Thermauvergne organised a Focus Group on the Humanities and Social Sciences as part of the ThermEcoWat project
On February 27th, Thermauvergne welcomed Sylvia Becerra, sociologist of the environment and risks, research fellow at the CNRS in Toulouse, member of the French team of the ThermEcoWat project, to lead a focus group dedicated to “Humanities and Social Sciences”. This event is part of the ThermEcoWat project, which aims to explore issues related to climate change and its impact on thermal territories.
The focus group took place in the premises of Thermauvergne in Royat (Auvergne) and brought together a dozen participants, including managers of thermal establishments, local elected officials and technicians from the Auvergne Thermale territories. Together, they discussed the challenges and opportunities related to the adaptation of the thermal sector to climate change.
The ThermEcoWat project: understanding how the thermal ecosystem is positioned on the “climate emergency”
The main objective of this focus group was to lay the foundations for collective reflection on the role of thermal spas in the fight against the climate emergency. The discussions were structured around several highlights:
- Step 1: Perceive the sensitivity of local actors to the challenges of climate change.
- Step 2: Characterize the vulnerability of Auvergne’s spa resorts to the effects of global warming.
- Step 3: Anticipate the capacities and incapacities of spa resorts to adapt to new climatic realities.
- Step 4: Contribute to a reflection on thermal waters and their role in the sustainable development of territories.
Climate change, considered by the WHO to be the greatest health threat of the twenty-first century, requires anticipatory approaches in order to adapt socio-ecosystems, and in particular the thermal sector, to these new realities.
This event marks an important milestone in the framework of the ThermEcoWat project, which aims to raise awareness and mobilize stakeholders in the thermal sector around contemporary environmental challenges. The findings of this focus group will enrich the future work of the project and contribute to the construction of sustainable solutions for spa resorts in the face of the climate emergency.
The humanities and social sciences methodology of the ThermEwowat project is based on several principles:
- Identify the perceptions of thermal spas stakeholders on climate change and the energy transition.
- Understand their attitude towards the adaptation of activities, management, uses and practices.
- Analyse the vulnerabilities of thermal spas to the impacts of climate change and energy transitions, as well as their effects on services (healthcare, local economy).
- To study the willingness of the thermal actors to make changes.
- Identify the levers, resources, limits and needs of the actors to facilitate their actions.
