Once upon a time… a group of people wanted to reinvent the story around the climate and create new imaginaries. Moving away from catastrophic discourses, blame and jargon, they came together to write a new story based on action, reconciliation and optimism.
Introduction – the birth of Ecolo Info
It all began with a toolbar invented in 2007 by Anne-Sophie Novel, in her living room, shortly after the success of An Inconvenient Truth, the Pacte Ecologique (a sustainable development initiative in France), at the time that the Grenelle Environment Project was launched. An economics PhD student at the time, Anne-Sophie blogged about environmental issues for months and decided to create an online tool to enable users to easily gather information on ecology, sustainable development and the environment in one place.
Information sites, blogs, forums and retail sites could be grouped in an “online Swiss army knife” that went on to be hugely successful and paved the way for the collective blog Ecolo-Info. Numerous bloggers and others joined the adventure and the association was launched in tandem with Les Apéros Ecolos monthly meetings.
COP journey
In 2009, Ecolo-Info members went to COP15 in Copenhagen and found the Fresh Air Centre, a workspace designed for bloggers and alternative media attending the international event.
In February 2014, Anne-Sophie told a friend about this. The idea came to her to create a space to recreate this dynamic atmosphere, broadening it to the public and encompassing the development of sharing tools.
“I dreamed of a place that could bring people from around the world together during COP21, where we could collectively write a new story about the climate, where we could find great words, great formats, great arguments to question and mobilise public opinion on the climate”
Place to B was born: 15 days of meetings and discussions about a new narrative around climate issues from 29 November to 12 December 2015 in Paris, Bordeaux, Nantes and Toulouse.
2016, an international organisation
Today the association is much bigger and has a new name : Place to B. The organisation created 3 jobs in Paris and Bordeaux and receives numerous invitations.
Place to B’s action is focussed around 3 key areas. See our missions.
“From the start Ecolo Info’s missions and objectives have been to provide objective, optimistic and different information on a broad range of ecological issues.
In our work on the ground, online, or at national and international demonstrations, at our heart is the desire to “tell a new story”.
The Place to B Project has demonstrated this universal need to find and bring together people from different backgrounds, from different points of view, from different countries, in order to talk about the 21st century world as we know it.”
Jérôme Troquereau, President of the association
The board of directors
The association is led by an elected board of directors representing the different members of Place to B.
The board has 3 permanent members (and deputies if needed) to oversee the smooth running of the organisation. They ensure the continuity of decisions made in General Assemblies and by the Board of Directors.
The board has a permanent link with the executive.
Awards
- 2007: TIC 21 prize for Ecolo Info and its toolbar
- 2009: prize for the best ecology blog from the information cup
This page’s translation has been possible thanks to the PerMondo project: free translation of websites and documents for non-profit organisations. A project managed by Mondo Agit. Translator: Harriet Thompson-Ball; Proofreader: Thomas McGuinn.