“Escales ligériennes”

To highlight the Loire Valley World Heritage landscapes and develop our appreciation for the river, Mission Val de Loire organises an annual innovative programme called “Escales ligériennes”, which reaches out to local inhabitants. At each event, which calls in at different riverside towns and cities within the UNESCO site, the Mission team spends four days hosting activities in conjunction with other local events or stakeholders. These “Escales” are a fun and participatory opportunity for a wide audience to better understand the reasons behind the Loire Valley’s inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

In September 2021, the first three “Escales” were held first in Tours, to coincide with the Loire Assemblies organised by the Arts & Urbanism Centre (POLAU), then in Blois, in partnership with the Festival Art des sens, and finally in Orléans, during the 10th Loire Festival. Nearly 12,000 people participated - making them a tremendous success!

Science communication with Natexplorers

Buoyed by this initial experience, the “Escales” riverside event was hosted again in 2022 between June and September in Bou (Loiret), Tours (Indre-et-Loire), Les Ponts-de-Cé (Maine-et-Loire) and La Chaussée-Saint-Victor (Loir-et-Cher).

It lent support to the Loire Sentinelle project led by two residents of Chalonnes-sur-Loire, Barbara Réthoré and Julien Chapuis, from the science association Natexplorers. This exploration of the river from a scientific, ecological, artistic and cultural perspective probed the health of the Loire to draw up a map of its biodiversity and “plasticodiversity” (diversity of plastics).

Activities on the theme “Taste for the river” included: cinema for the ears, listening with audio-naturalist Boris Jollivet; workshops for adults and children alike; documentary screenings; and foraging for edible plants along the Loire banks.

Moments shared with the Loire community

In 2023, the “Escales” riverside initiative supported four events led or hosted by Gennes-Val de Loire (Écouter la Loire festival), Chaumont-sur-Loire (Escapades Loire), Tours (La Grande Remontée) and Orléans (Loire Festival). There, the biologists from Natexplorers shared the results of their expedition Loire sentinelle.

At the first port of call, part of the team from the Loire-Anjou-Touraine Regional Natural Park put on activities for people of all ages. The CCC OD, centre of contemporary creation based in Tours, took part in the first three “Escales” events through a workshop on art and landscape dedicated to the painter Olivier Debré. When the event called in at Tours, the City of Art and History Department attended alongside heritage communicators from Pays Loire Touraine to present the heritage of their region to visitors.

In light of the success of this initiative, Mission Val de Loire is hoping to continue these meaningful outreach opportunities with a programme geared more towards school groups in years when the Rendezvous of the Loire Valley convention takes place.

Illustration principale : Campement de l'escale ligérienne 2023 sur l'île Simon, à Tours. CC BY-NC-SA Francis Vautier / Mission Val de Loire