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How has this site been used since 2015? 

Rousselonge Maison du Vivant is a place of residence for any research or creation concerning the evolution of living beings. It is intended for naturalists, scientists, landscape architects, gardeners, agronomists, architects, artists and craftsmen of all kinds. A steep hillside covers about seven hectares of gardens, wastelands, woods and forests in the southern Cévennes (Mediterranean climate). The long dry stone walls that support the agricultural terracing bear witness to centuries-old human interaction with this land. 

A theme of this place since its beginnings, and which can be found in my books (see “Louisa”), is the overcoming of Western dualities: nature-culture, science-art, art-crafts (head/hands), etc. We thus join the latest movements in the philosophy of science—writings by Tsing, Stengers, Despret et al, as well as the latest ecologist research on the interdependence between species and the recognition of sentience elsewhere than in humans. In short, respect for the living, human and otherwise. I particularly insist on the exchanges between naturalists and landscape gardeners. I notice that many young people are thirsty for this convergence and come to Rousselonge to discuss it.

With hindsight, we can distinguish several approaches to the site that are often repeated (see the newsletters and the 2015-6 visitor list for more details).

Ways in which residents occupy the site :

• Multi-day working sessions for 7-15 specialists who have come from elsewhere to meet and work on a common project. Examples: www.umr-sens.fr/ sociologists and anthropologists from Montpellier and Canada to prepare a symposium on environmental justice 2024 and 2025; landscape architects from India, Greece, Morocco, France, the UK, in the process of preparing a collective book (2023, 2024, 2025). Labeaume en musiques, a national orchestra, has been using these places to prepare concerts since 2016 by researching "the polyphony of the living".

• 1-3 day meetings involving experts living nearby, around various themes that allow exchanges other than those possible in an ordinary professional context. Examples: In the early years, it was mainly local actors from various cultural associations: FRAPNA, LPO, PNRMA, etc. 

• Individual stays, to write, compose or inventory an aspect of life on the hill: moths, wild herbs, etc. Often people who come individually come back in groups, but the opposite also happens. Examples: botanists, herbalists, various entomologists.

• Since 2023, young landscape professionals have come here to enjoy hands-on gardening far from their desks, while resting and enjoying the library. Sometimes a group comes to prepare a book or exhibit. Thanks to them, a counterpart formula is established by helping with on-site maintenance. Examples: the Bivouac agency, alumni of the School of Blois, etc.