School outreach programs to raise public awareness about agro-biodiversity conservation and related issues.

For the third consecutive year, IRD has participated in the Graines d’avenir project, which aims to raise public awareness about the conservation of agricultural biodiversity and the challenges it faces. The institute helped educate 851 high school students in the Hérault and Aveyron departments by funding classroom activities using the Graines d’avenir educational kit.

The project is led by the Kimiyo association in the Occitanie region, in partnership with IRD, INRAE, and CIRAD AGAP Institut, and is funded by the Occitanie Region.

Graines d’avenir in high schools across Occitanie

 Thanks to the tools in the “Graines d’avenir” educational kit and discussions led by the facilitator, students explored the challenges facing agriculture and biodiversity in the face of climate change. They also discovered the diversity of plants best suited to their local areas. Participating schools, teachers, and students welcomed this free initiative.

Two educational tools created at the IRD served as the basis for this kit:

• the "Graines de vie" kit (designed and produced by Fabienne Doumenge with Constance Hanse, intern—IRD Occitanie Communications and Science Outreach Department)
• the "Cultivated Plants Reveal Their Secrets" kit (designed and produced by Jean-Louis Pham and Anne-Céline Thuillet, adapted by Nora Scarcelli—IRD UMR DIADE).

School Programs

We offer an educational program using the tools from the "Graines d'Avenir" kit for school audiences (middle and high school). This program consists of 2 to 3 classroom sessions and can be supplemented by a visit to an experimental site:
- Session 1: Reproduction methods and classification of a vegetable plant -
Session 2: The wide variety of seeds and their use around the world (history and transport)
- Session 3: Creating a seed library

It is also possible to arrange visits to experimental fields with INRAE. This is particularly aimed at agricultural high school classes. A few examples are presented in the "INRAE Initiatives"

section. We also make a seed-themed exhibition available free of charge.