LUMA ECO DAYS
Bioregional Assembly: A New Dynamic for Sustainable Building

With LUMA Eco Days: Bioregional Assembly, we propose to examine the new dynamics of sustainable building through a professional gathering featuring case studies, presentations, and dialogue on the site of the Parc des Ateliers, designed as a creative campus and platform for shaping the future. This event aims to strike a balance between ecological, social, and economic priorities.

The day’s program is divided into four interconnected axes, which are developed through presentations and discussions around twenty complementary projects and initiatives.

First axis: From field to building
Second axis: Materials, products, and processes emblematic of the bioregion and rich in externalities (rice straw, sunflower, and other fiber-based materials, earth and stones, algae and microalgae, recycling, reuse of buildings, etc.)
Third axis: Green finance, economic models, and structures (carbon, biodiversity, and social intensity)
Fourth axis: Ecosystems in action

Through the work of Atelier LUMA and other public and private experts as well as that of the architecture and landscape architecture schools and the Tour du Valat, the bioregion has already been thoroughly mapped. The Pays d’Arles has the potential to become a sustainable territory through new practices in the following areas of activity: protection and renaturation of biodiversity areas, agriculture, building and construction, and social action, without forgetting the importance of heritage, culture, and responsible tourism.

Two recent studies of the bioregion were commissioned by the Ministry of Ecological Transition on climate change in the Camargue with exploratory work on a national wetlands park. They were followed up by a report to the Senate committee to consider proposals in favor of supporting organic farming in these protected areas and for rice cultivation to limit the salinization of the land.

Locally, many public and private actors have committed to ambitious renovation programs, some of which are eligible for the new “green” and “biodiversity” funds for public works, which have been endowed 2.5 billion euros.

These construction or renovation projects must include materials that promote ecological and economic balance, as well as social inclusion and on-the-job training within a new national and European legislative framework. Each resource and its transformation can be accompanied by experts from the bioregion in the broadest sense: the southern region of France and the Mediterranean countries, throughout the urban and peri-urban sprawl, the wetlands, agricultural and forest areas (including regional and national parks), and mountainous regions.

This context has the potential to facilitate a compromise between preservation, agriculture, and the building industry in pursuit of a shared territorial goal. By prioritizing sustainable agricultural practices that also promote biodiversity, we can create successful and replicable models for renovating public housing and facilities using its by-products, such as rice straw and other fibers. These materials serve as effective carbon sinks, ultimately benefiting both construction and the environment.

These territorial projects somewhere between nature and culture create value and factors of cohesion by linking the three parts: preservation, agriculture, and construction.

This invitation–only professional day is part of the program of the third edition of the Environmental History symposium, which will take place from Friday 24 to Sunday 26 May.

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• 9:00 am: Welcome and coffee
   
• 9:20 am: Presentation of the day
   
• 9:40 am: LUMA Arles: The renovation of the Magasin Électrique at the Parc des Ateliers. A life-size showcase of seven years of research on local resources. The pioneers of eco-materials gathered around the same project. 
  Second axis – Emblematic materials of the bioregion
  By Henna Burney and Sandra Revuelta Albero, Atelier LUMA
   
• 10:00 am: LUMA and BC Materials workshop: On-site training and discovery workshops on the materials and innovation of the Magasin Électrique.
  Fourth axis – Ecosystems in action
  By Salvatore Tanzi, Tanzi Company
   
• 10:15 am: Actus, Regards, and Le Village: Three social entrepreneurs activating programs around the straw insulation site of the Magasin Électrique, benefiting from on-site Pro Paille training and qualification by the APTE Association.
  Fourth axis – Ecosystems in action
  By Sébastien Dutherage, APTE Association, and Gerard Ginsburger, Actus
   
• 10:30 am: Myamo and BC Architects: The renovation of the former Paoli clinic in Arles. Between reuse and bio-based materials.
  Second axis – Emblematic materials of the bioregion
  By Eric Perez, Myamo, and Jérôme Espitalier BC Architects & Studies
   
• 10:45 am: Copano: A low-tech insulation board made from cereal straw using Asian sewing techniques, with glue-free and additive-free binding.
  First axis – From field to building
  By Cédric Hamelin, SCOP Paipite
   
• 11:00 am: LUMA and LOF workshop (LoopOfFun): Myco-materials innovation, at the frontier between microbiology and construction.
  Second axis – Emblematic materials of the bioregion
  By Carlotta Borgato, Atelier LUMA, and Wilfried Weber, Saarland University
   
• 11:15 am: NGE and LUMA Workshop: Reducing urban heat islands. Strategies through design, with the OUBA (Bio-Adaptive Urban Structures) project.
  Fourth axis – Ecosystems in action
  By Kathleen Réthoret, Atelier LUMA
   
• 11:30 am: Freio: Reducing urban heat islands. Strategies in the heritage city.
  Fourth axis – Ecosystems in action
  By Clément Gaillard, Freio
   
• 11:45 am: Raedificare: The role of the Project Owner Assistant (AMO) as coordinator of the reuse and sourcing of materials.
  Buildings as a resource—identification, extraction, reuse.
  Fourth axis – Ecosystems in action
  By Valérie Décot, Raedificare
   
• 12:00 pm: Redman and Saint-Gobain: The OMNES Education Campus, a model of best practice for the sustainable city, built with reused excavated building-site soil. 
  Fourth axis – Ecosystems in action
  By Henri Grenon, Redman Newton
   
• 12:15 pm: Vilogia: A social housing leader that democratizes low-carbon and bio-based prefab construction through the “Maison Design Pour Tous” model.
  Fourth axis – Ecosystems in action
  By Fabien Lasserre, Vilogia
   
• 12:30–2:00 pm: Break
   
• 2:00 pm: Envirobat Mediterranean Sustainable Building (BDM): Report on rice straw and wheat straw deposit in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, a mobilization strategy for the building industry.
  First axis – From field to building
  By Nicolas Guignard, Envirobat BDM
   
• 2:15 pm: Paris Habitat: A seven-story building with external straw insulation. A social-housing leader sensitive to externalities experiments.
  First axis – From field to building
  By Laurent Dandres, APAVE
   
• 2:30 pm: The French Straw Construction Network (RFCP): The “POP 2030” project: Making the use of straw and rice husks more accessible for the building industry.
  First axis – From field to building
  By Nicolas Canzian, RFCP, and Luc Floissac, École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Toulouse
   
• 2:45 pm: BalleConcept: An ecosystem supported by the Lacrotte family, rice farmers in the Camargue and pioneers in the transformation and use of agricultural by-products and eco-materials.
  First axis – From field to building
  By Bruno Lacrotte and Laurence Treiber, BalleConcept
   
• 3:00 pm: Isol’en Paille: A collective and circular project for straw-bale production for the construction industry. Development as close as possible to the resource by small mobile processing units.
  First axis – From field to building
  By Nicolaas Oudhof, Isol’en Paille
   
• 3:15 pm: Biosud, Ekibio, Alpina, Tour du Valat: A study of the wetland region of the Camargue to “Support farmers in the adoption of regenerative practices conducive to biodiversity.”
  First axis – From field to building
  By Marc Thomas, Biosud, and Arnaud Béchet, Tour du Valat
   
• 15:30–15:45 pm: Break
   
• 3:45 pm: CDC Biodiversité and the Coussouls Nature Reserve: The “Cossure” operation, a large-scale example of renaturing in the Crau, financed by biodiversity offsets. An experiment in green finance and services rendered by nature.
  Third axis – Green finance, economic models, and structures
  By Caroline Folliet, CDC Biodiversité, and Axel Wolff, Conservatoire d’Espaces Naturels (CEN Paca)
   
• 4:00 pm: Omnes: Private equity in the financing of projects for sustainable cities.
  Third axis – Green finance, economic models, and structures
  By Gonzague de Trémiolles, Omnes Capital
   
• 4:15 pm: Cyclades: An Environmental Quality Project Owner Assistant (AMO) accompanying Sustainable Building certification. The example of the Cuisine Centrale de Vauvert in the Gard.
  Fourth axis – Ecosystems in action
  By Frédéric Boeuf, Cyclades
   
• 4:30 pm–5:00 pm: Review of the day and a new perspective.
  With Philippe Chiambaretta, PCA Stream, and Grégory Quenet, University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines 
  
  
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