LES CONVERSATIONS SOUS L’ARBRE

Established in 2023 by the Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, the Centre for Reflection on Arts and Nature builds on the cultural initiative undertaken here, centred on heritage, creativity, gardens and the landscape. It provides a space where the major issues relating to nature and living organisms can be explored from a variety of perspectives.

The ‘Conversations under the Tree’ series brings this ambition to life. At each event, four prominent figures — scientists, philosophers, writers, artists or researchers — come together to explore a shared theme. Over the course of two days, their knowledge, experiences and perspectives interplay through a series of lectures, a round-table discussion and informal exchanges.

Through the quality and diversity of the talks they host, the Conversations, season after season, are forging a vibrant and intellectually challenging forum for thought. Supported by *Philosophie magazine*, *Pour la Science*, the CNRS, the Fondation de France and the Fondation Malatier-Jacquet, they contribute to the Domaine’s reputation as a centre for both reflection and creativity.

FORAGING: A DIFFERENT WAY OF ENGAGING WITH THE WORLD
Walking, observing, recognising, waiting… Foraging involves far more than simply picking plants. It requires knowledge of plants, their habitats and their rhythms, and encourages us to pay renewed attention to the natural world.

Ethnobotany, biology, geography, cuisine and artistic creation: five individuals bring their perspectives together to explore what foraging reveals about our relationship with nature and to imagine more mindful ways of living in the world.

FIVE PERSPECTIVES ON FORAGING
From our hunter-gatherer heritage to contemporary uses of wild plants, and from the passing on of knowledge to artistic creation, five perspectives explore the many ways in which foraging invites us to reconnect with the natural world.