Convergences World Forum
On the 3rd and 4th of September the 11th CONVERGENCES FORUM was held in Paris at the Palais Brongniart. It’s a major international event, dedicated to the environment and future generations, for which the interpreting was entrusted to ATENAO.
CONVERGENCES FORUM: Aiming for zero exclusion, zero carbon and zero poverty
Since 2008 the CONVERGENCES global forum has been welcoming societally important partner organizations that operate with the `3ZERO’ mindset, which aims to reduce social exclusion, poverty and environmental impact. Each year more than 200 organizations and nearly 5000 participants come together to discuss these societal problems and possible solutions to them, notably by encouraging reflection and the sharing of ideas and suggesting alternative practices, as well as promoting innovative partnerships that have a large-scale impact. These key players also take the opportunity to agree on a common agenda, develop their youth and digital projects and arrange debates and meetings throughout the year.
CONFERENCES, MEETINGS AND DEBATES
Every year the forum organizes conferences and debates on various topics that take place over the course of the forum. The speeches are mostly concerned with health and wellbeing, education, working conditions, economic growth, sustainable development and the commitment of towns and communities in it, partnerships proposing alternatives to existing systems and, finally, the media. There are a total of 60 conferences spread out across 7 different rooms, offered in French, English or both. They take place simultaneously all day long, from 9:30am to 9pm.
The 3ZERO village
The forum’s village is made up of approximately thirty exhibitors proposing alternatives and adjustments to combat climate change, poverty and social isolation. Grouped by sector, the organizations engage with the audience, presenting their projects and explaining their approach. Businesses and associations from all sectors and backgrounds can be found there. Their values are principally centered on solidarity and the preservation and development of natural spaces. Stands for the main partners of the event were also to be found, including the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, BNP Paribas bank, Crédit Coopératif, the Paris City Hall, the ACTED association and the EcoAct group.
Muhammad Yunus, star guest of the 11th forum
This year Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace prize laureate, honored the conference-goers with his participation in the ‘Youth we can!’ debate, held in English and French in the Grand Auditorium of the Palais Brongniart.
Born in Bangladesh in 1940, the entrepreneur and economist is known for founding the first microcredit institution, Grameen Bank, in 1976. It was thirty years later, in 2006, that he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his achievement. During the conference, he spoke about the difficulties he encountered in founding the bank, the first to ‘finance the poor’, as well as the icy reception he received from the economic world. However, his work was at the root of radical changes to the current economic system and has allowed the poorest in society to access loans. His appearance was a great end to the two days of debate.
Simultaneous booth interpreting at the FORUM CONVERGENCE
Atenao lent a hand during all of the 19 bilingual conferences of the event, providing quality interpreting for all of the topics of discussion, from health to the media. By creating a team of 4 interpreters, working in pairs, the agency was able to work simultaneously across two different rooms over the two days, thereby giving participants access to the non-bilingual debates. The simultaneous interpreting allowed translations of the speeches in French and English to be provided in real-time and enabled debate between players of different origins.
by Cara Dobinson