France-Atlanta 2013: An innovative platform for French-American Exchanges
The 4th Annual France-Atlanta animated the Georgia capital for more than two weeks once again following an opening ceremony at Georgia Tech on October 23, 2013 in the presence of the Mayor of Atlanta, the Ministry-Counsellor of the Embassy of France to the United States, the President of Georgia Tech, several city officials from Toulouse, France and numerous local figures.
Overall, the Consulate General of France in Atlanta and Georgia Tech presented 24 French-American scientific, business, cultural, and humanitarian events, in cooperation with many other Georgian institutions and with the support of all the French associations in Atlanta. This series of events attracted several high profile participants in their respective fields and a general audience that was more youthful and diverse than ever before.
The objective of this series of events was to deepen relations between France and the South-Eastern United States, by fostering solid, long-term cooperation between French and American partners. In this regard, several positive results were recorded this year:
I/ Intensification of academic and scientific partnerships
Three high-level scientific symposia were organized to initiate new areas of cooperation between France and Atlanta:
A conference and series of targeted meetings dedicated to translational research on cancer was held at Emory University and offered an opportunity for specialists from Inserm and the Woodruff Health Sciences at Emory to continue discussions begun during the medical meetings of France-Atlanta 2012. The conference concluded with the signing of a letter of intent to institution to establish an International Associated Laboratory (IAL) between Emory’s Winship Cancer Institute and Inserm.
The symposium dedicated to aerospace and life sciences at Georgia Tech offered a cross-disciplinary series of targeted workshops and lectures that united several high profile leaders in their respective fields from NASA, the CDC, and several major universities including MIT with their French counterparts at the CNES and the major French aeronautics schools such as the ENAC and the ENSAE. These meetings provided an opportunity for new strategic axes of cooperation to be identified.
A third symposium on “Technology as a driver for economic development” gathered together major players of innovation from Atlanta, Metz, and Toulouse France to exchange best practices and strategies in order to open new commercial transatlantic perspectives. Thanks to the rich exchanges, a similar workshop in France 2014 is currently being explored.
Finally, in the university domain, a competition was organized for doctoral students in the U.S. on “Nanocharacterization: Chemical Analysis” Over 60 students applied, and winners of the competition will earn a research trip to visit French research centers in March 2014.
II/ Organization of useful and promising contacts between companies and public decision makers:
Two business workshops provided opportunities for France and Atlanta to highlight investment opportunities in the fields of aerospace and health sciences as well as to explore the impact of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) on the U.S. Southeast. The Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Hélène Conway-Mouret was present to open the roundtable discussion on investment in France and the U.S. Southeast, which united French and American experts and professionals, and several important contacts were made during the In addition, an economic delegation from Toulouse held several B2B meetings in order to identify possible investment and business opportunities.
In addition, the Crystal Peach Awards Luncheon, presented by the French-American Chamber of Commerce in Atlanta, honored several companies for economic development in the Southeast and in France. Recipients included Airbus Americas, Inc. (Economic Development Award, Southeast), AGCO Corporation (AGCO) (Economic Development Award, France, MAINTag, Inc. (FACC Award of Innovation) and Didier Lailheugue, chef at the InterContinental Hotel in Buckhead (Award of Excellence).
III/ Extension of our cultural partnerships:
Over thirteen high caliber cultural events with a focus on art in the public spaces and contemporary French culture were organized for France-Atlanta 2013 in the fields of contemporary dance, art, music, cinema, theatre, urban planning and literature. Several high profile French artists were showcased during the season, including actor Jacques Martial, artist Laurent Grasso, writer and art critic Catherine Millet and director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun. These events gathered more than 1850 participants and helped further strengthen relationships with the various cultural institutions who partnered with France-Atlanta 2013, including The Rialto Center for the Arts, The Center for Collaborative and International Arts at GSU, the High Museum of Art, the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), CORE Performance Group, and the BronzeLens Film Festival, as well as several new France-based sponsors. Local teachers also benefited from a targeted training centered on how to use art and drama in the French classroom. In addition, a cultural delegation from Toulouse, which included Deputy Mayor Vincentella de Comarmond, met with Atlanta’s Office of Cultural Affairs in order to identify collaborative artistic projects between the sister-cities.
The cultural segment of France-Atlanta 2013 also facilitated two French-American collaborative projects that will be continued in 2014: first, the Toulouse dance group Association Manifeste completed a residency with the CORE Performance Company in Atlanta which will be reciprocated in 2014 by CORE and will lead to a new creation by the two companies that will be performed in the U.S. and France. Also in 2014, Sonic Generator, the music ensemble in residence at Georgia Tech will present a reciprocal concert of the one they performed alongside the Orchestre national de Lorraine. during France-Atlanta 2013 in Metz, France.
IV/ Mobilization of the French community and youth audience regarding refugee resettlement:
The humanitarian segment of “France-Atlanta 2013” brought together 250 participants around 2 main events: a forum at Georgia Tech on refugee resettlement in Metro Atlanta, with a focus on the Francophone refugee population and a series of presentations in French in Metro Atlanta high schools by NGO representatives from Carter Center and the Peace Corps. The forum gave three local refugee resettlement agencies the opportunity to make their work known to the French and American audience interested in offering their language skills and time to benefit this population. In the same way, the series of humanitarian presentations in high schools raised awareness on current humanitarian issues and also helped students learn about one of the many concrete ways to use the French language.