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CERN ignites imaginations at the Fête de la science in the Ain department

CERN plays a key role in several events in the towns of Bourg-en-Bresse, Saint-Genis-Pouilly and Ferney-Voltaire.

The 2022 edition of the Fête de la science, a French initiative that seeks to educate the public on scientific topics, is drawing to a close. It’s time to take stock of the events held in the Ain department, many of which involved CERN’s participation. 

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From left to right: Frederick Bordry, Philippe de la Cotardière and Nicolas Laporte. (Image: ALTEC Sciences - Nathalie Catcel)

On 7 October, ALTEC, the scientific, technical and industrial association of the Ain department, officially opened the 31st edition of the Fête de la science in the main auditorium of Bourg-en-Bresse’s Scène nationale. The evening kicked off with a screening of the documentary film Big Bang, l'appel des origines, directed by Dominique Regueme. Following the film, Frederick Bordry, CERN’s former Director for Accelerators and Technology, and astrophysicist Nicolas Laporte led a roundtable discussion on the theme of the infinitely big and the infinitely small, which attracted an enthusiastic 350-strong audience. 

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CERN’s science show See the Invisible (Image: Médiathèque Georges Sand)

On 1 October, more than 80 science enthusiasts came to the opening of the exhibition “Une mission scientifique pour le XXIe siècle” (A scientific mission for the twenty-first century) in Saint-Genis-Pouilly, during which local youngsters enjoyed CERN’s science show See the Invisible. The exhibition will be on display at the Médiathèque Georges Sand until the end of October. Around a hundred pupils from the Lycée international in Saint-Genis-Pouilly also attended a screening of the film Francois Englert, rebelle et Nobel, and got the chance to talk to its director and producer, as well as to Belgian physicists Albert de Roeck and Filip Moortgat.  

Lastly, on Saturday 15 October, CERN hosted a stand at the Fête de la science et de la biodiversité in Ferney-Voltaire, which provided the perfect opportunity to show our neighbours the efforts the Organization is making to limit its environmental footprint as much as possible. The main focus was CERN’s flagship heat recovery project at point 8 of the LHC, which will heat a new neighbourhood being built in Ferney-Voltaire.

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CERN’s stand at the Fête de la science et de la biodiversité in Ferney-Voltaire (Image: CERN)

Visitors of all ages and from all backgrounds had the opportunity to find out about the various environmental themes presented and to learn more about the heat recovery project from CERN engineers Serge Claudet and Paul Pepinster, and representatives from the HSE Unit, Anna Cook, Luisa Ulrici, Ebba Jakobsson and Sonja Kleiner.

We would like to extend our warm thanks to the events’ organisers and to the many volunteers who, every year, help to promote CERN’s activities in an engaging and accessible way.