Coming together to protect trees

Created by the Maisons du Monde Foundation in 2018, this movement is designed to make people more mindful of the issues at play and encourage everyone to act to protect trees. The movement’s focus for 2023 is reconnection with trees. Various activities on this theme will be available from 2 to 4 June during the We Love Green festival, of which we are sponsor for the second consecutive year.

A successful launch in 2018

The first edition of Aux Arbres! took place at the Machines de l’Île art project in Nantes in collaboration with several organisations and took visitors on an immersive journey to find out about the benefits of forests and what’s at stake, and to suggest solutions for protecting them. On the agenda were conferences, round tables, meetings with environmental organisations, workshops, film viewings, and much more. More than 5000 people attended the event, along with experts, keynote speakers, companies and organisations.

Formats adapted to professionals and children

The MDM Foundation strongly believes that everyone has a role to play in conserving forests and trees. That’s why we’re using brand new formats to reach more people and offer the best solutions that are suitable for our audience. As such, in 2019, the MDM Foundation organised an Aux Arbres! event dedicated to professionals. Nearly 200 partners came together for an evening discovering the challenges linked to forest and biodiversity conservation.

And we have also adapted Aux Arbres! to a format aimed at children. In October 2019, Aux Arbres les enfants took place in five locations around France, encouraging parents and children to reconnect with nature through sensory walks, creative kits and workshops.

The programme was back for 2021

How does our way of life impact forests and trees and what can we do to protect them? From 2 to 6 June 2021, everyone was invited to do what they can and take action alongside Maisons du Monde and the MDM Foundation. Actions were organized on our social networks as well as on the website and in Maisons du Monde shops in France.

Maisons du Monde customers and the general public were invited to calculate their forest footprint with the NGO Envol Vert to take stock of their impact, to contribute to the planting of 10,000 trees in France with one of our partner structures and even to share what small actions they take to protect forests on Maisons du Monde’s TikTok account.

<Re>connecting with trees in 2022

Restoring the bond we share with trees will help us to better protect them. This is the principle that has led the Maisons du Monde Foundation to support the WE LOVE GREEN and Nuits des Forêts festivals in 2022 — two leading events in terms of their environmental commitment as well as their line-ups nestled in the heart of the forest.

Festivalgoers were able to partake in our <Re>connecting with trees experience at our WE LOVE GREEN stand from 2 to 5 June 2022. The activities available included a 360° immersive experience in Panama’s tropical forest, crown making, plant-based jewellery crafting and the chance to calculate how much impact you have on forests every day. Participants could also contribute to the wishing tree sculpture designed collaboratively by Béton Puzzle and Laure Devenelle for the Maisons du Monde Foundation.

We have also joined forces with the Nuits des Forêts festivals in Marseille (13), Morcenx-la-Nouvelle (40) and Vigneux-de-Bretagne (44), so that we can offer even more workshops at the heart of the forest and allow as many people as possible to enjoy our <Re>connecting with trees experience.

For more information, check out the Maisons du Monde <Re>connecting with trees page. Why not follow us on Instagram to get the latest on this and future editions!