As part of the Haut-Adour summer school, Changing Natures is joining forces with the “Histo-Party” research program to initiate a collection on environmental change in the Haut-Adour region.
On June 5, 2024, Changing Natures is joining forces with the “Histo-Party” research program: The waters of the Haut-Adour, then and now, as we witness environmental change.
Valley residents are invited to come and share their memories and experiences of the presence of the waters of the Haut-Adour as part of a Histo-Party organized by local academics and associations. Launched in 2019 by the universities of La Rochelle and Poitiers, the Histo-Party program develops operations to collect the memories and recollections of local residents. These are convivial moments of encounter around one or more themes of local history on which those present participate in the construction of an interactive online map shared and then accessible to all. A Histo-Party brings together residents, members of local associations, historians or history buffs, researchers, elected representatives or local authority technicians in an atmosphere of exchange and sharing. It's often an opportunity to bring out documents or testimonials from family archives and make them known to as many people as possible. These documents are photographed or scanned and immediately returned to their owners.
Finally, a Histo-Party aims to generate a dynamic around local memory, offering an opportunity for intergenerational exchange that responds to the need of older people to bear witness to their past, and of younger people and new residents to learn more about their territory. The information gathered in this way also contributes to current and future discussions on development, the environment, urban planning and local management.
As part of the Atelier Haut-Adour program, which will bring together some 30 academics and doctoral students in the valley from June 3 to 8, 2024, the Histo-Party to be held in Bagnères-de-Bigorre on Wednesday, June 5, from 2 to 6 pm, will focus on the theme of water in all its forms: the waters that heal, irrigate, fertilize, produce, waterproof, clean and beautify.
A number of young, active and retired valley dwellers have already signed up to talk about, for example: irrigation syndicates, fishing in Bagnères' Capagaou, the cleaning of the Cazalèt gully in Campan, the Casino thermal pool in the 1970s, water running through the streets of Bagnères in their childhood, the beautification of Campan's Bagnet spring today, etc... Who will join them to testify to the use of water for health care, major waterworks, canal and river maintenance, the Fountain of the Fairies, swimming and kayaking? ... but what else?
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