Previous post for context: An interdisciplinary science school in the Pyrenees

So INTS – or “the thing in France”, as I tended to refer to it to my friends – has happened. I still don’t know what to call it really: INTS was supposed to be standing for interdisciplinary school, which was my attempt to relate it INTP, the organisation and venue where it was taking place, but I’d prefer a better descriptive name. A summer camp? A science(-ish) retreat? A hangout-with-cool-people-where-we-talk-about-research-and-do-sightseeing? That would make an even worse acronym, so suggestions welcome.

Anyway, it happened, and it was… great, I think? A bit more than a dozen people, plus a couple of visiting teachers, stayed for a week in the beautiful valley in the French Pyrenees, taking part in and leading science lectures, research and activism discussions, creative workshops, hikes in the local area and sightseeing further afield.

I came back on Monday, after a night train from Toulouse and an early morning Eurostar, straight from St Pancras to a lab meeting at UCL, and then to more academic meetings and life admin. By Monday evening the week in France already seemed like a dream, a distant dream by now. But it was real and a great proof-of-concept – for the type of event and also for myself, that it is possible to do a thing, just because it feels like a cool thing to do, somewhere in between pourquoi pas and a че, так можно было.

What we did

In our morning more academic-y sessions we had an ecology lecture with a “field work” live demo of concepts, a thoroughly-researched game on the impacts of otaku (anime, manga) culture on tourism in Japan, a slightly microbiology-themed discussion on frameworks for what is an individual and what is a collective, a report from an ethnographical knowledge exchange project with indigenous people in Guyana and Brazil, a discussion on social models of disability and co-production, and another on technology and ideas adoption.

Before dinner, we would gather on the sofas or outdoors to learn from each other in more informal conversations: did you know how to do strategic litigation on climate change policy issues? how antimicrobial resistance is linked to socioeconomic inequalities? how one might go about helping Palestinian students get into French universities, and try to deal with the associated emotional burden? We now do, a bit.

For the less science and less talking parts of the day, there were options to join expert-led workshops in drawing, music, improv theatre, yoga, and even tango one evening. There were also more hikes, an excursion to a cave with 3D art from prehistoric times, a guided historical tour to a mysterious and misty Cathar castle of Montsegur, and an evening outing to the local town of Foix. Active morning with warm-ups, a one-off tai chi session and a one-off run for those who can brave it and get up in time, and occasional spontaneous singing in the late evening.

And what glues it all together: spacious and lovingly-nerdily decorated INTP house, the restaurant-grade vegan meals from a talented caterer, and the mountainous scenery outside, beautiful in the clouds and in the sun.

Who and why

What I am most amazed by and grateful for is the range of people that we had. There must be an ecological term for this – I’m going to go with diversity density: we were at most 15, but that included PhD students, early and mid-career professionals, tenured academics, independent researches, activists, artists as well as two home-schooled teenagers and one toddler. People with unconventional career and personal paths, people I get to learn from and be inspired by, perhaps more than I would have by high h-index academics often surrounding me at other “more proper” science-related occasions.

During the week itself, I had the baseline level of worrying about ensuring everything is going ok. Rearranging activities according to the weather, the spontaneous general strike (oh the French), guides’ availabilities and peoples’ energy levels. I was choosing to miss out on activities to get some more rest, to catch up on other life tasks, but sometimes to also just sit there and observe others enjoying doing something – that, perhaps unsurprisingly, was often more rewarding for me than taking part myself. I still can’t fully believe that these people – about half of whom did not even know me or INTP before – decided to join this crazy venture, an unknown first-edition of I-still-can’t-decide-what-to-name-it, and came, and contributed their ideas and energy. I am really grateful and heart-warmed for that.

My original inspiration was the “post-Soviet/Eastern European”-model science camps for kids, and in particular “my” camp, ABFS, just somewhat adjusted for adults. Actually the week in France was very little like ABFS, but that’s a good thing. I realised I don’t actually want ABFS for adults – or rather I do, maybe, but then we should’ve done differently, and elsewhere. What I want from INTS is what is emerging – a mixture of eastern and western, of science and arts, evidence and vibes, ages and genders, structure and independence, expert-led and participatory… Something new for me: I am excited to see where it leads and what is it going to be called.