Ambition

Ambition

Let’s make
   rivers
a link between us.

 

Rivers are vital for life, but they are struggling and ignored everywhere in the world. In trade negotiations that shape their future and in our daily lives, since we’ve become distant from them. This observation has given rise to Living with Rivers which aims at developing a culture of great rivers by harmonising knowledge with emotion, and by arousing imaginations, stimulating dialogues, matching testimonies, and inspiring concrete solutions to reconcile us with rivers. These are all challenges that we want to take up by bringing together users, professionals, those who contemplate them, and the guardians of rivers of different countries … so, that everyone is aware of the role they must play!

Focus

Threats to rivers!

Rivers are often neglected: forgotten in international negotiations whereas they are the heart of geopolitics and bear the brunt of climate change (droughts, floods, rising sea levels, cyclones, storms, disappearance of wetlands, etc.); little known by the populations that live next to them without really understanding the services they render every day and unaware of their responsibility for preserving these common goods of humanity.

RIVERS AND LAKES
LESS THAN 1%

OF THE EARTH’S SURFACE AREA

3 TIMES

WETLANDS HAVE VANISHED
THREE TIMES FASTER THAN FORESTS.

40%

OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION
WILL BE FACED WITH WATER SHORTAGES
FROM NOW TO 2050

90%

OF NATURAL RISKS
ARE LINKED TO WATER

The 2022 edition

Three rivers,
three narratives…
but a common message

Living with rivers is organised as a biennial that gives centre stage to several rivers in each of its editions. The River Rhone, the birthplace of IFGR (founded by CNR, its French management company), starts the impetus and welcomes two rivers from other continents for a global conversation in view to understanding and feeling, stirring and amazing, to tell the odyssey of rivers and the narratives around them.

The aims are to leave no one indifferent and instil the desire to react and act to preserve these habitats vital to life and the development of our societies.

The future of rivers concerns us all. From Saint-Louis to Montreal, from Geneva to Arles… Participate in Living with rivers to tell us about your river!

The River Rhone invites you

Meet in Lyon in October for two headline events in this 1st edition, designed in partnership with the Musée des Confluences:

  • The temporary exhibition “We, the rivers” proposed by the Musée des Confluences, from 21 October 2022 to 27 September 2023,
  • The live closing ceremony of Living with rivers on 27 October, hosted at the Museum
THE ORGANIzing COMMITTEE

Living with rivers is an action initiated and driven by the association Initiatives for the Future of Great Rivers (IFGR). Launched on the occasion of the COP21 in 2015, IFGR gives a voice to rivers by relying on an international and multidisciplinary network of experts. A reference organisation in the general interest, IFGR acts as a sentinel to sound the alert and spread awareness, and as a platform of solutions for the sustainable management of rivers.

VISIT WEBSITE

Erik Orsenna, Chairman of IFGR.

This purpose of this event is to astonish. Today, it’s necessary to forge the link between knowledge and emotion.

Laurence Borie-Bancel, founding member of IFGR.

Living with Rivers means both ‘Living Rivers’ and ‘Living with these living beings’. Living with these living beings means recognising their existence and thus treating with more respect. It’s also knowing how to share uses to better preserve them and preserve ourselves as well. That’s the heart of our message.

The other members of the ORGANIZING committee:

River partners

Compagnie Nationale du Rhône

France’s leading producer of 100% renewable energy, CNR is the concession holder of the Rhone for electricity production, river transport and agricultural uses.

Cantonal Water Agency of Geneva

A governmental authority active in preserving water resources (particularly of the Rhone and Lake Geneva) and the regulation of their uses in a cross-border context.

Montreal Port Authority

A hub of world trade, the Montreal Port Authority is committed to the sustainable development of the port and to the economic development of Greater Montreal, Quebec, Ontario and the rest of Canada.

Organisation for the Development of the Senegal River

Founded in 1972, the OMVS reduces the vulnerability of the economies of its member countries and preserves the balance of the Senegal river basin. It contributes to the economic and social development of its member States: Mauritania, Guinea, Mali, and Senegal.

Institutional partners

World Meteorological Organisation

A specialised agency of the United Nations, the WMO ensures international cooperation and collaboration for everything concerning the state and evolution of the Earth’s atmosphere, its interaction with land and the oceans, the weather and the climate and the resulting distribution of water.

Musée des Confluences

Located at the tip of the presque-isle between the rivers Rhone and Saone, the Musée des Confluences is open to the world’s horizons. It offers a narrative of origins, life and humanity by bringing the sciences into dialogue with each other.

Communication partners