In 2021, our collective of foundations and endowment funds from the Alpine region launched a joint call for projects titled “Imagine Your Mountains.” Its mission: to support and develop youth engagement in mountain protection by offering grants to project leaders.
This collective is currently composed of 11 funds and foundations: the Banque Populaire Auvergne Rhône Alpes Foundation, the Caisse d’Epargne Rhône Alpes Foundation, the Childhood and Mountain Endowment Fund, the Essentiem Endowment Fund, the Glénat Corporate Foundation, the Mountain in Cinema Corporate Foundation, the Petzl Corporate Foundation, the Poma Corporate Foundation, the Snowleader Corporate Foundation, the Terres d’Initiatives Solidaires Foundation, and the Université Grenoble Alpes Foundation.
LOCALISATION
Northern Alps – Haute-Savoie
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
9 000 € (2023)
“Alpes-Là” acts for transitions in the French Alps through various projects that combine mountain experiences, awareness of good environmental and safety practices, valorization of the human and cultural specificities of the territories, direct action on the environments through the implementation of biodiversity-friendly practices, and reduction of transport impact. For example, the association has published the Mobiguide 50 hikes in Isère without a car.
The association aims to deploy its escape game “Save Lago” for young people. This collaborative game consists of 6 universes in which participants will highlight the main environmental threats before overcoming them. Each universe is illustrated and contains several puzzles to solve in order to progress through the story to its resolution. The escape game is followed by a discussion session to anchor knowledge, share emotions, and imagine actions to implement.
The game will be offered to approximately 500 young people in the Alps between April and August 2023, thanks to a large cycling tour organized by the game’s founder. It will be deployed even more widely from 2024 onwards through its availability to the general public.
LOCALISATION
Northern Alps – Haute-Savoie
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
6 000 € (2023)
The primary objective of For My Planet is to promote ecology and citizenship by developing cultural and scientific activities with an ecological, civic, and social character aimed at children and young people. For My Planet is a school for social and environmental citizenship whose goal is to provide teenagers with the tools and means to tackle the ecological and social challenges of our time and to put them into action. The association advocates that taking action is a driver of transition. “As soon as we start moving, whatever action we decide to take, no matter how small, we initiate the transition. An environmental and social transition for our society. Also, a personal inner transition because yes, taking action makes us happy,” declares the founder.
A group of middle school students, accompanied by supervising teachers, enters the “Protect Ice & Reduce Waste” program every year. This program consists of 10 motivated Sentinels per college (in France). The association started with 2 colleges, then 3, and has reached 6 in 2023.
Led into the field by professionals to confront social and environmental issues, they are sensitized and trained during the school year. With this knowledge, they implement eco-citizen actions of their choice (waste collection, community garden, visits to nursing homes, etc.). Subsequently, they create a series of conferences to inspire and engage all their classmates, family, and friends in daily action.
As a highlight, they all come together for a scientific expedition in Chamonix in April to finalize their training cycle and then embark on creating their own conference, which they will present starting from May and into the following year.
This project focuses on a truly mountain-themed topic to explain the specific climate change in this environment to the generation of tomorrow. The goal is to sustain this project in the future so that it continues to evolve and expand its impact.
LOCALISATION
Northern Alps – Isère, Hautes Alpes
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
4 500 € (2023)
The association, led by scientists, aims to raise awareness among all audiences about climate change, facilitate awareness of the issues, and encourage action through an educational, playful, and participatory approach.
It organizes public conferences, interventions in schools with a wide range of activities, field trips, facilitates “Carbon Conversations” within certain territories, etc.
Conducted in collaboration with the La Clé de Sol medico-educational institute in Eybens (38), which accommodates young people aged 6 to 20 with disabilities, the project aims to accompany 25 young people from the institute as close as possible to the Girose glacier in the town of La Grave in the Hautes-Alpes. This “field” outing will take place over two days with an overnight stay in a refuge. A series of activities will be planned, the impact of which will be amplified by the fantastic backdrop of the Meije glaciers.
This outing will allow each young person to write their own “Glacial Journal,” the story of an ancient glacier facing human-induced climate change. Two awareness-raising sessions will be conducted prior to the outing. Following the field trip, the 25 young people will present their Glacial Journals to other young people at the institute, their parents, and the institute’s staff.
LOCALISATION
Northern Alps – Savoie
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
4 500 € (2023)
The association’s mission is to restore equal opportunities by assisting families facing educational challenges in priority neighborhoods targeted by urban policy. It provides early, daily, and long-term support for their children, both academically and in extracurricular activities (social skills, civic awareness, sports), as well as support for their parents.
Children are accompanied at the association’s facilities every evening after school, every Wednesday, and half of the school holidays.
The “Growing in Nature” project aims to introduce the children of the Aix-les-Bains establishment to the surrounding nature, raise awareness about the richness and specificities of the mountain environment, and educate them about environmental protection.
In collaboration with the Maewan association, which works to reconnect humans with nature, the project explores the following themes: selective sorting, human impact on the environment, food and water, local fauna and flora.
Every Friday during the school year, the children participate in activities to discover nature and introduce them to sustainable development. Holidays provide an opportunity to deepen their knowledge and explore the local mountainous terrain by directly engaging with the surrounding massifs (Mount Revard, La Féclaz, Bauges and Chartreuse massifs).
The association “Les Enfermés Dehors,” winner in 2022, received a grant of €3,000 to sustain their project of mountain academy and itinerant stays for young people from social centers in Albertville.
“Les Enfermés Dehors” targets the younger generations, primarily settled in the area around Albertville, particularly those who are “distant” from mountain practices. They aim to help young people understand their environment, awaken to and become aware of local and global issues of our time, change their practices, and take direct action on the ground through concrete activities. Their guiding principle: elsewhere starts here, just steps away from home!
The “Enfermés Dehors” internships and academy aim to inform and support young people from the Albertville region, enabling them to take action and support a less impactful mountain leisure model.
The association offers mountain outings every Wednesday afternoon throughout the school year, as well as immersive 4-day workshops during school holidays.
LOCALISATION
Northern Alps – Savoie
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
3 000 € (2023)
12 000 € (2022)
“The Mountain & Science Encounters” is a festival of scientific adventure films in the mountains.
The concept involves hosting festive screening events from November to April throughout the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. After each film, there is a moment for the audience to engage in discussions with the filmmakers and/or scientists. Each year, on-stage demonstrations are presented (simulations of the northern lights, hiking on the Martian landscape, etc.) with high-quality scenography that bridges scientific experimentation and artistic performance.
The goal of the Mountain & Science Encounters is to offer a large-scale scientific event with significant resources and broad audience reach, especially targeting young people (from elementary school to high school), to make science accessible to everyone, particularly through the lens of the mountains.
The sessions dedicated to primary school students up to high school are completely free. In order to design screenings and animations that meet the needs of students, the screenings are prepared with the support of an internal commission of educational experts and teachers. Educational materials are made available to teachers to work on the concepts covered in the films before and after the screenings.
The themes covered in 2022 include snow, geology, biodiversity focusing on the power of high-altitude flowers, peatlands: carbon traps, mountain lakes: between beauty and fragility, glaciers: climate sentinels, etc.
LOCALISATION
Northern Alps
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
6 000 € (2022)
Mountain Riders is an association for ecological transition education founded in 2001. By encouraging children and young people to become drivers of change, inviting practitioners to engage in responsible practices, assisting tourism stakeholders, and involving citizens and elected officials, the association works to preserve a mountain that is as essential as it is fragile!
“Montagnez-Nous!” is a program that takes 200 young people from Grand Chambéry to the mountains during the school year to give them the experience of being outdoors as well as being part of a group. It involves an immersion of at least one night in the mountains and aims to contribute to their personal development and the development of their civic consciousness.
LOCALISATION
Northern Alps – Savoie
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
6 000 € (2022)
