The Workshop: Perspective is a series of workshops organized by CEDTI that raises awareness among the public and stakeholders on a particular theme related to spatial transformation. The workshop is a free space where different participants are invited to share their expertise and point of view with the aim of giving rise to crossed views and exploring the different facets of a particular situation. The Workshop: Perspective takes place twice a year and the exchanges are published in the CEDTI online publication.
Concept note
When it comes to new occupations on land, at sea or in the air, there are two opposing forces: on the one hand, a push for change and development, and on the other, activism for the defense and integrity of the environment. These tensions appear almost exclusively when a development is envisaged. But how does a place defend itself if it has no rights? The recently proposed Environment Bill in Mauritius takes an anthropocentric approach to protection. It states that "It is declared that every person shall use his best endeavours to preserve and enhance the quality of life by caring responsibly for the environment " (Environmental Bill 2024). This approach raises questions about our relationship with the environment: is it simply a way to improve our quality of life as citizens?
Is the very term "environment" always appropriate when we talk about our landscapes? What about their own voices, these ecosystems, these rivers, these valleys? Don't they have the right to be right? How do we respond to this voice as residents, experts, planners or decision-makers? Does this voice deserve rights, whether it undergoes transformations or not? How can we preserve this voice during the construction or deconstruction of our infrastructure, when sometimes we arrive to invest and sometimes, we are forced to leave? In these times when the landscape is being heard in a tumultuous way with the climate crises, shouldn't we listen to it all the time?
In this regard, CEDTI wishes to bring together stakeholders - from science to planning, from policies to citizens - to discuss together around a workshop the issues related to the recognition of the territory as a subject of law in Mauritius. This workshop, organized in the form of a large round table, will be deployed around three objectives:
· Introduction and presentation of the issues of recognition of environmental and landscape rights: Discuss the fundamental principles and current needs of environmental rights.
· Development of concrete hypotheses to integrate these rights into land tenure policies and practices: Propose practical solutions to climate crises, drawing on successful examples and taking into account the challenges encountered.
· Fostering transdisciplinary and intersectoral exchanges between actors: Encouraging collaboration between scientists, urban planners, policymakers and citizens to develop a common vision and shared strategies.
The discussions of this workshop will be the subject of a first online issue of a CEDTI journal. We invite researchers, policy makers, urban planners and citizens interested in these issues to join us for this workshop.
See you on August 22, 2024 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the French Institute of Mauritius, Rose-Hill. The public registration is open until Monday 19th August 2024
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