New climate school for Paris

The prestigious educational establishment Sciences Po Paris (known as a ‘grande école’) will launch Europe’s first school dedicated to ecological transition – sustainable solutions to major environmental challenges – at the start of the 2026 academic year. 100 pupils will be selected to join the course.

“The Paris Climate School will be the first European school to offer a degree in human and social sciences dedicated to the ecological transition”, said Sciences Po on its website, explaining that the aim of the course will be to ‘train the new generation of public and private decision-makers capable of leading the environmental transformation of our societies’.

No room for sediment

An unusual river management project has been completed in Ardèche, which saw 20,000 tonnes of pebbles moved from the right bank to the left bank of the River Ardèche, just downstream of the Aubenas bypass bridge at Saint-Privat.

Over the years, sediments – pebbles and sand – had accumulated on the inner curve of the Ardèche river there, to such an extent they formed a mound preventing other sediment from continuing downstream. 

Sediments have several functions – they filter the water, partially depolluting it; during floods, they absorb the river’s energy, so that it flows more slowly and causes less damage to riverbanks; and they also provide a habitat for fish and water insects.

The operation was carried out by the The Syndicat de Gestion des Rivières du Sud Ardèche and cost around €200,000. Every precaution was taken to ensure minimal impact on the natural environment – fishing was carried out to save the fish, while the river was temporarily diverted into another nearby riverbed.