#ProudOfOurStaff | Le Jardin des Plantes, winner of the 2022 national vegetable garden competition!

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Did you know? The Jardin des Plantes is home to many unique features. Among the most recent is a permaculture vegetable garden. Created two years ago on the initiative of Jean-François "Jeff" Fauveau, a member of our team of gardeners and botanists, this permaculture plot has now won the prestigious national vegetable garden competition, organized by the Société Nationale d'Horticulture de France ! This is a source of immense pride for our Faculty and the teams at the Jardin des Plantesteams. At the awards ceremony on November 30, we met Jeff, who told us about this project.

 

A project born out of post-lockdown reflection

It was in 2020 that Jeff first had the idea of creating a permaculture vegetable garden at the Jardin des Plantes. Intrigued by current events at the time, our gardener had noticed that many people were turning to permaculture to address political and economic issues.

Inspired by the Jardin des Plantes' mission to raise awareness, Jeff hopes that this garden will encourage the people of Montpellier to reconnect with agriculture and take back control of their food. To achieve this, he has designed his project around plant varieties that are best suited to our balconies, terraces, and gardens in our Mediterranean climate.

 

A permaculture garden: what exactly is it?

When we ask Jean-François to explain what a permaculture garden is, he answers on two levels:

  • The technical plan: permaculture is based on practices shared around the world, aimed at observing soil chemistry in order to have as little impact as possible on the soil and its structure. The goal is to combine specific varieties of plants, mainly perennials, to create symbiotic systems, thereby avoiding the use of chemical inputs such as pesticides or fertilizers.
  • The value system: More than just a practice, permaculture is based, according to Jeff, on a value system aimed at "protecting the earth, people, and sharing surpluses."

 

All in all, a permaculture garden is a garden designed for sustainability, thanks to careful observation of biological ecosystems. Cultivated with respect for nature, the seasons, and people, it allows plants to be grown without the use of chemicals.

 

The permaculture square at the Jardin des Plantes: a place of plant diversity, open to the public

Started in 2020, the permaculture garden can be seen in square number 4 of the Jardin des Plantes' school of systematics. Covering an area of nearly 200 m², the vegetable garden contains more than 250 species of plants, all of which are edible. Among the species cultivated, Jeff tries to vary between so-called "classic" plants and more "original" ones. These include tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, apples, grapes, corn, but also Daubenton cabbages, Rocambolle garlic, stevia, peanuts, and bissap. Edible flowers are also available to delight the taste buds of the most discerning gourmets.

This permaculture vegetable garden is maintained by Jeff, who also introduces it to the people of Montpellier through guided tours between March and November. Jeff takes the opportunity to offer advice on permaculture and share the fruits of his labor by giving visitors some fruits and vegetables to taste when they are in season!

 

An original project, winner of the 2022 national vegetable garden competition

All this variety and these educational initiatives have undoubtedly contributed to making this project one of the winners of the national vegetable garden competition!

After applying in June in category 4, "Educational Garden or Plot," the Jardin des Plantes teams welcomed the competition judges in September for a two-hour visit, during which they asked our gardener a variety of technical questions.

A few weeks later, Jeff was delighted to discover that he had been selected from among the 60 gardens competing for the Grand Prix for the best educational vegetable garden in France! 

Jean-François and Emmanuel Spicq, head of cultivation at the Jardin des Plantes, received the award during a ceremony held on November 30, 2022, in Paris. A real source of pride for Jeff:

"It's a wonderful surprise. I'm very happy that this project and competition are allowing us to step outside our usual boundaries. It's giving us the opportunity to connect with other national institutions and open ourselves up to the outside world. I can't wait to talk with the other participants and winners to take this project to new heights!"

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Continuity in the Garden's projects

In addition to putting our garden in the spotlight, this competition is an opportunity to develop new exchanges and partnerships with other gardeners, gardens, and/or institutions and associations.

"I hope to find new ideas in these discussions to develop permaculture practices in other projects. After the vegetable garden, I would like to experiment with other gardening colleagues at the Jardin des Plantes to see if we can develop a new permaculture plot focused on drought-resistant plants!" Jeff tells us enthusiastically.

The square, which has already been identified, will be located on the Dunal Dellile hill, another plot belonging to the School of Systematics. We therefore wish our Garden teams all the best for this new project, which may be an opportunity to enter this competition in another category!

 

Practical information:
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INTERVIEW | Discover the profile of Nadine Houédé, future Vice Dean of Finance!

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Every five years, a new dean's team, composed of vice deans and project managers, is appointed by the Dean to represent him or her in specific tasks. This year, Professor Nadine Houede has been appointed Vice Dean for Finance. She will soon succeed Vice Dean Messner in this role. Read her interview here to find out more about her career and the projects she hopes to implement as part of her role!

You were appointed by Dean Isabelle Laffont. Can you tell us about your background and your area of expertise?

With two doctorates in medicine and biostatistics, I had the opportunity to spend two years in Canada at the end of my studies, which allowed me to gain solid experience in urological oncology and research dynamics. I spent the first part of my career as an oncologist at the Bordeaux Cancer Center, head of the onco-urology department and early-phase trials unit, and an active member of French and American oncology societies.

Currently head of department at Nîmes University Hospital and deputy head of the division, I lead numerous research programs within an INSERM unit in Montpellier and strive to ensure that research advances are made available quickly for the benefit of patients.

 

How do you plan to balance your duties as vice dean with your other professional obligations?

I am fortunate to be supported by a young and dynamic team in oncology. I hold two positions inherent to my academic status: director of Cancéropole Grand Sud-Ouest, working closely with cancer research teams, and now vice-dean in charge of finance, supporting faculty and student projects.

 

What will your contributions and objectives be? What projects do you want to carry out in your role?

As the Dean has placed her trust in me with this appointment, I wish to assist her as best I can in the management tasks assigned to me, both in terms of her specific actions relating to DI and DIU and in relation to the university. I will work to achieve a balanced budget in order to offer students and teachers the best possible teaching conditions.

 

What motivated you to accept this appointment?

While I must emphasize that numbers are in my nature, two factors motivated me to accept this position: on the one hand, my gratitude to the faculty that appointed me Professor in 2015 and my desire to contribute all my resources to the pursuit of its actions; on the other hand, the kind mentorship of my predecessor, Professor Patrick Messner.

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#CampusLife | When the ALIVE call for projects leads to the construction of a secure bicycle shelter

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The DVC (Campus Life Department) regularly launches calls for projects called "ALIVE" to improve student life on the campuses of the University of Montpellier. These projects, developed in collaboration with students from each campus, give rise to original initiatives that are funded by the CVEC. In 2020, the Faculty responded to the call, leading to the creation of a secure bicycle shelter on the Arnaud de Villeneuve campus.

What are we talking about?

Alive is a call for projects launched each year by the DVC (Campus Life Department) with clearly defined specifications:

" As part of the rollout of the CVEC*, the University of Montpellier has decided to launch the ALIVE call for projects, "Improving student living spaces," aimed at UFRs, schools, and institutes. The call for projects is for the creation or renovation of spaces intended for student life on UM campuses, outside of educational facilities."

These calls for projects therefore aim to:

  • Promoting welcoming conditions and student life
  • Developing better living conditions for students.

 

The 2020-2021 project: a secure bicycle shelter for the ADV campus

In 2020, the Faculty of Medicine, in collaboration with the then Vice Dean of Students, Florian Mary, decided to consult its fellow students and respond to the ALIVE call for projects. This consultation revealed a need for secure bicycle parking. Construction began in January 2022 and was completed at the start of this academic year.

The bicycle shelter is now operational with secure card access for 150 students on the ADV Campus. These students voluntarily registered in September following an email appeal from the faculty management. In January 2023, the number of accesses will be reassessed and increased if it is found that the shelter is underused.

This shelter is a real advantage for our students, who can combine efficiency and environmental friendliness by choosing bicycles as their mode of transportation. The secure shelter greatly reduces theft!

 

* Law No. 2018-166 on Student Guidance and Success of March 8, 2018, known as the ORE law, created a student and campus life contribution (CVEC), intended, according to Article L. 841-5.-I of the Education Code, to "promote the social, health, cultural, and athletic welcome and support of students and to reinforce the health prevention and education actions carried out for their benefit."

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#Proudofourstudents | The Med’Trotters are back from Togo!

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In July, through the ACM exchange program, 13 students had the opportunity to fly to Togo as part of a solidarity project for an association working to renovate a school. An evening event was organized to showcase the International Solidarity Project, featuring a film screening! Feedback.

How was your trip?

The trip went wonderfully well. We obviously had a lot of concerns because, although the project had been planned three years ago, it had never come to fruition due to the health crisis. We were the first to leave, but the trip went well in terms of the preliminary project (fundraising, grants, raffle, etc.), safety, relations with the Togolese volunteers and the children, and the construction site. Our arrival was also well prepared by our local partner association, Espace Hotsi, which accompanied us from our arrival at the airport until our departure, including managing accommodation, meals, transportation, etc.

What were your responsibilities?

Our main mission was to help renovate four kindergarten/primary school classrooms and latrines. The support was primarily financial, as we funded the materials and volunteers (approximately $4,500). We also provided human resources by supplying additional labor on the construction site.
In the afternoons, we organized games and workshops with the village children who volunteered (painting, dodgeball, etc.). We also attended the school's end-of-year ceremony, where the academic results were announced. We took this opportunity to provide the students with the school supplies they need for the start of the 2022 school year, thus ensuring equal opportunities, as not all children can afford to pay for the required supplies.

What have you put in place?

The project involved renovating the stairs (masonry), roof, gutters, and painting (we sanded and repainted the exterior and interior walls).

Have you encountered any complications that you did not expect?

We can't say that we encountered any real complications. We had prepared ourselves to be bothered by the different hygiene standards, but we ended up adapting quite quickly (adaptation is quick when we have no choice). So, we were mainly surprised at first by how independent the children were, even from a very young age (sometimes a 5-year-old child would carry and look after their 1-year-old sibling). We also noticed cultural differences in romantic relationships and how they are conceptualized. Apart from the culture shock that is inherent in this kind of experience, we didn't really encounter any major complications. It's simply a matter of adapting to all aspects of life in a country where the lifestyle is the opposite of what we know in Europe.

Before your trip, you approached Médecin du Monde. How did you go about raising awareness?

We initially contacted Médecins du Monde, who were very keen to support us in this venture, but unfortunately, after several follow-ups, we heard nothing further from them. We therefore prepared awareness-raising sessions, but in practice, this proved much less straightforward than we had anticipated. Firstly, because not all of the children speak French well, depending on their age (they learn French at school as it is the country's official language). And they also wanted to play with us and do physical activities. The disparity within the group therefore prevented us from carrying out our awareness-raising activities as we had hoped. This aspect of the mission is therefore an area for improvement for next year.

How did the experience impact you?

That's quite a difficult question. I think we all needed time after we got back to "digest" everything we had experienced. We don't claim that this trip completely transformed us and that we are now new people. But this experience certainly left its mark and taught us a lot from a human perspective. Sometimes it's good to get a wake-up call, and we can say that what we experienced was a real cultural, social, and human whirlwind. Now that we're back, we're still the same medical students at the Montpellier-Nîmes Faculty, caught up in our daily routine, but not a day goes by without me thinking back on that trip to Togo. I don't know if this experience will make me a better person or improve my future practice as a doctor, but it has certainly given me something.

What is your assessment?

I am pleased to say that the outcome of this mission has been extremely positive. Of course, there is room for improvement in terms of pre-departure management, money management on site (difficulty in withdrawing cash), and preparation and adaptation of awareness-raising activities. But the mere fact that we carried out the mission successfully is an achievement in itself. What's more, we are certain of the usefulness of our action, as we are in contact with Étienne, the school principal, who regularly sends us videos of the children attending classes in their newly renovated building. This project is therefore obviously worth repeating, while trying as much as possible to improve on the minor hiccups of this year.

Do you have any new projects?

The new Vice Presidents in charge of Exchanges within the Association Carabine Montpelliéraine recently presented this year's new project to medical students, which consists of returning to Togo with the Espace HOTSI association. We are convinced that continuing this mission is essential for another year. The format of the project remains the same (renovation work, construction, academic support, etc.), but the details are still to be defined with the new Med'Trotters team, which will be selected shortly.

Discover the Med'Trotters' adventure in this video!

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