The author consults for environmental organizations, governmental as well as nonprofit. He has been marketing director for a Brazilian affiliate of The Nature Conservancy and is currently helping Grand Canyon National Park (in Arizona, USA) develop its first business plan.

Citation: This paper may be cited as: [Authors.] 2005. [Article title.] In Ted Trzyna, ed., The Urban Imperative. California Institute of Public Affairs, Sacramento, California.

1.   Introduction

How can a large city such as Paris transform its citizens, many of whom are cut off from nature, into “eco-citizens”?

In other words:

• How can citizens become increasingly aware of the impact of human activities on the (urban) environment?
• How can they learn to participate in its protection?

The answer Paris has developed, illustrative of how culture shapes our approach to nature education, is both Cartesian and top-down. Parisians, the municipality believes, need to (1) acquire knowledge and (2) develop specific behaviors.

Paris-Nature, launched in 1985, is a series of initiatives that aim to make Parisians at large, and primary schoolchildren in particular, better aware of their natural urban environment. By showing how the different elements (air, water, soil, fauna, and flora) come together to form an integrated whole, Paris hopes to motivate its citizens to live in greater harmony with and preserve their natural surroundings. This approach can easily be transposed to other large cities in the world without the need for a Table Mountain or a Tijuca National Park in their midst or a Yosemite Valley nearby.

2.   OVERVIEW

What do these natural surroundings consist of? Paris has some 3,000 ha of green spaces including two woods (1,841 ha), 20 cemeteries (422 ha), 426 public parks and gardens (380 ha), and 91,000 trees along the city streets and riverbanks. The Directorate of Parks and Gardens (DPG, 2004), of which Paris-Nature is a part, employs some 2,600 gardeners and woodcutters and produces 2,900 trees and 3 million other plants annually.

The first step was to carry out an inventory of Paris’ biodiversity, something that few ecologists had thought of doing beforehand because the urban natural environment is generally taken for granted. A comprehensive list of Paris’ fauna and flora was developed and made public through posters, brochures, and walking guides that describe itineraries in all neighborhoods along city streets, through public parks, along the Seine River, and throughout the two large wooded areas adjoining the city. The inventory revealed:

• 700 species of plants
• 120 species of birds, including 52 nesting species
• 25 species of mammals
• 23 species of fish
• 7 species of amphibians
• 1 species of reptile
• as well as various insects, arachnids, mollusks, crustaceans, etc.

Over the past 18 years, a dozen facilities have been built or converted in appropriate locations to underline particular characteristics of the natural urban environment (e.g., the House of Air is located on one of the highest points in Paris, the Paris Farm on a former working farm just outside of the city).

3.   EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

Paris-Nature is based on the underlying belief that as urban dwellers, especially children, gain a deeper knowledge of their natural environment, even in an urban setting, they develop an emotional connection, awe, and respect for nature that leads them to actively participate in its protection.

Direct contact with nature “right down the street” is key. Paris-Nature teaches citizens how to actually see the animals and plants that are all around them that they typically would not notice.

Lynn Fonfa, the Education Specialist at the Golden Gate National Parks in San Francisco put it very nicely: “Education is about relevance: students learn best when their environment becomes the context for learning. Integration into daily life is essential if there is to be a transfer of skills” (Fonfa, 2003).

In addition to showing the ordinary that goes unnoticed, educators put an emphasis on what is beautiful, rare, and fragile to make an impression on children’s souls. Children need beauty, perhaps even more than adults do, and to have them care for their surroundings we need to allow them to develop emotional ties, a complicity with the environment. It’s easier for them to bond with nearby places than faraway ecosystems.

Paris-Nature’s educational philosophy is: “Connaître pour aimer, aimer pour agir et protéger.” (“To know in order to love; to love in order to act and protect.”)

Facilities are open to all, but programs focus more particularly on primary schoolchildren ages 6 to 12 – what David Sobel in Beyond Ecophobia (1996) calls the “exploration” phase vs. the earlier “empathy” or the later “social action” phases.

Paris-Nature’s methodology includes instruction, direct observation, and hands-on experimentation, and its approach is much more participative than that of typical French primary schools. Children are encouraged to observe, explore, experiment, and manipulate things in hands-on workshops that are adapted to their age group and focus on specific themes (e.g., observing birds in their natural environment, making bread at the Paris Farm, experimenting with organic agriculture).

Until recently, participating children received a “passport” that got stamped as they completed activities, allowing program educators to follow their environmental development and ensure that they acquired the knowledge and behavior to make them increasingly responsible eco-citizens.

4.  FACILITIES

Paris-Nature runs several facilities spread across the city, each with a specific theme.

Nature-Buses

One of the most innovative initiatives of the Paris-Nature program are its Nature-Buses, specially equipped buses that bring 9-11 year-old schoolchildren to parks and gardens in their neighborhoods while educating them along the way.

There are two types of Nature-Buses: Video-Buses project nature documentaries, while Lab-Buses allow children to conduct experiments based on their observations in the field. Paris-Nature runs 6 such buses throughout the city in coordination with primary schools.

Clos des Blancs Manteaux

This facility includes a garden, an exhibit hall, and workshop areas that highlight the responsibility each one of us has to protect the environment. Observations in the garden, which contains over 250 species of plants, mainly herbs and vegetables, allow young visitors to see how simple ecosystems work and then begin to understand the functioning of the more complex urban ecosystem. In the workshop, children make recycled paper, herb pillows, bat boxes, potpourris, herbal tinctures, etc. Learning daily “eco-behaviors” such as the sorting of trash and recycling shows them how they can become active in the protection of their own environment.

The exhibit shows a typical Parisian apartment with a distinctive 1950s feel with one playful twist that makes all the difference: most of the furniture hangs down from the ceiling and common household objects bulge out of the walls. This surprising setting and lighthearted approach is intended to get people to consider changing their ingrained daily habits without hitting them over the head with overbearing ecologically-correct orthodoxy. In each room, the information provided shows how individual actions, no matter how small they may seem, combine on a global scale to have a powerful effect on the planet (think globally, act locally).

In the living room, visitors are asked to check whether the wood used for the furniture comes from sustainable sources. How about using energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs for lighting? Computers or TVs left running in the background consume as much electricity as two large French cities. In the office area, the emphasis is on using recycled papers.

In the kitchen, visitors are encouraged to use energy-efficient appliances, and a pile of plates and bowls stacked high in the sink reminds them to save water when doing the dishes. Where was the food that they eat grown? The idea of fair trade is introduced. Urbanites are taught how to separate their trash from glass and other recyclables and told that one ton of plastic requires 700 kg of crude oil, most of which needs to be imported. Paris only began recycling its household waste in the last decade or so and the green point system used for packaging helps finance separation at the source.

In the bathroom, visitors are reminded not to waste water unnecessarily as fresh water represents only 3 percent of all water on earth. Baths use a lot more water than showers and leaks can represent up to 20 percent of the household’s water consumption. When it comes to washing clothes, people are asked to choose their detergents with care.

In the bedroom, the exhibit suggests giving away unneeded clothes to charitable organizations, keeping the thermostat at no more that 19°C (66°F) during the day and 17°C (63°F) at night and recycling used household batteries. Outside, why not use public transportation or a bicycle? Paris has one of the best bus and metro systems in the world and bicycle lanes are becoming more frequent and safer.

The challenges that the Clos des Blancs Manteaux faces are twofold. The first is to get more people to visit: there were only 10,000 visitors last year (30 percent of which were children) because the facility (and its playful exhibit) are only open to the general public on weekends. The second is to move to the next step in terms of sustainable development: not only teaching Parisians daily eco-behaviors, but creating a citizens’ movement that can put pressure on the state water, electricity, and gas monopolies to conserve and encourage citizens to conserve resources on a large scale. Electricité de France and Gaz de France, the electricity and gas companies, put out a brochure, but it doesn’t appear to be widely distributed.

House of Air

Located on a hill overlooking the city, the House of Air offers a beautiful panorama of the city and is an ideal location to observe Paris and its (often-clouded) sky. The 500 m² exhibit hall covers topics such as the role of air in carrying sounds and odors, and in enabling flight for seeds and insects, as well as birds and planes. It also discusses meteorology, air pollution, and actions citizens can take to improve the quality of the air they breathe. The aim is to increase people’s understanding of the importance of air in our urban environment and for life on earth, and to raise awareness of air and sound pollution and their perils. The message is: “It’s in our hands.”

School programs in the 120 m² workshop area follow the scientific method (observation, hypotheses, manipulations, and conclusions) using air blowers, vacuum pumps, and meteorological instruments. A weather station and air pollution equipment are located outside. Classes are typically divided into two groups and teachers are given pre- and post-visit materials to help their students prepare.

The challenges faced by the House of Air, besides those of security (it’s located in a poor neighborhood and drug dealers frequently use the surrounding park) are, again, to publicize the exhibit given limited advertising budgets (annually, 9,000 Parisians take guided tours and 6,000 children participate in workshops). More importantly, the city needs to confront head on the pollution caused by motor vehicles. Separating Parisians from their cars is something that will take time in spite of the excellent public transport system.

House of Gardening

This facility welcomes gardeners and would-be gardeners with exhibits, tips for people living in apartment buildings (the great majority of Parisians) who may have nothing more than planters on their balconies, a well-stocked library open every afternoon, and trained professionals who can answer questions. During the school year, children visit the vegetable and herb garden nearby at least twice to follow the growth of various plants. Activities in the garden and the workshop depend, of course, on the season. As caretakers, they strengthen their emotional ties with nature. As the fox tells the Little Prince in Saint Exupery’s book of the same name, “You become forever responsible for what you have tamed; you are responsible for your rose.”

On Saturdays, the facility offers gardening classes to the general public. In addition, Paris-Nature is helping citizens to develop community gardens in several neighborhoods and offers workshops for people who want to learn how to garden.

The House of Gardening welcomes an estimated 80,000 visitors per year, including 5,000 children. More employees are needed to increase the number of schoolchildren who can visit and gain experience working in the garden and participating in hands-on activities in the workshop.

Natural and Wild Gardens

These two gardens, located in lower income neighborhoods in the North and East of Paris, represent a radical departure from traditional French gardens and parks. Here, nature is practically left to its own devices: the city uses no pesticides or fertilizers, limits cutting, trimming and mowing, waters only infrequently, and allows fallen leaves to decompose on the ground. By presenting and protecting a bit of the region’s original ecosystems (woods, prairie, and a pond), the goal is to get Parisians to experience unkempt gardens, perhaps for the first time, and demonstrate the importance of developing biodiversity, even in the midst of a large city.

The Natural Garden is located alongside the Père-Lachaise cemetery, the largest in Paris, famous not only for its illustrious dead (e.g., Jim Morrison) but also for its abundant birdlife. Spreading over 6,500 m², it was planted with over 200 plant species and welcomes a growing fauna. Open to the public daily, as are other public parks and gardens, it organizes school visits during the week and activities for adults and families on four Sundays during the year (guided tours, natural treasure hunts, workshops, and slide presentations). Five thousand visitors per year participate in activities (many more visit on their own), including 3,500 children. Paris-Nature was careful to incorporate a playground but separate it from the garden by locating it across the street.

In the Wild Garden of Saint-Vincent, nature took over a piece of undeveloped land on its own, attracting numerous insects and birds around its pond. Here, children identify the plants and small fauna typical of a humid environment and marvel at nature’s resiliency and colonizing prowess.

Because these gardens represent such a departure from the manicured parks and gardens typical in the city, authorities were afraid initially that the gardens might not be understood or accepted by the public. These fears ended up being unfounded as Parisians welcomed these unkempt natural spaces from the start.

Paris-Nature Center

This is the headquarters for the program, housing a large exhibit space and a library with over 10,000 books on the environment, including Paris-Nature’s own publications. Recent exhibits have included “Communication among Animals in Paris” and “Seine of Life,” an ecological journey through the city down the Seine River.

Butterfly Pavilion

This greenhouse pavilion, open from late spring to early autumn, invites visitors to admire the region’s native species of butterflies, many of which are threatened, in a setting propitious to their development. These will survive only if their natural environment is protected.

House and Garden of the Five Senses

Located in a lower-income neighborhood, this facility is aimed at 5-8 year-olds. They typically start out in the garden, exploring with their senses, e.g., caressing artichokes and rosemary, examining the shapes and colors of tomatoes and cucumbers, and listening to the sound of the wind through the grasses. In the house itself, these sensorial explorations are used as a starting point for other activities such as making teas or soups using plants found in the garden. These activities leave strong impressions on the children and create an emotional connection that facilitates learning.

Paris Farm

Parisians are sentimentally attached to their country roots. This former 5 ha working farm, just outside of Paris, has meadows, cultivated fields, and animals (cows, pigs, goats, chickens, etc.) to show urban dwellers who have forgotten their rural origins what life is like on the farm and remind them where the food that ends up on their plate actually comes from. This understanding allows them to become more responsible consumers.

Barge of Water and Life

This boat, due to cruise the Seine at the end of 2003, will illustrate the role played by the river in shaping the natural urban environment and in addressing the city’s residential and industrial water needs.

House of Birds

Surprising though it may seem, Paris, with its labyrinth of buildings, is home to some 120 species of birds. This facility, due to open in 2004, will show how they’ve adapted to urban conditions.

Bird Sanctuaries

These small reserves (2-3 ha), located in the two wooded areas on each side of the city, are nesting areas for many species of birds that had previously left the region. The observatories allow visitors to observe the birds without disturbing them.

House of Stone and Quarries

Located in an abandoned underground quarry, this center, whose opening date has not been set yet, will focus on Paris’ mineral resources.

5. RESULTS

Paris has a population of 2.1 million and the metropolitan area 11 million. Through its various programs and facilities, Paris-Nature now welcomes approximately half a million visitors per year, up from a mere 30,000 in 1989.

Forty thousand schoolchildren, or a third of all children in primary school, participate in Paris-Nature environmental education programs every year. The Ministry of Education selects the participating schools and classes.

Paris-Nature does not currently survey visitors to measure the effectiveness of its programs. Schoolteachers (a third of them) fill out post-visit questionnaires and the feedback is generally very positive, although usually not precise enough to make specific changes to the programs.

Financial and Human Resources

• Operating budget: approximately € 800,000 in 2002 (excluding salaries and capital expenditures).

• Investments in plant and equipment: € 6.25 million over 18 years.

• Personnel: 111 employees, of which 52 are environmental educators, 15 are technicians, and 6 are administrative personnel. 

6.   CONCLUSIONS

Paris-Nature is an urban ecology program with a broad scope and ambitious goals: to help create eco-citizens who will appreciate their natural urban environment and develop responsible environmental behaviors that can begin to put the city on a path towards sustainable development.

City leaders appear to understand how all the different elements (air, water, soil, fauna, and flora) come together in an urban environment; they see that the whole is more than the sum of the parts. That’s something that will take time with the public at large, given that they may only come in contact with Paris-Nature at special events or visit facilities in their neighborhood.

As in the Kids for Tigers program, parents are often reached and educated through their children.

All in all, Paris-Nature is a comprehensive and innovative program that is definitely replicable in other large cities around the world given (1) dedicated individuals within city government, and (2) some political and financial support from the city, especially for infrastructure.

Paris-Nature benefited from significant investment in infrastructure by the city, mainly refurbishing of existing facilities, but in other societies that are less centralized, this support can be substituted or complemented by fundraising; using volunteers; and partnerships with NGOs, private companies, and other government agencies.

This paper is based largely on interviews of Paris-Nature staff and visits to facilities during September 2003, as well as program publications.

7. REFERENCES

DPG. 2004. Parcs & jardins. http://www.paris.fr/fr/environnement/jardins. Directorate of Parks and Gardens, Mairie de Paris. Paris.

Fonfa, Lynne. 2003. Personal communication.

Sobel, David. 1996. Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the Heart in Nature Education. Orion Society, Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

This paper copyright © 2004 International Union for

Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

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