the media can also make a difference? In Liège, the magazine Imagine, for which I worked at the start of my career, has shown the way and taken on a form of media social responsibility. It has been emulated in recent years: there are more and more news programmes on ecology and journalists are more willing to question government policies in the light of climate change".

This awakening of newsrooms to the ecological emergency is reflected in a "Charter* for journalism that meets the ecological emergency", published in September 2022 and signed by nearly 2,000 journalists. "In 13 points, the charter calls for climate issues to be dealt with across the board, showing their links with the loss of biodiversity and social injustice. It encourages them to reveal the strategies of certain lobbies to sow doubt, to investigate the responses to the crisis, and to practise low-carbon journalism. In short, it encourages professionals to take a critical look at our society, our economic growth model and our consumption patterns. We recently set up 'Imp4ct', the ULiège journalism students' investigative unit. It has just signed this charter, because we are convinced that the 'fourth estate' is part of the solution.

David Leloup concludes: "Our students are naturally concerned by the environmental crisis. They recently took part in the 'Climate Fortnight' organised here at the school. They will be involved in a wide range of activities at the festival, including hosting debates, presenting their research, producing radio programmes and live broadcasts, recording conferences and broadcasting them, etc."

Festival website