The Ecology Show

 What is it?

TheSalon de l'Ecologieis the annual national event for the professional ecology sector. It is sponsored by theUniversity of Montpellier andorganized by ASdE*. Its purpose isto bring togetherpublic and private professional organizations, to introduce students to theseentities andto raise public awarenessof current ecological issues.

*ASdE is the Association du Salon de l'Ecologie, made up of students from the Master of Engineering in Ecology and Biodiversity Management (Master IEGB).

 Where is it?

It takes place inMontpellier, a renowned location for French and international scientific ecology. This is due to the ecological wealth of the Mediterranean ecoregion, ranked as one of theworld's biodiversity hotspots, and to the renown of the laboratories of the Centre Méditerranéen de l'Environnement et de la Biodiversité (LabEx CeMEB), and also thanks to Montpellier's territorial policy, one of the first cities in France to have made biodiversity a genuine local development strategy.

 The idea

The lack of understanding of professional ecology, and therefore of ecologists, is the observation that gave rise to our Salon. The challenge of distinguishing it from political ecology, and therefore from ecologists, was all the more important as this professional sector brings together many invested and committed players: it's a concentration of enthusiasts who are professionally involved in protecting the environment and nature. The aim was tohighlight the professionalization of the various players, and to unite them in a dynamic of development and communication with society. With the creation of over 3,000 jobs between 2002 and 2010**, the professional ecology sector has established itself in the socio-economic landscape alongside other "green growth" sectors and during the Grenelle Environment Forum. The Salon de l'Ecologie welcomes the network of all ecologists, promoting and highlighting this professional sector in all its diversity and dimensions. The other challenge lies in the Salon's relationship with thegeneral public: to raise awareness of the fact that the ecological crisis lies at the heart of our country's economic and social crises, and is at once a cause, a challenge and a solution. As well as being a sector of the future, an opportunity for development and innovation, ecology is about living in balance with our environment, a vision that is becoming increasingly important thanks to a general awareness of the finiteness of our planet.

** : economic data on the ecology industry (Comité de domaine biodiversité).

 Assets

The great strength of our event lies in breaking down the barriers between different sectors of the ecology industry, thanks tothe diversity of the speakers present atthe show. The aim is to bring together players and audiences who didn't have this opportunity before. Researchers, engineers, technicians and students from associations, administrations, local authorities, public establishments, companies large and small, as well as the general public, are brought together around a unifying theme: ecology.

TheSalonde l'Ecologiedefends its professional and scientific values through arigorous and expertprogram, but above all through its commitment to a humanity driven bythe common goal of protecting nature.

The Ecology Show 2019