What is the role of the Normandy Region in the Chair?

Since 2016, the Normandy Region has affirmed its ambition for international action in favor of the values of peace, freedom, human rights and democracy. This ambition is rooted in its history and in its link to world history, since it was on its beaches that the liberation of Europe began in 1944. Many other less dramatic moments in its history are related to these values, often contributing to the international humanist cultural heritage. The region has thus marked the world history of peace thanks to its influential Normans such as Bernardin de Saint Pierre and his treaty of perpetual peace, Aristide Briand the “pilgrim of peace” or Mendès France the “decolonizer”.

The Region therefore intends to continue to make its contribution to this construction. This is the meaning of the Normandy World Forum for Peace, prefigured in 2017 by the “Normandy Days for Peace” and whose 1st international edition took place on 7 and 8 June 2018. Based on the symbolism of June 6, the day of commemoration of the D-Day landings in 1944, this Forum is an annual event of international scope.

In this context, the Region wanted the international academic world, in cooperation with Normandy academics, to participate in this construction. The proposal was made to create a Chair of Excellence for Peace, open, flexible, both academic and innovative, international and including the economic and societal dimension. 

The COMUE Normandie Université and the CNRS are the main partners of the Region, each participating in this initiative according to their own policies. The CNRS works to promote scientific excellence and the international influence of French research. It is also working to open up the French research system to the world.

Antoine Petit, President of the CNRS, and Hervé Morin, President of the Normandy Region, have decided to include the Chair of Excellence for Peace in their collaboration. The CNRS has been particularly involved in the creation of this Chair in order to give it an international scientific dimension.