Montpellier Global Days 2024: science mobilizes for tomorrow

The 2024 edition of the Montpellier Global Days will once again bring together the scientific community from March 18 to 20 at the Corum in Montpellier, under the slogan "Pooling collective intelligence for action". Launched in 2021, The Montpellier Process is supported by the University of Montpellier, its partners in the I-site excellence program and CGIAR. As a prelude to the event, on March 18 at 6:30pm, Carlos Alvarez Pereira, Secretary General of the Club of Rome, the international think tank renowned for its famous "Meadows Report", will give a lecture-event open to the general public entitled "From alarm to saving the planet, science mobilizes".

Food systems as a lever for sustainable development

For two days, three hundred experts, scientists, decision-makers and policy-makers from sixty countries will be able to discuss, exchange ideas and reflect on how to harmonize their roadmaps in line with the challenges of tomorrow, embodied in the 3 pillars of the I-site label of excellence: "feed, care, protect". The result will be an action plan that is as urgent as it is necessary. The event will also provide an opportunity to mobilize the political and academic players in a broad scientific ecosystem with links to international institutions, with the participation in particular of Michaël Delafosse, President of Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole.  

The aim of Montpellier Global Days 2024 is to provide a collaborative framework for leading international experts and representatives of intergovernmental organizations to collectively address the many interrelated challenges of agriculture, food, environment and health. By focusing primarily on the transformation of food systems as a lever for sustainable development, while strengthening interactions between science, politics and civil society.

Conference-event by the Secretary General of the Club of Rome

As a prelude to the event, on March 18, 2024, a conference for the general public(free with registration) entitled "From alarm to saving the planet, science mobilizes" will feature a number of prestigious guests, including Carlos Alvarez Pereira, Secretary General of the Club of Rome, an international think tank that pioneered thinking on sustainable development and is best known for its famous "Meadows Report". It's an opportunity to highlight the desire for action that drives the scientific community, and to examine the many interactions - both synergies and obstacles - between scientific experts and political decision-makers at local, national and international levels. The themes covered are vast: food, health, biodiversity, sustainable development, science-policy interfaces...

Highlights of the Montpellier Global Days 2024 program

The Montpellier Process: pooling collective intelligence into action

• Monday March 18 at 6:30pm at the Einstein Auditorium (Corum):

Conference for the general public "From alarm to saving the planet, science mobilizes", with Carlos Alvarez Pereira, Secretary General of the Club of Rome. Other speakers include Michaël Delafosse, President of Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole, Ruy López Ridaura, Mexican Vice-Minister of Health (by video), Gerda Verburg, former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and former Minister of Agriculture of the Netherlands (2007-2010), Akiko Suwa-Eisenmann, Chair of the High-Level Panel of Experts of the United Nations Committee on World Food Security (HLPE-FSN), Elisabeth Claverie de Saint Martin, CEO of CIRAD, Sandra Diaz, Professor at the University of Cordoba (Argentina), Heide Hackmann , Professor at the University of Pretoria (South Africa), Thomas Mettenleiter, Co-Chair of the "One Health" High-Level Panel, Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier, Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, Chair of the CGIAR Board of Directors.(detailed program)

• Tuesday March 19, 9am at the Auditorium Pasteur (Corum):

Official opening in the presence of Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier, Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, President of the CGIAR Board of Directors, Michaël Delafosse, President of Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole, Jalil Benabdillah, Vice-President in charge of Economy, Employment, Innovation and Reindustrialization for the Occitanie Region.

• Wednesday, March 20 at 4:05pm at auditorium Pasteur (Corum) :

Presentation of the action plan "Refining the expert panels and science-policy interface joint message and ambition narrative: towards the 2024-2033 UN decade of sciences for sustainable development" by Patrick Caron (Université de Montpellier, CIRAD) and Fabrice DeClerck (CGIAR)

• Wednesday March 20 at 4:35pm at the Auditorium Pasteur (Corum):

Summary and commitments by François Pierrot, Vice-President in charge of International Relations at the University of Montpellier, and Ismahane Elouafi, CGIAR Executive Director

Please let us know in advance if you wish to attend the general public conference, the official opening or the closing of the event. We are of course at your disposal for any interview or additional information you may require.

A press kit will also be available to download on the launch day of Montpellier Global Days 2024.