The talk questions the place of nature and the wild in public policies, including within the network of areas protected since the nineteenth century. The success of the multiplication of national parks, reserves and wildlife sanctuaries hides questions about the state of nature but also the relationships we have with her.

From the results of recent research in Indology and social sciences, the talk attempts to clarify in what ways yoga and Hinduism are articulated through time.

The talk by David Picherit focused on enthusiasm for the elections and democracy in India and attempts to explore if there is a particular relationship to politics or is it particular way of making an election campaign that draws the huge participation in elections.

The talk primarily discussed about how rapid is urbanization and its impact on Indian cities. This speedy expansion has not only transformed the morphology of cities but also paved the way for imbalance in economic, social or political regimes. Our Researcher Dr. Nicolas Bautès explained how to approach the complex problems of Indian cities that are of multifaceted in nature.

Mangroves develop between land and ocean in the tropical regions. Each mangrove region has its own story built by the influence of hydro-sedimentary and geological processes over millions of years. The capability of mangroves to cope with present global change is discussed based on the conclusions revealed by combined ground truth and satellite observations.

A four-day workshop on the local food systems of Puducherry, food sovereignty and the agro-ecology transition, hosted by the French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP) in association with the Department of Agriculture was held from January 22-25, 2020. The objective of the event was to organise a collaborative network that integrates sustainable food production, processing, distribution, consumption in order to enhance the environmental, economic, and social health of Pondicherry. Mr. R. Kamalakannan, Agriculture Minister for Puducherry, inaugurated the workshop and said farmers engaged in organic forms of cultivation were at the forefront of a bottom-up transition to healthy foods. As part of the workshop field visits to organic farms were conducted followed by an organic food exhibition which marked the end of the workshop.

Thanks to the energy and enthusiasm generated by the 2020 edition, several follow up actions involving the cross section of academia, farmers and consumers (broadly) are planned during 2020 to help further develop this theme in the next edition in 2021: considering the diversity of players this includes, research and outreach and to facilitate this a broad umbrella network சார்பு (SaArPu) has been established to coordinate the ensuing intersection and interactions between society , science and the living world (earth).

(சார்பு means dependence/ interdependence) and here it is taken to indicate the same between Society, Science , Earth.

Night of Ideas 2020 with Geographer Luc Gwiazdzinski discussing "GEOGRAPHY OF THE NIGHT" was held as a part of Pondicherry heritage Festival at IFP terrace. The talk was followed by an blissful Odissi dance show by Rekha Tandon.

Many photo studios were regularly destroying their collections by selling negatives (glass and film) to silver-extractors. Similarly, families are discarding the portraits of the older generations by selling them to second-hand wood and glass dealers who dismantle the frame to recycle the materials. The lack of awareness about the value of this unique heritage further results in the deterioration of the remaining photographic material in Tamil Nadu. The talk explained the different productions of black and white manually processed studio photography (prints, negatives and glass plates) which are rapidly disappearing either through natural degradation or, in many cases, voluntary destruction.

A workshop organized by the French Institute of Pondicherry in coordination with Universities of :Paris-Marne la Vallée /Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne / Paris Est-Créteil.

This urban “tank” is under study by the WaterPondi project funded by the Region Centre-Val de Loire as well by the AFD-RUSE project. This event, organized with the Kanagan Eri Welfare Association, brought together about 70 children of various schools in Pondicherry who drew the scenery with their own eyes. Some research analysis shall be carried out from these drawings for understanding nature representation and finding new raisons d’être for this threatened water body. The drawings shall be later exhibited at IFP. Botanical information was provided along the collective walk that was enthusiastically led by the Lieutnant-Governor, Dr. Kiran Bedi.

Frédéric Landy

The first time F. Landy came to India, it was the day of the assassination of Indira Gandhi, in 1984. India changed a lot since then! But some continuity and permanence must also be highlighted, such as the importance of rurality, the informal sector or kinship identity. This talk investigates, through a geographer's personal itinerary from research on agriculture to slums, protected areas and ecotourism, to which extent these continuities are negative factors or, on the contrary, can be the basis of new models that developed countries could follow.

India is experiencing a sharp increase in the level of income inequality in the recent period, reaching levels never observed since the beginning of the century. While past policies have an effect on poverty and inequality levels, how do researchers evaluate rigorously these impacts? The lecture described current debates on impact evaluation methods for developing countries, especially in India, and highlighted recent scientific results about the effect of the shock of Indian demonetization in 2016 on the vulnerability of rural Tamil populations.

As part of the fifth Pondicherry Heritage Festival 2020 and World Wetlands Day 2020, a free photographic competition has been organized by the French Institute of Pondicherry, open to all, on the theme of Wetlands and Climate Change in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Union Territory. It aims to raise public awareness of the rich cultural and natural heritage values of regional wetlands. The Inaugural Function and award ceremony of the WETLAND PHOTO CONTEST 2020 was held on February 2, 2020 at 11:00 A.M at the French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP), 11, Saint Louis Street.

Shri. M. KANDASAMY, Hon'ble Minister for Science, Technology and Environment, Government of Puducherry inaugurated the function and handovered the prizes for the winners of the Photo contest.