AFRAN Tasmania Hub celebrating the 5th anniversary of the Paris Climate agreement

The AFRAN Tasmania Hub has organized an event to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the Paris Climate agreement on Friday the 4th of December.

With most of the AFRAN community in Tasmania focusing on the impact of climate change in the marine environment, this event was an occasion to explore new horizon by inviting Alain Rousseau, a French wine maker in Tasmania. Alain has a profound passion for wine making and has seen the impact of a changing climate throughout 40 years of wine production.

The event started with the introduction of the ‘white paper’ being prepared with the French embassy, to foster the initiation of collaborations with French researchers transiting on the Astrolabe every year. The floor was then given to Alain to share his views about wine production in a changing climate (with wine testing !). The AFRAN members learned that the industry is surprisingly well prepared, with many sort of vines already being planted to face a warmer or dryer climate. This session was a real eye opener, especially for the students who were able to express their view in a nice informal setup. We finished the event with a brainstorm activity to engage the participants about events that could be organized in the future.

We have already decided that we will organize a visit of Alain s’ cellar for the next French delegation visit. A similar visit/discussion could also be organised with a Honey maker in southern Tasmania.