A second strong focus developed by local stakeholders during participatory workshops was civic, collective and individual commitment to the challenges of climate change, but also biodiversity and water management. It quickly resulted in the nomination as godmother of the candidacy of Lydie Lescarmontier, personality from Bourges, glaciologist, ranked by Forbes as one of the 40 most influential women of 2021, strongly committed to education for climate change within the Office for Climate Education, an international foundation based in Paris, under the aegis of UNESCO.

It is a question of reflecting on the time of COP26, at which Bourges was represented, and from the Green Deal to a measured European Capital of Culture project, committed to the actions to be taken in relation to climate change and low carbon , in a territory characterized by its positive carbon balance, its rurality, its preserved biodiversity up to its town centre.

From the start, Bourges has anchored its candidacy in ecological transition. This candidacy allows the city to reflect on the currents that cross contemporary European society (environment / climate change, social relations, mobility, services, migration, eco-feminism, governance) and how culture can be a catalyst for solutions.

Bourges also wants to think about ecological ways of connecting its territory.

The rurality in which Bourges is located offers cultural sites distant from each other. Because it is far from the major centers of exchange (no TGV and no airport), like the majority of cities on national territory and in the Union, Bourges is betting on a new relationship to time and alive.