M2 - Communication and Education for Biodiversity

This course starts during the first day of classes (integration).

During this course, students will participate in the design and implementation of two major annual events in the field of ecology: the Biodiversity Festival (Festi'Versité) and the National Biodiversity Exhibition (SNB). Since 2008, these events have been a way to bring together, get to know and promote all the players in the professional field of ecology in France.

In connection with partner organizations (OFB, F-CEN, UPGE, F-CPIE, UM, CNRS, local authorities, etc.) and the organizing professional structure, the students are assistants to the management of the two events.) and the organizing professional structure, the students are assistants to the project management of the two events by occupying various positions according to their motivations, interests and capacities (experience, skills, proposed trainings) in connection with volunteers from other trainings (BTS): recruitment and reception of the public and speakers, media animations, communication, security (fire risk, first aid), logistics, search for financing, eco-responsibility... The positions are proposed through job descriptions on which the students apply during the integration seminar of the master.

Supported by an Adhoc structure (in the process of being set up) and under the direction of a steering committee bringing together their main stakeholders, these two events integrate the assistance of students from the Environmental Management Master's program of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Montpellier within the framework of their teaching and through their student associations.

- Festi'Versité, the biodiversity festival. It allows to sensitize and educate the general public to the stakes of ecology through animations, shows, games, conferences, projections, photographic exhibitions. It takes place during a weekend at the end of October/beginning of November at the zoo of Montpellier.

- The national biodiversity exhibition. At the same time a forum for jobs and training, a scientific and technical congress, and professional meetings, it includes conferences and round tables, scientific and technical communications, and recruitment and professional exchanges. The exhibition takes place during 2 days in January at the Parc des Expositions of Montpellier.

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During this course, students will put into practice the skills acquired during the "project management" course on a concrete case, a project to be carried out in groups of 3 to 5 students for a professional structure (private or public companies, cooperatives, liberal professions, associations, public institutions (universities and research organizations in particular), local authorities, etc.).

The project takes place over a period of 4 months, during which the students devote themselves to it part-time, on a rhythm of one ½ day per week (Friday morning).

The project must allow students to develop their knowledge and skills outside of the university setting by responding to specific needs expressed by a professional structure. This project prepares the student to respond to a specific need, to act as a service provider in engineering and studies in anticipation of his next professional appointments, i.e. his end-of-study internship and his first job. The experience is enriching, can be added to the student's CV and sometimes leads to an internship or even a job.

The proposed projects are diverse and varied: scientific and regulatory monitoring, state of the art, validation of methods and protocols, data collection and analysis, feasibility study for creation and innovation, support in the preparation of a response to a call for tenders or a call for projects, diagnosis and recommendations, drafting of advisory or training documents, design and implementation of educational or/and pedagogical activities, design of communication documents, assistance in organizing events...

Functioning : The UE responsible and each course responsible look for and propose subjects which will be open to all students from all courses (mixed groups are possible if the subject lends itself to it as well as the profiles). The students apply and the head of the UE selects the applications and proposes the constitution of groups which will be validated quickly by the head of the UE. The course leaders propose one or more pedagogical tutors for each proposed project.

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Project management is an essential skill for a master's level professional. This course aims at making you capable of designing and managing a project. We will look at the different phases of a project, its financing (diversification of sources and budget), the planning of work, time and resources, teamwork (meetings, conflicts, reporting), risk management. The teaching carried out via a MOOC "project management" of 6 weeks (Common Core, or classic course - 20 hours of training: Common Core (4 weeks) + 2 modules of specialization minimum) between the end of September and the beginning of November will be completed by various TD.

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The expansion of the urban environment is causing fragmentation/destruction of natural habitats, conservation problems and a change in the relationship between man and nature. However, urban areas can also harbor significant biodiversity in close proximity to humans, which can then be used for conservation, awareness raising, human welfare enhancement and even therapeutic purposes. It is a challenge to work in ecology while denying the existence and consequences of the urban environment and its particularities. The aim of this course is to help future professionals in the field of ecology to find a compromise between urban development and respect for nature. Through courses given by various professionals and an outing in Montpellier, the student will discover where (associations, research departments, communities, ...), with whom and how an ecologist can act in urban ecology.

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1 "The way in which the modern West represents nature is the least shared thing in the world" (Descola, 2005, p. 56). According to anthropologist Philippe Descola, the category of "Nature," as a reality separate from the human world, is an invention of Europeans that is only one of the possibilities available to societies to account for the living and non-living beings that surround them.

If Philippe Descola contributes to renewing questions about the relationship between society and the environment, he nevertheless draws on a long tradition in the human and social sciences. Numerous works have already explored the various forms of knowledge and social organization to which these relationships give rise: ethnoscience, anthropology of technology, economic anthropology, ethnoecology, sociology of science and technology, etc.

This issue is far from being confined to the academic sphere. It also arouses the interest of actors in conservation (biodiversity, natural resources, etc.) and industry (pharmacology). It also mobilizes so-called "indigenous" populations who claim, both locally and internationally, access to resources and the preservation of an intangible heritage.

2. Situated at the meeting point of the social sciences and the life sciences, these disciplines analyze how human societies use plants, animals, and other components of the environment, but also how their conceptions and representations of their environment(s) guide these uses. This research also explores how human societies organize themselves, perpetuate themselves, change to adapt to new contexts (globalization, global changes) and transmit knowledge about their relationships with nature.

For a long time, these disciplines focused more specifically on the interrelations between so-called "traditional" societies and their immediate environment. Subsequently, since the 1970s, researchers have reconsidered the distinction between so-called "traditional" and "modern" societies in order to better address new contemporary environmental and social transformations.

Indeed, on the one hand, local societies, even the most isolated, are affected by events that are decided and take place on different scales (international conventions, economic crises). Their immediate environment is also affected by global phenomena (climate change, erosion of biodiversity, etc.). In return, their actions can also have international ecological, social and economic repercussions, when, for example, these societies organize themselves to bring their claims to international arenas.

On the other hand, the relationship that modern societies have with their environment is being reconfigured in the face of the observation that the planet is increasingly "artificialized" and threatened by ruptures and serious crises. The place of fauna and flora is being reconsidered and is the subject of controversy as to their rights. Moreover, the entry into a new geological era, the Anthropocene, is invoked to challenge both the natural sciences and the human and social sciences on the need to consider differently a common history of the environment and societies.

3. The very work of scientists and engineers is apprehended in a new light. In this respect, a new scientific project in the humanities and social sciences aims at reconsidering the role of "non-humans" and calls for finding other analytical categories than those of Nature and Culture. New scales and methods of investigation are also envisaged to analyze global processes.

These recent changes in scale invite the researcher in the humanities and social sciences to (re)consider his or her approach through a reflexive approach: he or she is no longer a simple observer, but can also be a real actor in the processes, when not directly involved in a social movement.

4. The objective of this module is to introduce these different scientific and operational fields. It is to provide students with reference points and elements for reflection, in order to be able to construct scientific questions on the relationships between societies and the environment, in order to reflect on the ways in which current environmental and social issues can be dealt with. The varied geographical and disciplinary experiences of the speakers will make it possible to illustrate the approach through a wide range of ecosystem types, socio-cultural contexts and themes. In the time available, we will not pretend to cover all the themes, approaches and methods in an exhaustive manner. Any student wishing to delve deeper into this area will need to engage in a more in-depth training process.

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Management of the Aquatic Environment and Flood Prevention
Discipline: Ecology, Hydraulics

This teaching unit allows students to immerse themselves in a real case study, in the field, related to the GEMAPI competence. Actors and managers will be met on the study site in order to appreciate the stakes and the complexity of the territory. The groups of students will work on a concrete project to bring together the management of the aquatic environment and the prevention of floods respectful of ecology, the environment and man. This teaching unit will be an opportunity to implement the knowledge and skills acquired during the previous teaching (ecology, hydraulics, legislation, land use planning...)

The study is deployed on the same concrete case, from the field phase to the presentation phase of the impacts of the developments, through modeling, analysis or concerted management. The work is done in groups.

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The expansion of the urban environment is causing fragmentation/destruction of natural habitats, conservation problems and a change in the relationship between man and nature. However, urban areas can also harbor significant biodiversity in close proximity to humans, which can then be used for conservation, awareness raising, human welfare enhancement and even therapeutic purposes. It is a challenge to work in ecology while denying the existence and consequences of the urban environment and its particularities. The aim of this course is to help future professionals in the field of ecology to find a compromise between urban development and respect for nature. Through courses given by various professionals and an outing in Montpellier, the student will discover where (associations, research departments, communities, ...), with whom and how an ecologist can act in urban ecology.

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1 "The way in which the modern West represents nature is the least shared thing in the world" (Descola, 2005, p. 56). According to anthropologist Philippe Descola, the category of "Nature," as a reality separate from the human world, is an invention of Europeans that is only one of the possibilities available to societies to account for the living and non-living beings that surround them.

If Philippe Descola contributes to renewing questions about the relationship between society and the environment, he nevertheless draws on a long tradition in the human and social sciences. Numerous works have already explored the various forms of knowledge and social organization to which these relationships give rise: ethnoscience, anthropology of technology, economic anthropology, ethnoecology, sociology of science and technology, etc.

This issue is far from being confined to the academic sphere. It also arouses the interest of actors in conservation (biodiversity, natural resources, etc.) and industry (pharmacology). It also mobilizes so-called "indigenous" populations who claim, both locally and internationally, access to resources and the preservation of an intangible heritage.

2. Situated at the meeting point of the social sciences and the life sciences, these disciplines analyze how human societies use plants, animals, and other components of the environment, but also how their conceptions and representations of their environment(s) guide these uses. This research also explores how human societies organize themselves, perpetuate themselves, change to adapt to new contexts (globalization, global changes) and transmit knowledge about their relationships with nature.

For a long time, these disciplines focused more specifically on the interrelations between so-called "traditional" societies and their immediate environment. Subsequently, since the 1970s, researchers have reconsidered the distinction between so-called "traditional" and "modern" societies in order to better address new contemporary environmental and social transformations.

Indeed, on the one hand, local societies, even the most isolated, are affected by events that are decided and take place on different scales (international conventions, economic crises). Their immediate environment is also affected by global phenomena (climate change, erosion of biodiversity, etc.). In return, their actions can also have international ecological, social and economic repercussions, when, for example, these societies organize themselves to bring their claims to international arenas.

On the other hand, the relationship that modern societies have with their environment is being reconfigured in the face of the observation that the planet is increasingly "artificialized" and threatened by ruptures and serious crises. The place of fauna and flora is being reconsidered and is the subject of controversy as to their rights. Moreover, the entry into a new geological era, the Anthropocene, is invoked to challenge both the natural sciences and the human and social sciences on the need to consider differently a common history of the environment and societies.

3. The very work of scientists and engineers is apprehended in a new light. In this respect, a new scientific project in the humanities and social sciences aims at reconsidering the role of "non-humans" and calls for finding other analytical categories than those of Nature and Culture. New scales and methods of investigation are also envisaged to analyze global processes.

These recent changes in scale invite the researcher in the humanities and social sciences to (re)consider his or her approach through a reflexive approach: he or she is no longer a simple observer, but can also be a real actor in the processes, when not directly involved in a social movement.

4. The objective of this module is to introduce these different scientific and operational fields. It is to provide students with reference points and elements for reflection, in order to be able to construct scientific questions on the relationships between societies and the environment, in order to reflect on the ways in which current environmental and social issues can be dealt with. The varied geographical and disciplinary experiences of the speakers will make it possible to illustrate the approach through a wide range of ecosystem types, socio-cultural contexts and themes. In the time available, we will not pretend to cover all the themes, approaches and methods in an exhaustive manner. Any student wishing to delve deeper into this area will need to engage in a more in-depth training process.

See full page

Management of the Aquatic Environment and Flood Prevention
Discipline: Ecology, Hydraulics

This teaching unit allows students to immerse themselves in a real case study, in the field, related to the GEMAPI competence. Actors and managers will be met on the study site in order to appreciate the stakes and the complexity of the territory. The groups of students will work on a concrete project to bring together the management of the aquatic environment and the prevention of floods respectful of ecology, the environment and man. This teaching unit will be an opportunity to implement the knowledge and skills acquired during the previous teaching (ecology, hydraulics, legislation, land use planning...)

The study is deployed on the same concrete case, from the field phase to the presentation phase of the impacts of the developments, through modeling, analysis or concerted management. The work is done in groups.

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The expansion of the urban environment is causing fragmentation/destruction of natural habitats, conservation problems and a change in the relationship between man and nature. However, urban areas can also harbor significant biodiversity in close proximity to humans, which can then be used for conservation, awareness raising, human welfare enhancement and even therapeutic purposes. It is a challenge to work in ecology while denying the existence and consequences of the urban environment and its particularities. The aim of this course is to help future professionals in the field of ecology to find a compromise between urban development and respect for nature. Through courses given by various professionals and an outing in Montpellier, the student will discover where (associations, research departments, communities, ...), with whom and how an ecologist can act in urban ecology.

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This UE is based on the same pedagogical project as the UE "Salon de l'écologie-1": the organization and participation in the two events "Festi'Versité" and "Salon National de l'Ecologie" (see sheet "Salon de l'écologie-1").

The specificity of the "Salon de l'écologie-2" course lies in the roles and implications of the students in their mission of assistance to the project managers of the two events. In this UE, they are involved in positions of responsibility as administrators of one of the partner student associations: president, treasurer, communication manager, logistics manager, eco-responsibility manager, festivities manager, congress manager, forum manager. They will coordinate the highlights of the events, the actions of the different teams and the work of the students and volunteers involved in the implementation through the EU "Ecology Fair 1".

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"I - Physical characterization and biogeochemical cycles of coastal marine ecosystems II - Biodiversity and functioning of coastal marine ecosystems III - Law of the coast and the sea; Uses, conflicts and integrated management of the coastal zone. This course offers students a systemic approach to the study of coastal marine ecosystems from a multidisciplinary perspective. The physical structure of these ecosystems will be addressed through courses on their geomorphology and hydrology with a particular interest in the hydric couplings with the open sea and their watersheds. Their biogeochemistry will be addressed in particular to describe the fluxes of carbon and nutrients through the water and sediment compartments. Several aspects of their biodiversity will be illustrated to describe the importance of these ecosystems as a living environment for the species they support and in particular the role of this biodiversity in their functioning will be discussed. The coastal zone is densely populated by humans (40% of the world population). Particular interest will be given to human uses (e.g. aquaculture) and their territorial planning and in particular the evaluation of their ecosystem services in an economic context, management and protection measures (e.g. Marine Protected Areas, Natura 2000) and professionals in the management of these environments will present feedback from concrete experiences. Finally, the implications of the law of the sea for the management of the coastal zone will be taught. "

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1 "The way in which the modern West represents nature is the least shared thing in the world" (Descola, 2005, p. 56). According to anthropologist Philippe Descola, the category of "Nature," as a reality separate from the human world, is an invention of Europeans that is only one of the possibilities available to societies to account for the living and non-living beings that surround them.

If Philippe Descola contributes to renewing questions about the relationship between society and the environment, he nevertheless draws on a long tradition in the human and social sciences. Numerous works have already explored the various forms of knowledge and social organization to which these relationships give rise: ethnoscience, anthropology of technology, economic anthropology, ethnoecology, sociology of science and technology, etc.

This issue is far from being confined to the academic sphere. It also arouses the interest of actors in conservation (biodiversity, natural resources, etc.) and industry (pharmacology). It also mobilizes so-called "indigenous" populations who claim, both locally and internationally, access to resources and the preservation of an intangible heritage.

2. Situated at the meeting point of the social sciences and the life sciences, these disciplines analyze how human societies use plants, animals, and other components of the environment, but also how their conceptions and representations of their environment(s) guide these uses. This research also explores how human societies organize themselves, perpetuate themselves, change to adapt to new contexts (globalization, global changes) and transmit knowledge about their relationships with nature.

For a long time, these disciplines focused more specifically on the interrelations between so-called "traditional" societies and their immediate environment. Subsequently, since the 1970s, researchers have reconsidered the distinction between so-called "traditional" and "modern" societies in order to better address new contemporary environmental and social transformations.

Indeed, on the one hand, local societies, even the most isolated, are affected by events that are decided and take place on different scales (international conventions, economic crises). Their immediate environment is also affected by global phenomena (climate change, erosion of biodiversity, etc.). In return, their actions can also have international ecological, social and economic repercussions, when, for example, these societies organize themselves to bring their claims to international arenas.

On the other hand, the relationship that modern societies have with their environment is being reconfigured in the face of the observation that the planet is increasingly "artificialized" and threatened by ruptures and serious crises. The place of fauna and flora is being reconsidered and is the subject of controversy as to their rights. Moreover, the entry into a new geological era, the Anthropocene, is invoked to challenge both the natural sciences and the human and social sciences on the need to consider differently a common history of the environment and societies.

3. The very work of scientists and engineers is apprehended in a new light. In this respect, a new scientific project in the humanities and social sciences aims at reconsidering the role of "non-humans" and calls for finding other analytical categories than those of Nature and Culture. New scales and methods of investigation are also envisaged to analyze global processes.

These recent changes in scale invite the researcher in the humanities and social sciences to (re)consider his or her approach through a reflexive approach: he or she is no longer a simple observer, but can also be a real actor in the processes, when not directly involved in a social movement.

4. The objective of this module is to introduce these different scientific and operational fields. It is to provide students with reference points and elements for reflection, in order to be able to construct scientific questions on the relationships between societies and the environment, in order to reflect on the ways in which current environmental and social issues can be dealt with. The varied geographical and disciplinary experiences of the speakers will make it possible to illustrate the approach through a wide range of ecosystem types, socio-cultural contexts and themes. In the time available, we will not pretend to cover all the themes, approaches and methods in an exhaustive manner. Any student wishing to delve deeper into this area will need to engage in a more in-depth training process.

See full page

Management of the Aquatic Environment and Flood Prevention
Discipline: Ecology, Hydraulics

This teaching unit allows students to immerse themselves in a real case study, in the field, related to the GEMAPI competence. Actors and managers will be met on the study site in order to appreciate the stakes and the complexity of the territory. The groups of students will work on a concrete project to bring together the management of the aquatic environment and the prevention of floods respectful of ecology, the environment and man. This teaching unit will be an opportunity to implement the knowledge and skills acquired during the previous teaching (ecology, hydraulics, legislation, land use planning...)

The study is deployed on the same concrete case, from the field phase to the presentation phase of the impacts of the developments, through modeling, analysis or concerted management. The work is done in groups.

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The objective of this course is to introduce students to:
1. the functioning of communication services of different types of organizations involved in the field of research and scientific culture or its application (research institutes, local authorities, associations, NGOs, companies, etc.)
2. the methodology for developing a communication strategy and plan as well as a press kit.
The teaching will be based on the interventions of communication services managers of different organizations and on tutorials leading the students to analyze and design communication strategies and plans and to write press kits from real projects submitted by the communication services managers.

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The objective of this course is to teach students to design communication, mediation and education tools and actions on the theme of biodiversity. It will provide the necessary knowledge to define communication objectives, target audiences, define key messages, choose a communication method, and carry out and evaluate these actions. It will also lead the students to master the issues related to biodiversity and its maintenance and to know the bibliography and the sources of information in this field.
The UE will be composed of TD and TP as well as a project by group.

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This course includes 4 hours of lectures during which students are introduced to the basic concepts that define scientific museums (status, typology, missions, public, collection, conservation, exhibition, education and study functions) as well as the related professions.
These lessons are followed by 11 hours of fieldwork during which students follow guided tours of scientific collections and museums (plant garden, herbarium, zoological park, aquarium, museum, etc.) during which the emphasis will be placed on scenography, itineraries and mediation devices.

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Innovation is the very outcome of scientific research, but it is also the condition for the survival and/or development of most companies and associations, and thus of all human organizations. Innovation is also a very important lever for the economic development of territories where it is often coupled with the circular economy or the economy of integration. 

Being able to participate in the design and implementation of innovative projects, and finding the financial and partnership means to do so, are skills that are increasingly sought after by all employees, regardless of their status and role in their organization (in short, from the worker to the CEO, including technicians, engineers and even researchers!) It is as much about instilling a professional culture of innovation as it is about teaching the basic methodological and technical principles. This educational program is based on a project-based pedagogy and uses as a tool the seminar mode of work (7 days a week and 24 hours a day) in a closed space, cut off from the world to better concentrate. The pedagogical principle is to bring together several competences (in our case those of 4 training courses of the GE master and 2 courses of the Energy master) in the same space of place and time to work in group on an environmental and local problem. Conferences, meetings, visits, reflection and work will alternate to allow students to give a written answer and an oral presentation at the end of the week. The best projects will be presented orally before a jury of professionals and will be defended by the students. 

Open to the entire GE field in M2 (except the GeIBioTe course) in FI and APP and to the Energy master's degree.

With the exception of the Aquadura course for which this UE takes place over the semester, the Cogithon takes place in a 6-day seminar format. The seminar starts with a theoretical part (the first day) and then takes place in the form of workshops in which the students are organized in project teams. The teams compete to present a project within the framework of a call for tenders that changes every year and is developed in partnership with local actors. The call for tenders is based on the work of the Aquadura course and their November restitution. 

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The M2 internship lasts 5.5 to 6 months full-time (from mid-March to the end of August at the latest).
The search for the internship is proactive on the part of the student.
The validation of the internship is made by the pedagogical tutor according to the adequacy with the professional project of the student and with the pedagogical objectives of the ComBiodiv course.
Each student is followed during the internship by a university pedagogical tutor and an internship supervisor from the professional organization and being part of its close supervision.
A scientific and technical study report is written within the framework of the UE.
It can take place in France or abroad. The internship takes place in a professional organization and under cover, a priori, of an internship agreement delivered by the UM.

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