Trianon Dialogue at the XIII RISA Convention
This year, the work of the 13th RISA Convention was marked by an active involvement of experts from France thanks to the support of the Trianon Dialogue, a French-Russian forum of civil societies.
The topic of sustainable development as a platform for a broad international dialogue has never been so relevant for the Russian-French cooperation.
Speaking at the Convention’s plenary session, the President of the Paris Peace Forum and the Director-General of the WTO (2005–2013) Pascal Lamy pointed out the national differences in implementing decarbonization strategies and addressing global warming, noting the need to coordinate the efforts of the whole international community in these areas.
Of particular interest was the report by the Director for International Relations at the French Bureau for Biodiversity Cyril Barnerias. In his opening remarks at the 1st Russian Open International Conference on Sustainable Development and ESG Transformation, Mr Barnerias spoke about the strategy of France in biodiversity, including in the framework of the upcoming climate talks in Glasgow. The Danone General Secretary Mathias Vichera shared the company’s experience in achieving the sustainable development goals, the agricultural complex decarbonization and the protection of biodiversity.
Among the participants of the “Sustainable Development and ESG Transformation: Challenges and Opportunities for Business” were the member of the Trianon Dialogue Coordination Council and French Tech Moscow President Euryale Chatelard and the CEO of Ksetek clean technologies platform Stanislas Henrion. They presented the ‘regional edition’ of the Trianon Startups Forum, which was successfully held on October 12th-13th in Yekaterinburg and attended by French green startups and major Ural companies.
The Trianon Dialogue Executive Secretary Christophe Musitelli and the Deputy Director of the French Language and Literature Department of the French Institute in Paris Francky Blandeau also were the guests of the Convention. They conducted talks with the MGIMO Vice-Rector and Coordinator of the Trianon Dialogue Artem Malgin and the Director of the Trianon Dialogue Secretariat Center Maria Riabova. The parties outlined plans for the Dialogue's work until the end of 2021, including those regarding the first face-to-face meeting of the Coordination Council since the beginning of the pandemic.
The creation of joint double degree programs and broader cooperation were discussed during the meeting of the Vice-Rector Artem Malgin and the Dean of the School of Governance and Politics Henry Sardaryan with the Deputy Directors of Sciences-Po Strasburg Emmanuel Droit and Arnaud Duranthon. They made arrangements concerning the organization of academic exchanges for the faculty of both institutions and publication of scholarly and educational literature in Russian and French.
October 15th saw a special meeting of the Director for European and International Development (CNAM, France) Sebastien Leoncel with the students of the MGIMO and CNAM joint Master’s degree program “Art and Culture Management”. Mr Leoncel spoke about the history of CNAM and peculiarities of studying in France. He also took numerous questions from the students.