ISE Newsletter Volume 5, Issue 1 April 2013 Looking Back, Reflections on the 13th ISE Congress Montpellier, France, May 2012 Inside this issue: Contributed by Edmond Dounias, Congress Coordinator Reflections on 1 history of the city, and The general public was the 13th ISE unable to take part in the Congress The UN took the decision to organize Rio + 20 just a few attractions proposed in the On the Ground 2 weeks after the Congress. stands due to the 20,000 in Montpellier overexcited supporters These first four events had a converging in the heart of The Main 4 fairly negative impact on the the city to watch the last Congress preparation and the running match of Montpellier’s Components of the Congress. soccer team on a giant Scientific 4 Inevitable Unforeseen The French elections and the screen (Sunday, May 20) and Colloquium economic crisis significantly then the 30,000 people When, in July 2008, we affected our capacity to raise giving an ovation to the Side Events 5 brought to Cusco the funding and institutional victorious players application of Montpellier to Educational 6 support from the French brandishing the cup host the 13th Congress of the Projects authorities. During the six (Monday, May 21). ISE in 2012, we did not months that preceded the For obvious security reasons, Indigenous 7 anticipate 5 major events: elections, the activities of the Forum we were strongly invited by The French presidential ministries drastically the police to close all the elections to fall in early decreased and nobody Pre- and Post- 10 stands in order to prevent May 2012, wanted to commit to a Congress vandalism and degradation decision concerning an event Workshops An unprecedented and by uncontrollable hooligans. that was going to happen just worldwide economic crisis, ISE Programs 15 after elections whose The fifth unexpected event and Prizes at The worst weather outcomes were uncertain. had a much more positive conditions for the season influence on the outcomes the Congress The unusual bad weather over the past 20 years of the Congress. (chilly with heavy rain) and Emerging Eth- 18 (May in Montpellier is the victory of the Montpellier In 2010, the UN made the nobiologists usually hot and sunny), soccer team severely affected decision to organize Rio+20. The soccer team of the “outdoor” stands of the Initially planned for early Upcoming 22 Montpellier winning the Congress that had been June 2012, the event was Ethnobiologist’s 24 2012 French championship installed on the main postponed for two weeks Bookshelf for the first time in the esplanade of the city. (continued on page 2) From the Editorial Team This issue highlights the 13th ISE Congress that took place in Montpellier, France, in May 2012. We hope you enjoy! Natasha Duarte, Liz Thompson, Sarah-Lan Mathez-Stiefel and Leslie Main Johnson Page 2 ISE Newsletter Reflections on the 13th ISE Congress (continued) and was eventually held one of a Montpellier statement. In the end, even if some month after the Congress. Its preparation was details inevitably did not run For further details as expected, the Congress about the congress, We obtained the support of enthusiastically initiated by came together and was the please visit the the Executive Secretary of ISE members Jan Salick website: the United Nations who (Missouri Botanical Garden) largest in ISE’s history, with http://congress- advertised the Congress on and Pablo Eyzaguirre over 700 people from 75 ise2012.agropolis.fr their website, and the (Bioversity International), and countries in attendance and perspective of this then coordinated and carried is considered by the Society worldwide conference forward by ISE Board Member as an immense success. stimulated the elaboration Gleb Raygorodetsky. On the Ground in Montpellier Contributed by Edmond Dounias, Congress Coordinator Congress Organizers & Sponsors Institute for Development], a research organization devoted to conducting research in, for and with the The aforementioned success wouldn’t have been countries of the South with the support of Agropolis possible without the efforts and contributions of the International, an association linking establishments of Congress organizers and sponsors. research and higher education in Montpellier and the The preparation of the 2012 Congress was headed by Languedoc-Roussillon region involved in the fields of scientists belonging to the two research units of agriculture, food, biodiversity and environment. Montpellier, which federates all researchers of Besides having the support of the United Nations, the Montpellier working in the field of ethnobiology: the Congress benefited from the considerable patronage of research unit “Biocultural interactions” of the Center for UNESCO. It was sponsored by: Functional and Evolutionary Ecology (CEFE), and the research unit “Governance, risk, environment and International organizations development” (GRED). This core group of approximately The Global Environment Facility 20 people worked in close and constant interaction with The Christensen Fund the ISE Board. The Center for International Forestry Research The local institutional organization of the Congress Bioversity International (linked to the ISE through a Memorandum of The International Union for Conservation of Nature Understanding) was coordinated by the Institut de Science and Technology Research Partnership for Recherche pour le Développement [the French Research Sustainable Development Volume 5, Issue 1 Page 3 On the Ground in Montpellier (continued) French institutions and universities Sister associations and NGOs Fonds Français pour l’Environnement Mondial [The Biodiversité: échanges et diffusion d’expériences French Global Environment Facility] (BEDE) [Biodiversity Exchange and Diffusion of Fondation pour la Recherche sur la Biodiversité [The Experiences] Foundation for Research on Biodiversity] Racines de Terriens [Earthling Roots] Institut de recherche pour le développement Forêts Tropicales Humides:Avenir [Tropical [French Research Institute for Development] Rainforests: Future] Le Centre de Coopération Internationale en Rencontres mémorables : Un lien et des ponts pour Recherche Agronomique pour le développement le monde [Memorable encounters: making links and [French Agricultural Research Centre for building bridges]. International Development] The Congress also benefited from the significant financial Agropolis International contribution of the following partners for the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique preparation of pre/post-Congress workshops: [French National Scientific Research Centre] University Montpellier 1, University Montpellier 2, The Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas University Montpellier 3 Consortium The French focal point of the Man and Biosphere The Global Diversity Foundation Programme of UNESCO The Rachel Carson Center For Environment and Society Territorial authorities and state bodies The Sentimiel Initiative The Languedoc-Roussillon Region The Missouri Botanical Garden The Hérault General Council The Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew The Montpellier Urban Area Community The Gaia Foundation The City of Montpellier The Ministry of Higher Education and Research The Regional Directorate for Food, Agricultural and Forests The Regional Directorate for Environment, Development and Housing The Academy of Montpellier The Montpellier Regional Centre for Pedagogical Resources Media Coverage Social Media at the Congress The Congress was well covered by the media at the local Social media capabilities were available at the 2012 and national levels. A webTV was prepared jointly by the Congress to engage participants as well as those who three universities of Montpellier, including live reports were unable to attend the live event. Please see the list every evening. All the media hits of the Congress (25 of sites where ISE had an online presence. We welcome videos, 1 TV news report, 3 radio news reports, and your tweets, likes, images and follows and look forward press review of 15 journal articles) are accessible on the to hearing from you! Agropolis International website. This page also gives access to the video of the Montpellier statement read Our sites Social Media WebTV by Mrs. Hélène Mandroux, Mayor of Montpellier, during Rio+20. Another interesting video was filmed and edited by Reka Komaromi and is also accessible on Youtube and Facebook. Page 4 ISE Newsletter On the Ground in Montpellier (continued) Congress Theme Cultural diversity and biological hosting region as a source of diversity for sustainable inspiration, we wished to question the The overarching theme for the 2012 development: Exploring the past to history of human-induced changes for ISE Congress was highly build up the future. a better understanding of the complementary with the historical components and dynamics of current background and the intrinsic The remarkable diversity in space and global biodiversity. dynamism of the Montpellier region. time of both natural environments and human societies has contributed Congress participants were Because this region has been to a complex structure of these encouraged to focus on their influenced by its long and coupled systems. Human societies understanding of past human multicultural traditions as well as have progressively shaped the various activities as a means to develop more recent development, we decided to landscapes of the Mediterranean sustainable patterns of natural include all these themes under the region. resource management