Posters teach sustainable development
Text: Vesa Puoskari
Photos: Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Vesa Puoskari
French photographer and film director Yann Arthus-Bertrand's exhibition on the importance of water acquaints schoolchildren with the principles of sustainable development.
Arthus-Bertrand has in his aerial photographs depicted nature and the effects of human activities on the environment. In collaboration with the organisation Good Planet that he founded and UPM, Arthus-Bertrand has set up in French schools an educational exhibition on sustainable development called "Water − A Vital Resource" (L'EAU - Une ressource Vitale). The exhibition consists of 19 posters by Arthus-Bertrand to be distributed to 50,000 schools in France.
The current exhibition is the fourth that Arthus-Bertrand has put together for schools.
Yann Arthus-Bertrand
French photographer and film director
"The schools are really looking forward to seeing the posters.
It is also important for me personally to work with young people."
"Thanks to the exhibitions we are able to explain the principles of sustainable development in schools, and through the young people the information will reach the students' parents too," French Education Minister Luc Chatel said at the opening. Arthus-Bertrand's posters are printed on FSC-certified UPM Finesse paper, which has been awarded the EU Eco-label.
"For us, this is an excellent opportunity to tell people about the long-term work that UPM has done to promote sustainable development," says UPM's Sales Director Renaud de Saint André.
Aiming at a good quality of life
Cooperation with UPM will probably continue in the future, too, but the next theme is yet to be decided. One option suggested by Arthus-Bertrand is the equitable distribution of resources.
"For example, consumers must exercise care in their purchasing decisions. Low price is not necessarily a good thing, because the difference in costs will always have to be paid in some form," he says.
In his view, economic growth is necessary, as there are societies in the world that need to develop. "Education, employment and health care are good models offered by the Western world, but our consumption habits should not serve as an example to anyone.
"People think that with new technologies everything will continue unchanged in the future as well. This is not possible. Instead of consumption, I would concentrate on creating a good quality of life," Arthus-Bertrand emphasises.
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