MAK'IT celebrates five years in business
On the occasion of its fifth anniversary, the Montpellier Advanced Knowledge Institute on Transitions (MAK'IT) presented a report on its activities to François Pierrot, Vice-President of International Relations at the University of Montpellier, and then to the members of the Scientific Advisory Board at their first face-to-face meeting on March 21 and 22. This latest addition to the family of Instituts d'Études Avancées welcomed 64 researchers from 32 countries. More than 180 events have been organized, mobilizing a community of 300 personalities from every continent since its creation in March 2019, according to Patrick Caron, Institute Director.
By focusing on the analysis of controversies as a means of identifying obstacles to transitions towards sustainability, the Institute has constantly sought to strengthen and promote skills that enable dialogue, to avoid succumbing to polarization. In this way, the Institute has become both an intellectual project and a vehicle for international outreach and openness, to the benefit of its I-Site partners. Acknowledging the contributions of a breathing space and reflexivity to rethink the world in transition, Scientific Council President Camilla Toulmin emphasized that "MAK'IT's insistence on bringing people and science together in a controversial but productive dialogue remains essential to realizing the broader 'Feed, Care, Protect' agenda."