Tag archive for: contest
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!"
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:
- Visit the Jardin des Plantes: open to visitors all year round
- Guided tour of the Permaculture Garden, by Jeff Fauveau: from May to November (production period). Free reservation here.
MUSE, Montpellier University of Excellence, is organizing a contest for students to test their knowledge of the university.
The CONNECT competition runs from March 29 to April 9, 2021, and is open only to students who are part of the MUSE consortium during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Students must answer 10 multiple-choice questions on MUSE topics.
After completing this questionnaire, students will have the chance to win one of 100 prizes:
- 15 Odysseum shopping center gift cards worth€500
- 20 gift cards worth €250 for the Odysseum shopping center
- 40 Odysseum shopping center gift cards worth €100
- 25 Montpellier University of Excellence sweatshirts
The draw will take place between April 26 and 30, 2021.
Good luck, everyone!
This year, students at the University of Montpellier have the opportunity to showcase their talents through a graphic design competition on the theme of racism.
From March 21 to 28, NationalEducation and Action Against Racism Week will take place. To mark the occasion, the Mission for Prevention and Action Against Racism and Anti-Semitism, in coordination with the Student Vice President, the Campus Life Department, and the Communications Department at the University of Montpellier, is organizing a contest for students.
This graphic design competition will run from March 23 to May 28, 2021, and will give students the opportunity to express themselves on an important topic: racism and anti-Semitism. Through graphic designs (posters, social media posts, flyers, photographs, illustrations, etc.), students will be able to highlight the University of Montpellier's commitment to combating all forms of discrimination.
The contest:
How to participate:
Good luck, everyone!
Due to the exceptional circumstances surrounding the health crisis, the Ministry of Higher Education and Research has decided to postpone certain competitive examinations, including the PACES and ECNi exams. Access to paramedical studies through competitive examinations has also been affected. More information can be found in this article.
Postponement of the PACES Competition
The competitive exam at the end of PACES for entry into the second year of health studies (Medicine, Midwifery, Dentistry, Pharmacy) will be held in the second half of June.
→ We will inform you as soon as possible of the official postponement date and the conditions of this postponement for our Faculty.
Update on April 3, 2020: PACES exam dates
The PACES exam has been officially postponed from June 23 to June 25, 2020.
Postponement of the ECNi exams
The National Computerized Ranking Exams (ECNi) for admission to postgraduate medical studies will take place from July 6 to 8, 2020.
Paramedical: applications will be reviewed based on the application file only
Other competitive examinations, mainly concerning access to paramedical training programs, will be replaced by an examination of candidates' academic records as part of the national pre-registration procedure via the Parcoursup platform.
