The closing ceremony of the seminar on «National Cohesion and Citizenship», which was held thanks to sponsorship from LAFARGE and EDF, took place on 5 December 2012, at Le Havre Town Hall, in the presence of Prefect Joël Bouchité, Secretary-General and Deputy Director of the IHEDN, and the Deputy Mayor responsible for finance, procurement and legal affairs, Jean Moulin. On this occasion, the seminar participants presented the conclusions drawn from their work to an audience comprising numerous figures working to promote social cohesion.
Over a period of five days, spread across October and December 2012, the seminar on «National Cohesion and Citizenship» brought together 27 participants, senior officials from the Department for Education, local authorities and the voluntary sector, as well as police officers from the Le Havre region, with the aim of fostering a discussion on the concept of citizenship among young people.
Faced with the same local challenges, the participants in the «National Cohesion and Citizenship» seminar were thus able to compare their approaches to supporting young people in difficulty.
Throughout the seminar, the trainees attended a series of lectures and panel discussions:
– Lecture 1: «Being a French citizen in 2012: belonging, loving, acting», by Frédéric Pons, International Editor-in-Chief of *Valeurs actuelles*; ;
– Lecture 2: «The National Police and Citizenship», by Michel Lavaud, Chief Superintendent of Le Havre; ;
– Panel discussion 1: «Preparing for the defence of tomorrow», by Agathe Cahierre, First Deputy Mayor of Le Havre, and Jean-Luc Inizan, Director of EPIDE Val-de-
Reuil and Dominique Damerval, head of the Partnerships and External Relations Unit at the Rouen National Service Centre; ;
– Panel Discussion 2: «The challenges and threats facing national cohesion», by Francis Nachbar, Public Prosecutor for Le Havre, and Thierry Brioude, Director
from the Le Havre Association for Reception, Mediation and Integration, and Nicolas Van Durme, headteacher of the Lycée Auguste Perret.
– Lecture 3: «France, its Armed Forces, its Schools», by Tristan Lecoq, Inspector General of National Education; ;
– Lecture 4: «Patriotism: Between Particularism and Universalism», by Michel Lacroix, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy.
These presentations, together with the tour of the Port of Le Havre, informed the discussions held by the trainees within the two committees of the «National Cohesion and Citizenship» seminar:
– The National Cohesion and Youth Committee: comprising 14 trainees, the committee recommended the establishment of a national youth observatory and the creation of
a compulsory civic service for young people, as an innovative way of strengthening social cohesion among young people.
– The Citizenship Committee: the committee’s thirteen trainees highlighted the dangers posed by the widespread use of social media, particularly among young people, and called on the authorities to recognise the need to raise awareness and educate young people and their parents about the responsible use of these new tools.
Thanks to the invaluable support provided by the 11 Haute-Normandie regional association, the City of Le Havre, the Rouen Academy and the Seine-Maritime Departmental Directorate of Public Security, the «National Cohesion and Citizenship» seminar achieved its original objective, as evidenced by this trainee’s comment: «A genuine national cohesion and citizenship group has been established in Le Havre.».
