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Lecture (in French) “Oases: An Outdated Model or an Underestimated Future?”
original title: “Les oasis: modèle dépassé ou futur sous-estimé?”
given for the conference cycle “Déserts, des espaces en mutation ”, des Rendez-vous culturels du Jardin des plantes,
Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, Paris (France)
April 3rd, 2025 – 7pm-8pm
“As climate change and resource scarcity compel us to rethink our ways of inhabiting the world, does the oasis model represent a viable solution?”
– Information and registration (free): https://www.jardindesplantesdeparis...
- Video of the lecture: https://youtu.be/at_UKJ3ovaY
– Abstract:
The oasis is one of the strategies developed by humanity to inhabit desert environments.
For centuries, or even millennia, humans have thrived thanks to this agroecosystem model, adapting to local socioecological constraints and enabling oasis societies to shape a sustainable and productive way of life over generations.
Although still functional today, this model is undergoing profound transformations and is even at risk. While oases have always evolved, they are now facing a transformation that challenges their very foundations: the introduction of monoculture agribusiness models, standardized urban planning ill-suited to desert environments, the tendency to turn them into tourist destinations through heritage-museum initiatives, and, most critically, the disappearance of the knowledge, expertise, and practices accumulated over generations.
Often perceived as outdated and inefficient in the face of modern demands, and at a time when climate change and water scarcity compel us to rethink our modes of production and habitation, could the oasis model represent a solution that we will rediscover in the future?
– This lecture is given on the occasion of the opening of the exhibition Deserts.
Deserts
