For one year, the Arlon campus went outside its walls to share its knowledge with its ecosystem. Since 1971, the Arlon campus has tackled the environmental issue from different angles, from the perspective of sociology, engineering, agronomy, economics, geography, etc. A scientific approach that is now urgent and transversal. In this context of doubt and environmental, economic, political and scientific legitimacy crises, it seemed essential for the members of this small campus (70 employees for less than 200 students) to reinvent themselves. To recast itself in a new identity that is more in line with the movement, with the ecological transition, starting by identifying new stories to share. Agora citoyenne, laboratory visits, the Nourrir Arlon Festival, reflections on North-South relations, citizen participation on environmental issues (cooperation, climate, energy, housing, water, air, health, agriculture, etc.), a conference by Cyril Dion, etc. In nine key moments full of events in a variety of formats, the GO Transition·s project has become a huge citizen, scientific, democratic, convivial, social and ecological laboratory. At the end of this year, the overhaul of the campus identity is still in progress. The issue of ecological transition has given way to a long-term project. This will be followed by a strategic plan with a horizon of 2030, in line with the particularities of the campus and its territory. DIVERSITY AS A NEW IDENTITY Wanting to change the way the world works means above all acting locally and seeking new methods of governance. “Materially, the campus covers 6 hectares,” recalls Pierre Stassart, President of the Department of Environmental Sciences and Management. “It is land and buildings and a region that are all interdependent. We can choose how to manage this heritage, and have a real sustainable impact on it. More broadly, the third pillar of the university, after teaching and research, is service to citizenship. To us, this seems Pierre Stassart President of the Department of Environmental Sciences and Management 3.7 GO Transition·s: A Year to Change Course to be inseparable from our intentions. Firstly, it was a question of decompartmentalising the various research teams so that dialogue and synergies could be created through new channels, while taking care to include all those who are easily excluded from debates and invisibilised in traditional decision-making processes: citizens, young researchers, women, etc. This meant organising contrasting events in which each person could invest according to their strengths. Many new profiles were revealed during this year. This collaborative work could not be achieved in a top-down model.” STUDENT-CITIZENS Another community specific to the campus, another driving force: the students. “Mobilising them is not easy,” confesses Pierre Stassart. “However, the history of campuses shows us that students are important agents of change. Perhaps even more so today, as we can see that their quest for meaning is on the rise, and that it is shaking up the balance of power, even in the workplace. Responding to this evolution through training adapted to the world that awaits them is an area that we must explore. And co-constructing the transition means including them. Yet they do not always feel legitimate as interlocutors, actors and accomplished citizens. There is a membrane that they do not cross, and it is up to us to pierce it. Within the framework of GO Transition·s, once the students had been challenged and mobilised, sometimes one by one, some of them became involved. In particular, they designed the closing day of the project around the visit of Cyril Dion, which resulted in a meeting with the students, a conference on the role of cinema in the creation of imaginaries and a debate with various actors of the transition and the academic world.” A particularity of Arlon is the large proportion of students from sub-Saharan Africa. “There is a potential to be seized there. Because although ecological transitions must be anchored locally, they have global consequences. The realities of the North and the South are interdependent, and at the same time crossed by the history of exploitation, colonialism and unequal levels of economic development which must be integrated into the debates.” ALLIANCES AND SYNERGIES The transition is not automatic. Many actors are still caught up in a certain inertia. “We have to be creative in the way we build new links. The inclusiveness of GO Transition·s has stimulated new dynamics bringing together actors who are already committed, and opening up the field of possibilities. For example, the ULiège Campus in Arlon has joined forces with the Hénallux and HERS colleges to co-sign the Alliance Transition Écologique (Ecological Transition Alliance) declaration of intent. This alliance represents 5,000 students in the region! It will be able to continue to open up the possibilities in terms of transition and feed new narratives with even greater resonance. Gradually, other actors in the region are becoming involved. This is the case of the Libramont Cultural Centre, and before that of the Maison de la Culture in Arlon, which hosted Cyril Dion’s conference. A conference for which all 600 seats in the hall were occupied. Do we need more proof that there is an expectation, a need, for something else to build together? In the midst of a crisis of political and scientific legitimacy, GO Transition·s reinforced the role of the University as a democratic, civic and creative actor at the heart of a territory. Pierre Stassart sees the modest size of his campus as an asset. “We find it easier to break down inertia and try out pilot experiments. The University can take advantage of this and deploy different laboratories for experimenting with the ecological transition, applying methods that encourage a diversity of approaches, new dynamics and local anchoring.” 20 | ANNUAL REPORT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AT ULIÈGE | 2021 – 2022 21 | ANNUAL REPORT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AT ULIÈGE | 2021 – 2022
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