<html><head><meta name="color-scheme" content="light dark"></head><body><pre style="word-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">\makeatletter
\@ifundefined{HCode}
{\documentclass[screen,CRGEOS,Unicode,biblatex,published]{cedram}
\newenvironment{Table}{\begin{table}}{\end{table}}
\newenvironment{noXML}{}{}
\let\citep\parencite
\let\citet\textcite
\def\thead{\noalign{\relax}\hline}
\def\endthead{\noalign{\relax}\hline}
\def\tbody{\noalign{\relax}}
\def\tsup#1{$^{{#1}}$}
\def\tsub#1{$_{{#1}}$}
\RequirePackage{etoolbox}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\def\jobid{crgeos20240915} 
%\graphicspath{{/tmp/\jobid_figs/web/}}
\graphicspath{{./figures/}}
\newcounter{runlevel}
\usepackage{multirow} 
\def\nrow#1{\@tempcnta #1\relax%
\advance\@tempcnta by 1\relax%
\xdef\lenrow{\the\@tempcnta}}
\def\morerows#1#2{\nrow{#1}\multirow{\lenrow}{*}{#2}}
\let\MakeYrStrItalic\relax
\def\refinput#1{}
\def\xsection{}
\def\back#1{}
\csdef{Seqnsplit}{\\}
\DOI{10.5802/crgeos.287}
\datereceived{2024-11-05}
\daterevised{2025-02-09}
\dateaccepted{2025-03-17}
\ItHasTeXPublished
\makeatletter
\g@addto@macro{\UrlBreaks}{\UrlOrds}
\gappto{\UrlBreaks}{\UrlOrds}
\makeatother
}
{
\PassOptionsToPackage{authoryear}{natbib}
\documentclass[crgeos]{article}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc} 
\def\CDRdoi{10.5802/crgeos.287}
\let\newline\break
\makeatletter
\def\CDRsupplementaryTwotypes#1#2{}
 \def\selectlanguage#1{} 
}
\makeatother

\dateposted{2025-04-29}
\begin{document}

\begin{noXML}

\TopicFR{Sciences du climat}
\TopicEN{Climate Sciences}

\CDRsetmeta{articletype}{history-of-sciences}

\title{The Jouzel report: training all students in the ecological
transition}

\alttitle{Le rapport Jouzel : former tous les \'{e}tudiants \`{a} la
transition \'{e}cologique}

\author{\firstname{Luc} \lastname{Abbadie}}
\address{Sorbonne University, France}
\email{luc.abbadie@sorbonne-universite.fr}

\keywords{\kwd{Ecological transition}
\kwd{Higher education}
\kwd{Initial training}
\kwd{Knowledge}
\kwd{Life-long training}
\kwd{Skills}
\kwd{Multidisciplinarity}} 

\altkeywords{\kwd{Transition \'{e}cologique}
\kwd{Enseignement sup\'{e}rieur}
\kwd{Formation initiale}
\kwd{Connaissances}
\kwd{Formation tout au long de la vie}
\kwd{Comp\'{e}tences}
\kwd{Multidisciplinarit\'{e}}}

\begin{abstract}
The French Minister for Research, Higher Education and Innovation,
asked to Jean Jouzel to chair a working group to examine the issue of
raising awareness and training all students in our higher education
system in the major challenges of the ecological transition. A report
was published in February 2022. The major recommendations were to
propose to all students a core training on all aspects of ecological
transition, knowledge and skils, in the very first years of their
training pathway, to develop a programme approach in all higher
education institutions with the support of students and to train
university staffs.
\end{abstract}

\begin{altabstract}
La ministre fran\c{c}aise de la Recherche, de l'Enseignement
sup\'{e}rieur et de l'Innovation, a confi\'{e} \`{a} Jean Jouzel la
pr\'{e}sidence d'un groupe charg\'{e} de 
\og r\'{e}fl\'{e}chir \`{a} la question de la
sensibilisation et de la formation de tous les \'{e}tudiants de notre
syst\`{e}me d'enseignement sup\'{e}rieur aux grands enjeux de la
transition \'{e}cologique \fg. Les recommandations
majeures \'{e}taient de proposer \`{a} tous les \'{e}tudiants une
formation de base sur la transition \'{e}cologique, dans les toutes
premi\`{e}res ann\'{e}es de leur parcours de formation, de
d\'{e}velopper une approche programme dans tous les \'{e}tablissements
d'enseignement sup\'{e}rieur avec l'appui des \'{e}tudiants et de
former les personnels.
\end{altabstract}


\maketitle

\vspace*{2pt}

\twocolumngrid

\end{noXML}

\xsection{}
In January 2024, the Harris Institute published, on behalf of the
French Ministry for Ecological Transition, the results of a survey
carried out using the quota method among 2,037 people aged 18 and over,
who were asked to rank their concerns among 18 possibilities. Climate
change came second, behind buying power. 64\% of women and 46\% of men
felt they were poorly informed about climate change. This finding
demonstrates the relevance of the demand for training in climate change
and ecological transition expressed by students as early as 2015,
formalised at the student COP in April 2021, and which led to the
Grenoble agreement ``To accelerate the socio-ecological transition of
Higher Education and Research'', quickly signed by around a hundred
institutions.

In this context, Fr\'{e}d\'{e}rique Vidal, the French Minister for
Research, Higher Education and Innovation, wrote to Jean Jouzel in a
letter dated 3 February 2020, asking him to chair a working group to
``examine the issue of raising awareness and training all students in
our higher education system in the major challenges of the ecological
transition''. The topic is training, which means that it is part of the
student's standard curriculum and is a condition for awarding diplomas.
The target is all students, whatever their speciality, in the natural
sciences as well as in the social sciences and humanities: in large
institutions, this involves several thousand students a year, even tens
of thousands, which poses formidable organisational problems. Last, the
subject is the ecological transition. For me, the important word is
ecological, which derives from oikos, habitat. The question is ``How do
we get back to a habitable planet?'' To answer this question, we need
to ``empower'' the citizens, who all have a significant role to play if
they wish it, whatever their job.

The Jouzel group, made up of around twenty people appointed by the
Minister, submitted an initial scoping report on 3 July 2020 and a
second, more detailed, on 16 February
2022\footnote{\url{https://www.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr/fr/remise-du-rapport-sensibiliser-et-former-aux-enjeux-de-la-transition-ecologique-et-du-developpement-83903}.}. 
In the meantime, a major event has taken place, with the promulgation
of the Multiannual Research Programming Act\footnote{Loi
n\textdegree~2020-1674 du 24 d\'{e}cembre 2020 de programmation de la
recherche pour les ann\'{e}es 2021 \`{a} 2030 et portant diverses
dispositions relatives \`{a} la recherche et \`{a} l'enseignement
sup\'{e}rieur.}, and the associated amendment to the Education Code,
which now stipulates that higher education establishments must provide
training in the ecological transition and sustainable development. In
theory, therefore, training in these issues is no longer an option, but
an obligation for higher education establishments.

In the French system, the first students to leave higher education do
so in the second year: the Jouzel group has therefore proposed that,
around the second year, all students should benefit from basic training
to ecological transition for the equivalent of 6 European credits
(ECTS). In generalist universities, this can take place between the
first and third years of a bachelor's degree. These 6 credits comprise
two components. A common core of knowledge and skills that would be
provided to all students, whatever their disciplinary background, for 3
ECTS; and also for 3 ECTS, a partial modification of the existing
discplinary courses in order to better address the links between the
speciality and the ecological transition.

In the core of knowledge and skills, the issues of climate,
biodiversity, resources, energy, etc. need to be tackled using a
systems approach and adopting the viewpoints of the natural sciences
and the humanities and social sciences. Restoring the planet's
habitability means changing our development trajectories: all aspects
of social life need to be taken into account, as they can either act as
brakes or levers to achieve the objective. Transferring knowledge is
all about the work of a teacher: there are no major obstacles from this
point of view, even if the necessary multi-disciplinary approach will
require an organisational and training effort of the teachers. Many
skills are needed to make the ecological transition a success: the
ability to reason in a systemic way; understanding the concept of
limits; orders of magnitude; the ability to co-construct diagnoses;
acting responsibly;
etc\footnote{\url{https://op.europa.eu/fr/publication-detail/-/publication/bc83061d-74ec-11ec-9136-01aa75ed71a1/language-fr}.}. 
In practical terms, this means providing students the intellectual
tools and methods that will enable them to take action, whatever their
future career may be. Acquiring the skills needed to take action is a
huge challenge for most of our higher education institutions, which are
mostly focused on the theoretical dimension of their disciplines. Hence
there is a need for setting up long-term partnerships with NGOs, local
authorities and businesses, in order to create opportunities for
students to put themselves into situations that offer concrete problems
to be solved. It is for this reason that the territorial dimension of
training for the ecological transition is particularly emphasised in
the report, in order to open up to other players, and even to mobilise
them as trainers. It is also very important to recognise student
involvement in groups within or outside the institution, associations,
trade unions, political parties, etc. This recognition has been a legal
requirement for some time now but it is still too little used, despite
the fact that it meets the objective of developing students' skills for
change, which is the most difficult aspect of to implement in many
universities and schools.

For the most motivated students, the interest and attractiveness of
this knowledge and skills core will depend in part on what is offered
later or in addition. The aim is therefore to develop a programme
approach, i.e., to incorporate the ecological transition into all
courses, and not just at bachelor level, by offering a coherent
progression in the mastery of the issues involved in the ecological
transition, and the concrete tools and approaches to make it happen.
These transition courses should be seen as a key component of the
institutions policies. Up until now, initiatives in this area have been
the responsibility of individuals or small groups, who have found
themselves legitimised by the Jouzel report, especially since Minister
Sylvie Retailleau has taken on board a number of its conclusions. The
higher education institutions now need to build a development strategy
and put in place the necessary human resources: a vice-president, or
equivalent, devoted to these issues, and project managers who can act
as shock troops to bring about change.

The timeframe for getting organised is very tight, since all
institutions are expected to offer students the knowledge and skills
core in their first cycle from the start of the academic year in 2025.
However, the employment situation in higher education is very tight,
and both human and financial resources will have to be negotiated
through the Contract for Objectives, Means and Performance. Beyond this
quantitative dimension, there is a qualitative difficulty, that of
multidisciplinarity. The fact is that all the skills needed to tackle
the ecological transition effectively are rarely present together in a
given establishment. It is therefore necessary to mobilise a large
number of people from outside the academic departments, faculty or
institution, and a simple method of exchanging skills, i.e.,
teacher-researchers between structures, is needed, but nothing has yet
been done.

For the Jouzel group, students are allies, since they are the ones who
set the process in motion and are still keeping up the pressure today.
They are, or should be, agents for the transformation of training
courses, which they can catalyse because of the motivation and, often,
the high level of skills of a large proportion of them. It is therefore
both desirable and effective to include students in the teaching teams
responsible for changing course models.

As with any major educational change, there is a need to train
university staff, primarily lecturers and researchers, but also
administrative and technical colleagues who, through their day-to-day
professional practices, concretely shape the ecological transformation
of campuses. However, the training tools available to lecturers and
researchers in particular are rarely used, for one simple reason: when
you go on a training course, you have to ask colleagues who are already
at 120, 130\%, sometimes more, of their compulsory teaching load to
replace you. There is a real problem of human resources that is nor
resolved in the short term. If it is resolved in the future is
unfortunately doubtful as far as the universities are concerned. 

The world of higher education has the skills to design and disseminate
a general culture---because that is what we're talking about---in
ecological transition. There is a historic opportunity to legitimise
the University with a capital ``U'' in relation to this
civilisational change that is upon us. Investing in lifelong education
for the ecological transition, both inside and outside the university,
is a unique opportunity to give social legitimacy to the University
and, by the way, to recover money! Unfortunately, in this area, many
institutions are not up to the task, and the ``market'' is already
largely escaping them, to the benefit of private structures. One note
of optimism, however: at the request of their institutions, 1,200
researchers and teacher-researchers have volunteered to give lectures
and debates to 25,000 high level civil servants as part of a national
training plan for the ecological transition that has been in place
since the end of 2023 by the Ministry of Transformation and the Civil
Service.

\section*{Declaration of interests}
The authors do not work for, advise, own shares in, or receive funds
from any organization that could benefit from this article, and have
declared no affiliations other than their research organizations.

\back{}

\end{document}
</pre></body></html>