Sponsored by Renault Trucks Defense, Sofema and Spema, a «National Cohesion and Citizenship» day was organised on 16 November in Châteauroux, in partnership with the regional association IHEDN - Centre (AR7) and with the support of Châteauroux Métropole, the department, the prefecture and the Indre CCI.
On the theme of «The Nation, a landmark for young people», the event brought together around 80 people (association executives, teachers and school heads, city and local authority policy executives, local councillors, military personnel, etc.) around Gil Avérous, President of Châteauroux Métropole and Mayor of Châteauroux, Serge Descout, President of the Indre département, and Lieutenant General Bernard de Courrèges d'Ustou, Director of the IHEDN.
The morning included two lectures and debates:
- What is national cohesion? What is citizenship?«, by Admiral François Dupont, Former Director of the IHEDN, who was behind the creation of the National Cohesion and Citizenship seminars in 2006, and Réda Didi, Founder and General Delegate of the Graines de France think tank; ;
- Presentation of schemes dedicated to young people, by Patricia Danguy, Deputy Director of Social Cohesion at the DDCSPP36, Muriel Grosellier, Head of the Education Department at Epide in Bourges, and David Kwasniewski, Head of the National Service Centre (CSN) in Orléans.
The afternoon was devoted to a visit to the 12e Equipment Support Base (12th BSMAT) at Neuvy-Pailloux, where the closing ceremony took place. The speech by Seymour Morsy, Prefect of the Indre department, was followed by the presentation of JDC diplomas to around twenty young people who had just completed their citizenship course.
