Higher Education
4 Jul 2023
Integral Ecology Mission: something new for our apprentices
Students in their 4th year of the apprenticeship programme are taking part in the Integral Ecology Mission for the first time. This is a team or individual experiment aimed at the common good: a new mission proposed as part of the recent overhaul of Icam’s educational programmes.
Students take part in social, environmental or economic projects, reflecting on the values of trust, freedom, responsibility and solidarity. The assignment, prepared throughout the year, lasts 4 weeks and is carried out on a voluntary basis.
The students get out of their usual environment and reflect collectively and individually on their experience.
Examples of very varied assignments
Ocean Warriors’ team
- At the Icam site in Brittany, a group of students known as “Ocean Warriors” have set themselves the goal of experimenting with a “Zero Waste” lifestyle on board a boat, taking part in a scientific campaign on maritime life and raising awareness of the issues involved in reducing waste and pollution.
As part of the project, they will be accompanied by the Maewan association, whose aim is to share its knowledge of sustainable development and help people make the ecological transition.
At the Icam site in Vendée, the ‘L’Œil du vélo‘ project is an initiative led by two students who have undertaken a ‘half’ tour of France, using mainly the bicycle as a means of transport, supplemented by the train, and couchsurfing for accommodation. Their itinerary this year took them north, with the idea of either continuing south themselves next year, or passing on the project to future students.
The main aim of the project is to capture images of sites at risk, either as a result of climate change or mass tourism. These images will be used to raise public awareness through the power of images. The two students want to draw attention to the consequences of climate change and the harmful effects of mass tourism on these fragile sites.
By choosing the bicycle as their main means of transport, the students are seeking to promote an environmentally-friendly mode of transport. They also travel by train to cover longer distances. In addition, they are opting for couchsurfing for accommodation, which allows them to meet local people and reduce their carbon footprint.